SCIENTISTS NETWORK TO HELP PARKS MANAGE CLIMATE
CHANGE
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Source: ENS
SCIENTISTS NETWORK TO HELP PARKS MANAGE CLIMATE
CHANGE
WASHINGTON, DC, March 28, 2001 (ENS) - Leading conservation
organizations have formed an international network to help the
world's protected areas managers to anticipate and cope with global
changes brought about by climate change, poverty and population
growth.
"This network is especially crucial in light of the increasing
deterioration of the world's ecosystems," said Dr. Kenton Miller,
chairman of the World Commission on Protected Areas and vice
president for international conservation of the World Resources
Institute (WRI). "Global warming is a big contributor to this, and is
weakening the capacity of the world's parks and protected areas to
supply critical services like drinking water and habitats for wildlife."
There are an estimated 44,000 parks and protected areas, covering
about 10 percent of the world's land surface. About 42 percent of
these parks and protected areas are found in developing countries.
Already, sea level rise, severe weather changes, expanded farmlands,
poverty and increased regional conflicts are affecting many of these
parks.
The network, called Protected Areas Learning Network (PALN), is a
project of WRI, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), Conservation
International, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The governments of the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have
already contributed funds. A grant from the UN Global Environment
Facility is being finalized. The network is expected to cost $5 million
over four years.
"No program exists today to provide park managers in developing
countries with timely and easily accessible information on the
relationship between global changes and their protected areas," said
Dr. Mohamed Bakarr of the Center for Applied Science at
Conservation International. "PALN will help them learn how other park
managers and scientists are coping and adapting to these changes."
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