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Indigenous peoples are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic daily, taking strong measures to protect their communities and territories from this virus. In these times, historical exclusions affecting rights to basic services and health infrastructure have become more acute, making indigenous peoples an extremely fragile and vulnerable section of society in this pandemic. In addition, attempts to appropriate traditional lands, territories and resources and open up areas for mining and commercial exploitation continue in certain regions.

The second edition of the Newsletter of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Oceania (WCPA Oceania) for 2020 is now available.

Full Newsletter (Pdf)

As 2020 approaches, countries are accelerating their commitments to protect 10% of the ocean by establishing and expanding marine protected areas (MPAs) and other area-based protections. Since it began in 2014, the Our Ocean Conference (OOC) has become a high-profile platform to announce ocean commitments. To evaluate the impact of these promises, this analysis asked: (1) What are the MPA commitments? (2) Who is making them? (3) Have these announcements been followed by action? and (4) Have they contributed significantly to ocean protection?

Many areas outside national and regional protected area networks also contribute to the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity. Appropriately recognising, reporting and supporting such areas is increasingly important in the context of biodiversity loss and climate change.