Strengthening the global system of protected areas post-2020: A perspective from the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas

Protected areas are the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation and have never been more relevant than at the present time when the world is facing both a biodiversity and a climate change crisis. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) has been helping to set global standards and best practice guidelines in protected area planning and management for 60 years. Following this guidance, many countries have made significant progress toward their Aichi Target 11 commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The global community will be coming together at the 15th Conference of the Parties of the CBD to set new biodiversity conservation targets for the next decade, as milestones to 2050 and a vision of “a world living in harmony with nature.” This paper lays out the WCPA perspective on priorities for supporting effective protected and conserved areas for the post-2020 era

Home to us all: how connecting with nature helps us care for ourselves and the Earth.

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The \u27Healthy Parks-Healthy People\u27 Movement in Canada: Progress, Challenges, and an Emerging Knowledge and Action Agenda

In this article, we outline progress and challenges in establishing effective health promotion tied to visitor experiences provided by protected and conserved areas in Canada. Despite an expanding global evidence base, case studies focused on aspects of health and well-being within Canada’s protected and conserved areas remain limited. Data pertaining to motivations, barriers and experiences of visitors are often not collected by governing agencies and, if collected, are not made generally available or reported on. There is an obvious, large gap in research and action focused on the needs and rights of groups facing systemic barriers related to a variety of issues including, but not limited to, access, nature experiences, and needs with respect to health and well-being outcomes. Activation of programmes at the site level continue to grow, and Park Prescription programmes, as well as changes to the Accessible Canada Act, represent significant, positive examples of recent cross-sector policy integration. Evaluations of outcomes associated with HPHP programmes have not yet occurred but will be important to adapting interventions and informing cross-sector capacity building. We conclude by providing an overview of gaps in evidence and practice that, if addressed, can lead to more effective human health promotion vis-à-vis nature contact in protected and conserved areas in Canada

To normalize or not to normalize? Fat is the question

Concentrations of lipophilic contaminants in biota are frequently corrected for variation in tissue lipid content. Usually, this correction is accomplished by dividing tissue contaminant concentration by lipid concentration to form lipid‐normalized data. This ratio‐based approach is satisfactory when contaminant concentration varies in direct proportion to lipid content. However, when such a relationship does not exist, erroneous conclusions may be reached. Recent research has emphasized the potential shortcomings of the use of ratio variables. We demonstrate the importance of considering these shortcomings when lipid‐normalizing data. Three examples are presented, and an alternative approach based upon the use of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is suggested. Copyrigh

The Promise of Sydney: an editorial essay

The IUCN World Parks Congress is a once in a decade event that has traditionally been a major forum for advancing global protected area policy and practice. The Congress this November in Sydney Australia will be run along eight streams; addressing biodiversity, climate change, health, ecosystem services, development, governance, indigenous peoples issues and youth; cross-cutting themes address marine issues, capacity building, World Heritage and a New Social Compact. In the following extended editorial, the organisers of the various streams lay out their aims and hopes for the 2014 Congress