Tolo
Harbour Declaration
5th
Conference on Protected Areas of East Asia
¡@¡@We, the 250 participants
at the Fifth Conference on Protected Areas of East
Asia, convened by the IUCN World Commission on Protected
Areas (WCPA), meeting at the Chinese University of
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
China, from the 21st to 25th
June 2005, agree as follows:
To RE-AFFIRM
the contents of the Fragrant Hills Declaration, Beijing
1993, the Kushiro Declaration, Kushiro 1996, the Pukan-San Declaration, Seoul 1999, and the Yang
Ming Shan Declaration, Taipei 2002.
To RECOGNIZE
the Durban Accord (2003); the recommendations and
suggestions at the WCPA Members Meeting in Bangkok
(2004); the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas;
and the key future directions set at the World Conservation
Congress in Bangkok, November 2004.
To WELCOME
the progress made by countries and territories of
the East Asia Region in the establishment of both
terrestrial and marine protected areas (PAs) as well
as the continued improvements in the management capacity
of protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity.
To RECALL
the role of the WCPA East Asia Region in supporting
the establishment and management of Protected Areas
in the Region, and in building networks with members
of the Region, sharing management experience and knowledge,
and strengthening links with IUCN regional and country
offices.
To RECOMMEND
- establishing PAs and enhancing
standards for the planning and management of PAs,
aimed at better conservation outcomes and greater
social benefits;
- extending and strengthening
marine protected areas;
- responding to the challenge
of the Convention on Biological Diversity and
the targets identified in the Programme of Work
on Protected Areas adopted by the seventh meeting
of the CBD Conference of Parties in 2004;
- facilitating the contribution
of PAs to sustainable development including sustainable
tourism;
- empowering stakeholders, policy
makers, managers, NGOs and scientists to work
in an integrated manner to promote effective environmental
governance at all levels.
To URGE all relevant organizations and
individuals in the East Asia region to recognize the
vital importance of protected areas for the people
of East Asia, and
to encourage them to:
- provide young people with
the education, training and opportunities needed
to develop their interest in and commitment to
the planning and management of protected areas;
- pay special attention to the
linkages between protected areas and surrounding
land uses, while ensuring socio-economic and cultural
concerns, in particular the livelihoods and property
rights of indigenous people and local communities
are respected;
- share knowledge, experience,
and technology, including data bases, for protected
areas through training, workshops, seminars and
publications and to make the best use of the WCPA
Protected Areas Learning Net (PALNet) to serve
the protected area community;
- establish a comprehensive
inventory of the protected area system of East
Asia and to identify gaps in the current
system;
- develop and implement best
practice guidelines and indicators for the management,
monitoring and evaluation of protected areas and
their flora and fauna;
- generate wider public support
for the Protected Area system and to demonstrate
the value and benefits of Protected Areas to the
community, especially the urban sector;
- provide sufficient resources
for PAs through sustained financing and policy
support by relevant authorities;
- develop transboundary protected
areas;
- investigate opportunities
for ecological restoration in PAs;
- facilitate scientific
research.
And to AGREE
that we will:
- enhance and update the Protected
Areas Action Plan for East
Asia
- and translate this document
together with other key WCPA documents and guidelines
into the languages of the region for better understanding
by people in the respective areas;
- organize regional activities
or programmes between the triennial meetings,
which can be in the form of special workshops,
seminars, site-specific brainstorming sessions,
or youth exchange visits;
- implement where appropriate,
the guidelines and measures developed by WCPA
in managing Protected Areas in respective countries
and districts;
- communicate this declaration
to relevant networks and organizations;
- meet again in China in
2008 for the 6th Regional Conference
WCPA/EA.
Hong Kong June 2005
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