ROLE OF FAO, CATIE AND IUCN IN THE EXPANSION OF LATIN AMERICA’S PROTECTED AREAS IN THE 1960S–1980s

Dourojeanni M.J. · Parks (2023) · DOI: 10.2305/iucn.ch.2023.parks-29-1mjd.en

Resumen

From the 1960s to 1980s there was an enormous increase in the number, area and management quality of protected areas throughout Latin America. In 1960, there were only 122 protected areas, covering 6.5 million hectares in the region, while nine countries, including Colombia, Paraguay and Peru, had none. By 1989, this had increased to 797, covering 116.9 million hectares. This growth was 3.8 times higher than the growth of protected areas worldwide in the same period. In 1990, the region represented 16.5 per cent of the total world protected area. The catalysts for this sudden increase in conserving representative samples of natural ecosystems in Latin America are explored. It is concluded that, to a large extent, it was due to the combined influence, on one side, of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) of Turrialba (Costa Rica) by promoting the education and training of professionals and, on the other side, of the IUCN and WCPA, that provided awareness, a sense of urgency and facilitated horizontal cooperation to promote the establishment of protected areas as well as support for the professional teams of each country. Of the several personalities who contributed directly to this progress, Gerardo Budowski from Venezuela and Kenton R. Miller from the USA clearly stand out, working over three decades on behalf of the institutions above.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina