Call for IRF World Ranger
Congress Proposals
(2012/2013 and 2015/2016)
Click
here to download a call for proposals for hosting our next two World
Ranger Congresses (WRC). We put out this call originally in August
2009. We received a good proposal from the US Association of
National Park Rangers for hosting a WRC in 2016. We did not receive
any other proposals.
Since the WRC in Bolivia we have received a proposal from Portugal for
2012/2013 and serious interest from Tanzania and United Arab Emirates for
the same years. We are opening the proposal process again, with a new
deadline of May 15, 2010.
We have a newly established steering committee which will provide
continuity from one World Ranger Congress to the next; will develop an
operating manual; and will make recommendations to the International
Executive Committee on proposed WRC locations.
We look forward to receiving proposals by the May 15, 2010
deadline.
“Coastal Conservation
offers survival for the poor”
A young
British Conservationist has won an international award for helping to
create a new model of community-run Marine Protected Areas, which both
saves marine diversity and helps to feed marine dependent communities.
Alasdair Harris, 30, was selected as winner of the 2010 Young
Conservationist Award, an
award by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and the
International Ranger Federation which honours outstanding
achievements by young people in the world’s protected areas.
In Madagascar, Alasdair established Blue Ventures, a conservation
organisation dedicated to working with local communities to conserve
threatened marine environments. In 2004 Blue Ventures launched the
region’s first community-run Marine Protected Area (MPA), which resulted
in significant increases in fishing yields and size, increasing earnings
of fishers.
Within a year, Madagascar’s government adopted the model to create
seasonal fishing bans throughout Madagascar, and within two years, other
villages independently adopted it. It became ‘Velondriake’—meaning
‘to live with the sea’—the largest community-managed MPA in the Indian
Ocean, providing a regional blueprint for community-based marine and
coastal conservation planning
Alasdair avoided top down conservation by working with coastal
communities to develop his ideas and create social enterprises to ensure
sustainable financing of conservation efforts. Blue Ventures organizes
expeditions of scientists and volunteers to support conservation while
bringing economic and environmental benefit to local communities.
“Alasdair’s outstanding work has benefited the marine environment and
local people in Madagascar. It has shown that the involvement of local
people with conservation can result in benefits to the environment and to
people’s livelihoods. We warmly congratulate Alasdair on his leadership
and well deserved award. We look forward to his further contributions to
the global challenge of conservation.” says Nik Lopoukhine, Chair of
the IUCN World Commission Protected Areas.
Velondriake’s communities have led grassroots education efforts to help
other villages establish dozens of further marine reserves in Madagascar.
This year Blue Ventures replicated its work in Malaysia, Fiji and Belize,
and supported the Indian Ocean’s first international fishermen exchange,
with the Mauritian islands. Blue Ventures’ vision is to scale this model
for maximum impact: thousands of tropical marine communities in the
Indian Ocean could benefit from this approach to marine conservation.
"This award is an incredible honour, but also a reminder of the
sobering reality of the condition of our oceans today” says
Alasdair. “Throughout the world fisheries are collapsing on an
unimaginable scale. In the tropics, many coastal people are
already among the most marginalised communities on earth, acutely
vulnerable to the impacts of developed-world over-consumption and climate
change. In these environments conservation is not just about
protecting coral reefs and biodiversity – it’s about ensuring the
survival of people and the fragile ecosystems they depend upon. This
award is testament to the commitments of some of the world's poorest
communities to finding a sustainable future. Never has the need for
commitments like these been greater."
Alasdair will soon be in Australia to be presented with the award at
the Healthy Parks
Healthy People Congress in Melbourne, Australia, this April.
“The IUCN-IRF Young Conservationist Award honours the contribution of
young people to conservation. Many of us in the world of Protected Areas
know that local communities are and will be the key to taking care of
these special places” says Deanne Adams, President of the International
Ranger Federation. “The work that Al has done is an inspiring model for
engaging local fisherman in identifying and managing sustainable
conservation efforts. His work gives us hope for our planet's
future."
The Young Conservationist award is a joint initiative coordinated by
the International Ranger Federation and IUCN’s World Commission on
Protected Areas, and supported by the George Wright Society and Parks
Victoria, Australia.
For more
information:
Alasdair Harris, Blue Ventures: al@blueventures.org
Based in Antananarivo, Madagascar: Telephone +261-343-133-987
Deanne Adams, International Ranger Federation President
Based in California, USA: Telephone: +1-415-613-2480, email:
IRFdeanne@aol.com
Rebecca Koss, Young Professional Deputy Chair for Oceania, IUCN World
Commission Protected Areas.
Based in Victoria, Australia: Telephone +61 3 402 510 704, email:
rkoss@deakin.edu.au
Alasdair Harris
Message from
IRF President Deanne Adams
I am pleased to report to you all the results of the elections held at
our World Ranger Congress last week, and report on some of the key
results from the Congress. I thank all of you for your support in
electing me as your new president and I pledge to be in regular contact
with you about IRF actions. With this first message as your president, I
want you to know your newly elected officers and regional representatives
are prepared to be active – and you will hear from us often.
IRF Election
The election for the IRF’s officers and regional representatives was held
during the World Congress Membership Meeting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on
November 6. The election results as reported by Election Committee Member
Kristen Appel, who conducted the elections, are as follows:
Officers:
President Deanne L. Adams, USA
Vice-President Wayne Lotter, South Africa
Treasurer: João Manuel Dos Santos Correia, Portugal
Secretary: Elaine Thomas, Australia
Regional
Representatives:
Asia: Young-Deok Park, Korea
Africa: André Bothe, South Africa
Central America: Cesar Augusto Flores Lopez
Europe: Florin Halastauan, Romania
North America: Jeff Ohlfs, USA
Oceania: Tegan Burton, Australia
South America: Ana Carola Vaca Salazar, Bolivia
Congratulations to all the candidates and thank you for volunteering
to take these responsibilities for IRF. Special thanks to Aarno Tervonen,
Finland, for running for the European Representative. Europe was the only
region with two candidates and both are well respected in Europe. IRF is
fortunate to have both Aarno and Florin interested in working for IRF.
Thank you also to Sean Willmore, Australia, for running for the
position of President. Early in the week of the Congress Sean and I had a
good meeting to discuss our goals and vision for IRF. We are very much in
alignment. After that discussion, Sean announced he was withdrawing his
nomination and fully supporting my nomination. Thank you, Sean, for your
gracious remarks during the Congress and for challenging ranger
associations to be more engaged with IRF.
Thank you to the outgoing officers and representatives – I hope you
will each stay engaged in IRF work. We know how much needs to be done in
this all volunteer organization. Much of that work was identified as part
of the strategic planning workshops held at the Congress.
Congress
The VI World Ranger Congress was a big success for the 261 participants
from 43 countries. As expected, the highest percentage of participants
came from Central and South America – 164 from 13 countries. That is 63%
of the participants and 30% of the countries. While those countries dominated
in numbers, it was still a diverse group representing many cultures and
ranger needs. That is our goal with our Congresses – bringing together
rangers of the whole world. The panel discussions were lively and we are
still compiling the many good recommendations.
The Santa Cruz Declaration and the Climate Change Proclamation were
accepted on 6 November. The Climate Change Proclamation recognizes the
critical issue of climate change and the role of rangers. The Santa Cruz
Declaration truly focuses on professional rangers, the importance of
their role in protected areas and in monitoring climate change, while
recognizing the fact that many rangers still do not have legal
authorities and recognition from governments. Without that recognition
and support rangers can’t be effective managers for the future of
protected areas.
The proceedings of the Congress will take some time to write and compile.
We expect to have those posted early in 2010.
Special panel discussions that provided input for the future of IRF
were on the strategic planning effort for IRF, and proposals for
implementing an agreement with Google Earth to create a database and map
for a Ranger-Roll-of-Honor, for a Rangers Without Borders project, and
for input into the Thin Green Line Foundation’s processes. All those
proposals will be part of the draft strategic plan which will be posted
on the IRF website by late December. We will be asking for your feedback
at that time.
The New IRF
In addition to the elected officers and representatives, there are a
number of non-voting members on the International Executive Committee
(IEC). In one of our first items of business, the new IEC appointed a new
ex-officio non-voting position for the Managing Director of the Thin
Green Line Foundation, so Sean Willmore will now be part of our IEC
discussions. The president of IRF has been a voting director of the Thin
Green Line Foundation for about a year and that will continue with the
new president.
The other non-voting members of the IEC are the past presidents
(Gordon Miller, Rick Smith, David Zeller). The volunteer staff that are
included with IEC business discussions are the editor of the Thin Green
Line and Guardaparque newsletters (Bill Halainen), Youth Officers (Michal
Skalka and Kveta Cernohlavkova), and the IRF web manager (David Burns).
The Congress was a good opportunity for Elaine Thomas, secretary, to
update our IRF mailing list. Untill our database is updated, she will
forward this message to those new addresses. Please be sure to keep
Elaine informed when the key contacts for your association change email
addresses. Usually those key contacts are the president and an IRF
liaison. When new members take those positions, please let Elaine know.
The new IEC is a strong and committed team. We are looking forward to
working together to implement the actions identified in our draft
strategic plan and will be in contact with you more regularly.
With warm wishes to all,
Deanne L. Adams
Mediante la presente me complace informarles los resultados de las
elecciones celebradas en el Congreso Mundial de Guardaparques la semana
pasada, además de un informe sobre algunos de los principales resultados
del Congreso. Agradezco a todos ustedes por su apoyo al elegirme como su
nueva presidente y me comprometo a estar regularmente en contacto con
ustedes respecto a las acciones de la FIG. Con este primer mensaje como
Presidente, quiero darles a conocer a sus oficiales electos y los
representantes regionales que están dispuestos a ser activos – todos
ustedes serán informados frecuentemente por estas personas
Elecciones
FIG
La elección de los oficiales de la FIG y representantes regionales
celebrada durante el Congreso Mundial de Socios de en Santa Cruz de la
Sierra , Bolivia, el 6 de noviembre de los corrientes obtuvo según lo
informado por la Comisión Electoral de miembros Kristen Appel, los
siguientes resultados:
Funcionarios:
Presidente Deanne L. Adams, EE.UU.
Vice-Presidente Wayne Lotter, Sudáfrica,
Tesorero: Manuel Dos Santos, João Correia, Portugal,
Secretario: Elaine Thomas, Australia
Representantes
Regionales:
Asia: Young-Deok Park, Korea
África: André Bothe, Sudáfrica
América Central: César Augusto Flores López
Europa: Florin Halastauan, Rumanía
América del Norte: Jeff Ohlfs, EE.UU.
Oceanía: Tegan Burton, Australia
América del Sur: Ana Carola Vaca Salazar, Bolivia
Felicito a todos los candidatos y les agradezco por ofrecerse como
voluntarios para tomar las responsabilidades de FIG. Un agradecimiento
especial a Aarno Tervonen, Finlandia, por su postulación como
representante europeo. Siendo Europa la única región con dos candidatos,
ambos muy respetados en Europa. La FIG se siente honrada de que tanto
Aarno como Florin estén interesados en trabajar para la Federaciòn.
Gracias también a Sean Willmore, Australia, por su postulación para el
cargo de Presidente. A principios de la semana del Congreso, Sean y yo
tuvimos una buena reunión para discutir nuestras metas y visión de la
FIG. Charla que puso en evidencia el hecho de que ambos nos encontramos
en la misma línea de trabajo . Después de ese debate, Sean anunció que
retiraba su candidatura otorgando su pleno apoyo a mi candidatura.
Gracias, Sean, por tus amables palabras durante el Congreso y por
impugnar a las asociaciones de guardas forestales a ser más comprometidos
con la FIG.
Gracias a los funcionarios salientes y los representantes - Espero que
cada uno mantenga su implicación en el trabajo de FIG. Sabemos de lo
mucho que falta por hacer en esta organización y de todos los
voluntarios. Gran parte de ese trabajo fue identificado como parte de la
planificación estratégica en los talleres celebrados en el Congreso.
Congreso
El VI Congreso Mundial de Guardaparques fue un gran éxito para los 261
participantes de 43 países. Como era de esperar, el mayor porcentaje de
los participantes provenían de América Central y Sudamérica - 164 de 13
países. Un 63% de los participantes y el 30% de los países. Mientras que
los países asistentes continuaba siendo un grupo diverso que representa
muchas culturas necesidades de los guardaparques. Siendo ese el objetivo
en nuestros Congresos - que reúnen guardaparques de todo el mundo. Las
mesas redondas fueron muy animadas y todavía estamos compilando las recomendaciones
que son muchas y muy buenas.
La Declaración de Santa Cruz y el Cambio Climático Proclamación fueron
aceptados el 6 de noviembre y pronto estará disponible en el sitio web de
IRF. La Proclamación sobre el Cambio Climático reconoce la crítica
cuestión del cambio climático y el papel de los guardabosques. La
Declaración de Santa Cruz se centra en los guardaparques profesionales,
la importancia de su papel en las áreas protegidas y en la vigilancia del
cambio climático, al tiempo que reconoce el hecho de que los
guardaparques mismos aún no tienen autoridad judicial ni reconocimiento
de los gobiernos. Sin que los directores reconocidos y guardaparques de
apoyo el funcionamiento no puede ser eficaz para el futuro de las áreas
protegidas.
Las actas del Congreso tomaran algún tiempo para ser escritas y
compiladas. Esperamos tenerlas en el sitio web de IRF a principios de
2010.
Debates en grupos especiales y aportaciones para el futuro de la FIG
se centraron en el esfuerzo de planificación estratégica para la FIG, y
propuestas para la aplicación de un acuerdo con Google Earth para crear
una base de datos y el mapa de un Ranger-Roll-de-honor, Proyecto de
Guardaparques sin Fronteras y para su ingreso en los procesos de la
Fundación Delgada Línea Verde . Todas estas propuestas formarán parte del
proyecto de plan estratégico que será publicado en el sitio web de la FIG
a finales de diciembre, momento en el que necesitaremos sus comentarios .
Nueva
Directiva de la FIG
Además de los oficiales electos y representantes, hay un número de
miembros sin voto en el Comité Ejecutivo Internacional (CEI). En uno de
nuestros primeros artículos se denominó un nuevo oficio sin derecho a
voto, la posición de Director Gerente de la “Fundación Delgada Línea
Verde”, por lo que Sean Willmore. Presidente de la FIG ha sido electo
director de voto de la “Fundación Delgada Línea Verde” por un año y
continuará como nuevo presidente.
Los otros miembros votantes de la CEI son los presidentes (Gordon
Miller, Rick Smith, David Zeller). El personal voluntario que se incluyen
con discusiones de negocios CEI son el editor de la “ Fundación Delgada
Línea Verde” y boletines de Guardaparques (Bill Halainen), los oficiales
de la Juventud (Michal Skalka y Kveta Cernohlavkova), y el administrador
de webs IRF (David Burns).
El Congreso fue una buena oportunidad para Elaine Thomas, secretaria,
para actualizar nuestra lista de correo IRF. Hasta que se actualice la
base de datos, se transmitirá este mensaje a las nuevas direcciones. Por
favor, asegúrese de mantener informada a Elaine si cambian los contactos
clave de sus direcciones de correo electrónico. Por lo general, los
contactos clave son el presidente y un enlace de la FIG. Cuando los
nuevos miembros ocupen sus respectivas posiciones, por favor aseguresé de
enviar esta información a Elaine.
El CEI nuevo es un equipo fuerte y comprometido. Estamos deseando
trabajar juntos para aplicar las acciones identificadas en nuestro
proyecto de plan estratégico y estaremos en contacto con ustedes con mayor
regularidad.
Con buenos deseos para todos,
Deanne L. Adams
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