20 November 2014: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has announced the launch of the publication, titled ‘Protected Area Governance and Management.’ The compendium provides information on capacity development training for protected area field officers, field managers and executive-level managers with a view to improving governance and management of protected areas (PAs).

The compendium, launched by Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary, CBD, and Jane Smart, Global Director, Biodiversity Conservation Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), was compiled by 169 authors and edited by Graeme Worboys, Michael Lockwood, Ashish Kothari, Sue Feary and Ian Pulsford. It was launched at the IUCN’s World Parks Congress (WPC) in Sydney, Australia.

Braulio Dias said, “This compendium will significantly contribute to developing the capacity of managers of protected areas, at all levels, to deliver effective governance and management of protected areas.”

The chapters of the book are organized as a “learning journey” that commences with the “Concept and Purpose” of protected areas and finishes with a chapter on “Evaluation.” The publication is arranged so that any of the chapters can be “cherry-picked” for use in specific training curricula. The compendium will be freely available online in February 2015. [CBD News] [Publication: Protected Area Governance and Management]