20 June 2012: A side event at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) on “Protecting the Protected Areas: Partnering to Expand the Most Precious 17 Percent of the Planet,” featured the Spain-UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Partnership for Protected Areas in support of the LifeWeb Initiative.

The Spain-UNEP Partnership for Protected Areas was launched in 2010 to address lack of sustainability, capacity and governance. It focuses on improving the management of existing protected areas and creating new ones. The Partnership is currently engaged in 11 projects on three continents, working on issues such as marine mammal corridors in the Pacific Ocean, monk seal and sea turtle protection in West Africa, and orangutan habitat in Sumatra. Six of the projects are managed by the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and focus on great apes in Asia and Africa.

Activities implemented under the Spain-UNEP Partnership are designed to promote public policies at local and regional level that may contribute to sustainable development, strengthening institutional capacities within environmental management as well as the conservation and the sustainable use of the natural resources. [UNEP Press Release]