InterEnvironment Institute serves as the secretariat of this IUCN Specialist Group
Links: publications & organizations
[See also the resources listed on the Urban Protected Areas and Dark Skies pages.]
Published by or for the IUCN WCPA Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group
>> Urban Protected Areas: Profiles and best practice guidelines. IUCN, 2014. WCPA Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series No. 22.
English edition Français Português Chinese (link to unofficial edition)
Includes illustrated profiles of urban protected areas in 15 metropolitan areas around the world. Sets out 30 guidelines for urban protected areas as they relate to urban people, places, and institutions.
>> The Urban Imperative: Urban outreach strategies for protected area agencies. InterEnvironment Institute for IUCN and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, 2004. Proceedings of a workshop at the IUCN
2003 World Parks Congress. In 26 articles, authors from 17 countries look at challenges posed for nature conservation by an urbanizing world.
>> Growing Together: Thinking and practice of urban nature conservators. South African National Biodiversity Institute, 2010. A contribution to the work of the Specialist Group.
>> Global urbanization and protected areas: Challenges and opportunities posed by a major factor of global change -- and creative ways of responding. InterEnvironment Institute for IUCN, 2007.
>> Urban Protected Areas in 2,000 Words. An InterEnvironment Institute web page.
>> Index of Naturalness. An InterEnvironment Institute web page.
Additional IUCN resources
>> IUCN WCPA Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series. A web page with descriptions and links. Many volumes in this series are relevant to urban places. Included is our own Urban Protected Areas.
>> Protected Area Governance and Management. Australian National University [free download], 2015. An IUCN WCPA project, this 994-page compendium was written by 169 experts. "The book synthesizes current knowledge and cutting-edge thinking from the diverse branches of practice and learning relevant to protected area governance and management."
>> Cities and Protected Areas. Special number of IUCN's Parks journal 11:3 (2001)
>> IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, Urban Ecosystems Specialist Group.
Other publications, websites, and organizations (a selection)
PUBLICATIONS AND WEBSITES
>>Cities and Biodiversity Outlook: Action and policy. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2012. "A global assessment of the links between urbanization, biodiversity, and ecosystem services."
>> Nature in the Urban Century. The Nature Conservancy, Future Earth, and Stockholm Resilience Center, 2018. "A global assessment of where and how to conserve nature for biodiversity and human wellbeing." Executive summary.
>>Relatively wild urban parks can promote human resilience and flourishing: A case study of Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington. Elizabeth Lev, Peter H. Kahn, Hanzi Chen, Garrett Esperum. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 29 January 2020. Concludes that visitors' "meaningful interactions with nature in Discovery Park depended on the park's relative wildness."
ORGANIZATIONS
>> The Nature of Cities. "An international platform for transdisciplinary dialogue and urban solutions." The website is a good place to start in looking for publications and organizations.
The following organizations are concerned mainly with the roles of local and other subnational governments:
ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center
Organization of World Heritage Cities
Many of the major national and international environmental organizations have urban programs. These include IUCN Members. See also About environmental organizations & programs on the InterEnvironment Institute website.
