@article {476,
	title = {Transboundary protected areas for peace and co-operation},
	year = {2001},
	edition = {IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK.},
	address = {Gland},
	abstract = {<p>Protected areas are vital for life on earth. They safeguard biological  and cultural diversity, help to improve the livelihoods of local  communities, provide the homelands for many indigenous peoples and bring  countless benefits to society in general. As the world becomes more  crowded, and as the pressures on natural resources increase, so there is  a growing recognition of the importance of such places to the future of  humankind. But why should particular attention be given to  transboundary protected areas - that is, to adjoining protected areas  that involve a degree of co-operation across one or more boundaries  between (or within) countries?It is now generally understood that  conservation planning cannot just be site- specific, but has to be at  broader scales, both at national and regional levels. Plants and animals  do not recognize national boundaries; nor do many of the forces that  threaten them. Clearly, strategies to conserve biodiversity in the 21st  century must emphasize transboundary co-operation in relation to shared  ecosystems and other conservation concerns.The rationale for this was  graphically expressed by Dr Z. Pallo Jordan (then South African Minister  of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) in his opening address to the  1997 Cape Town meeting on Transboundary Protected Areas: \&quot;The rivers of  Southern Africa are shared by more than one country. Our mountain ranges  do not end abruptly because some 19th century politician drew a line on  a map. The winds, the oceans, the rain and atmospheric currents do not  recognize political frontiers. The earth{\textquoteright}s environment is the common  property of all humanity and creation, and what takes place in one  country affects not only its neighbours, but many others well beyond its  borders\&quot;Many countries have responded to this challenge. As these  guidelines report, the numbers of transboundary protected areas have  grown rapidly in recent times. In 1988, there were only some 59 groups  of adjoining protected areas, separated by national boundaries. By 2001  this had grown to 169, involving 666 individual protected areas. In many  cases there were co-operative arrangements in place: true transboundary  protectedareas. While this is a welcome trend, there is a need to  consolidate this experience.Quite apart from the benefits for  biodiversity conservation, transboundary protected areas can also play  an important role in fostering better co-operation and understanding  between countries. Indeed they may help catalyze the peaceful resolution  of disputes. In many parts of the world, transboundary protected areas  have been important in building bridges between nations and peoples.  But, here too, until recently at least, this experience had not been  analysed systematically, nor had the lessons been drawn from it.</p>},
	keywords = {Africa, biodiversity, conservation, cooperation, ecosystem, ocean, protected area, tourism, transboundary cooperation},
	author = {T. Sandwith and D. Sheppard and L. Hamilton and C. Shine and A. Phillips}
}
