Third Global Congress of the International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) and Final Conference of the LIFE project Development of a European Land Conservation Network (ELCN)

Recordings are now available for 2021 ILCN-ELCN Global Congress plenaries and sessions.

View the Short Schedule or Detailed Agenda

2021 ILCN-ELCN Global Congress Introductory Remarks and Keynote Panel

2021 Global Congress Conservation Visionary Award Ceremony

2021 ILCN-ELCN Global Congress Closing Remarks

View Individual Tracks

Conservation Finance

Conservation Law and Policy

Stewardship and Land Management

Organization and Governance

Large Landscape Conservation

About the Congress

As nations around the world work towards ambitious targets to protect and restore biodiverse, climate-resilient ecosystems, private and civic land conservation is becoming increasingly significant at every scale- from micro reservas in Valencia, Spain to protected areas spanning tens of millions of hectares in Canada’s Far North. Targets such as protecting 30% of lands by 2030 can only be reached by taking a collaborative and inclusive approach that leverages and builds on the capacity of a range of land stewards - landowners, communities, and civic organizations, among others - to undertake voluntary, durable, and effective land conservation action.

Inspired by the beautiful Catalonian landscape, and using the digital tools available to bring together an ever growing community still facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, join us in continuing to learn from and support one another in advancing the private and civic land conservation movement.

Outcomes

Increased knowledge of the diversity of tools and strategies being used around the world to protect and steward private land for the long-term;
Greater understanding of strategies that can be used to advance private and civic land conservation in specific country contexts;
Establishment of productive and actionable relationships among practitioners from around the world, leading to continued knowledge exchange, sharing of expertise, and sense of global community;
Recognition and elevation of the role and importance of private and civic land conservation in achieving national and international protected area and biodiversity conservation goals, particularly in the context of post-2020 agenda-setting.

Participants

Participants from the public, private, nonprofit, academic, and indigenous sectors include directors and staff of local, regional, national, and international land and biodiversity conservation organizations, conservation landowners, public officials and policymakers, lawyers, conservation finance experts, representatives of indigenous peoples’ organizations, foundations, students and academics, representatives of multilateral agencies, and others.

For comments, questions, or access issues, please email Robin Austin at raustin@lincolninst.edu

Why Catalonia

Catalonia is at the forefront of private and civic land conservation in Europe and globally, with organizations such as Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera and the network Xarxa per a la Conservació de la Natura (XCN) leading a growing community of land conservation practitioners in the region.

Hosting the Congress in Barcelona also highlights the 2017 launch and and recent successes of the European Land Conservation Network, which have included:

A workshop on legal tools for conservation in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2018
A workshop on incentives for private land conservation in Madrid, Spain in 2018
A workshop on cooperative models for private land conservation in Sighisoara, Romania in 2019

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ILCN/ELCN Webinars

Due to the postponement of the Global Congress, the ILCN and ELCN hosted a series of webinars on key topics in private and civic land conservation in 2020 and early 2021. Recordings of the webinars are available at the link below.

VIEW WEBINARS

Earth Day Plenary and Webinars

The following are past ILCN/ELCN webinars. Recordings of these webinars are available at the links below and on our Resources page.

Featured Resources

Available Now

Resifarms — Boosting ecosystem services on non-productive farm land

Speaker: Ander Achotegui, Head of Sustainable Agriculture and Foresetry at Fundació Emys and Coordinator of the Resifarms project

Description: Farmland represents 40% of EU land. Agriculture can sustain high levels of biodiversity and be highly productive, but if managed too aggressively it can pollute and degrade the environment. There is a well-known synergy between agricultural production and semi-natural habitat conservation (ponds, forests, etc.) but it is still scarcely applied. The Resifarms project is preparing a toolkit and training sessions for farmers and technicians of Spain, France, Italy, Czech Republic and Romania to build up their skills. This webinar will explain the different problems Resifarms aims to tackle, the solution the project suggests and the different actions that are being and will be conducted.

View the recording here

Available Now

Land Conservation, Health and Well-Being

Speakers: Rand Wentworth, Louis Bacon Senior Fellow in Environmental Leadership, and Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Dr. Sadiya Muqueeth, Director of Community Health at the Trust for Public Land; and Dr. Carles Castell, Head of the Natural Areas Department at the Barcelona Provincial Council.

Description: This webinar will focus on the role of open space, parks, and protected areas as a critical part of public health infrastructure, offering multiple benefits for physical and mental health. Speakers from the United States and Spain, two of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, will share their perspectives on how land conservation contributes to health and well-being, and the urgency of ensuring equal access to quality green spaces for all.

View the recording here

Available Now

The Natura 2000 Protected Areas Network- the History and Future Outlook for Integrating Conservation on Private Lands

Description:

Natura 2000, a network of protected areas covering 18% of land and 10% of marine waters for the most valuable and threatened species and habitats across all 28 countries of the European Union, is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world. Join us for a webinar exploring the creation of the network; its evolving approach to integrating conservation on private lands; and its results for nature and biodiversity conservation in Europe. Speakers will share reflections on the history, context, and future outlook for Natura 2000 and private land conservation, providing an opportunity for conservation practitioners, land managers, and protected area coordinators to get in-depth perspectives into the achievements, lessons learned, and broader implications from this unique effort.

View the recording here