From Europe to Latin America – connecting Protected Areas

On Wednesday 8th of October EUROPARC Federation reached out over the Atlantic Ocean to shake a hand with our sibling organisation RedParques from Latin America.

From Europe to Latin America – connecting Protected Areas

At the EUROPARC Conference 2025 in Birštonas, Lithuania, EUROPARC and RedParques shook hands and signed a declaration of commitment which aims to connect Protected Areas across oceans.

The delegation from RedParques was headed by the current Regional Coordinator, Ms. Hilda Ángel, who is also the General Manager of National Parks and Natural Monuments of the National Institute of Parks (INPARQUES) of Venezuela. Ms. Dayana Porras, the Technical Focal Point for the Regional Cooperation of RedParques and Specialist in INPARQUES participated in the delegation along with Mr. Edgar Vicuña, Deputy Director of Strategic Information and Research of the National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP) of Peru. The delegation also included Mr. Pietro Graziani, Regional Technical Coordinator of the Italian Development Cooperation Agency (AICS) of the programme AMAZONÍA+.

In the declaration of commitment, EUROPARC and RedParques agreed to formalise the collaboration with preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding and accompanying work plan. This is a logical step as both organisations work on strengthening the management of Protected Areas, and share common objectives for biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and capacity building.

The themes for collaboration include:

1. Capacity development and knowledge management.
2. Communication, awareness-raising, and public participation.
3. Policy dialogue and international cooperation.

The joint activities could include exchange of information, methodologies, and good practices through e.g. organisation of workshops and technical meetings. In effect, the organisations have already hosted several workshops together, with EUROPARC Spain taking a lead role. 

EUROPARC is looking forward to exploring the possibilities of this cooperation.

Quote from Hilda Ángel:

We are convinced that, though we are two continents geographically apart, we are very similar because we both have one common goal which is the conservation of Protected Areas.

More about RedParques

RedParques is a regional network of technical cooperation among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, aimed at strengthening Protected Areas, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. Participating 23 countries seek to share lessons learned and good management practices to scale up the impact of Protected Areas in the region.