22 May 2015: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released guidelines on transboundary conservation to support practitioners and those involved in initiating, managing and governing transboundary conservation programmes. The publication, titled ‘Transboundary Conservation: A systematic and integrated approach,’ offers current scientific thinking combined with 33 case studies on transboundary conservation practices. It is published within the ‘Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series’ of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA).

The Guidelines build on the 2001 IUCN WCPA Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series No. 7 as well as provide new knowledge drawn from current transboundary conservation practice. They also offer a revised typology of Transboundary Conservation Areas, with a definition of each type.

Maja Vasilijević, Chair of IUCN WCPA’s Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group and a co-editor of the publication noted that the guidelines provide an excellent compilation of best practices and lessons learned in transboundary conservation from all around the world. Key editors and authors also include: Maja Vasilijević, Kevan Zunckel, Zunckel Ecological & Environmental Services, Matthew McKinney, University of Montana, Boris Erg, IUCN, Michael Schoon, Arizona State University and Tatjana Rosen Michel, Panthera.

The Guidelines were published as part of a project coordinated by the Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group of IUCN WCPA and funded by the MAVA Foundation, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) through the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), and IUCN WCPA. The main collaborating institution in the development of the Guidelines was the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). [IUCN News] [Publication: Transboundary Conservation: A systematic and integrated approach]