Protected Areas and World Heritage Programme

Protected Area Resource Centres (PARC)

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, Information Management Task Force  

The PARC Concept

PARC will strengthen the capacity of protected area networks for information flow and networked communication, and provide a single distributed and coherent source of protected area information resources and services.

Protected areas - the heartland of biodiversity:

As international efforts to preserve biological diversity have evolved, it has become clear that protected areas are at the heart of any global strategy for success. Without the preservation of core areas of habitat - as well as the preservation of buffer zones around cores and linking wildlife corridors - biodiversity as we know it will be lost. Moreover, protected areas preserve landscapes, seascapes and natural areas for appropriate, longterm, appreciation and use by human beings.

Of those areas most critically in need of preservation (as habitats of intense endemism, as ecologically exceptional communities, or as unique landscapes) significant numbers fall within the borders of the world's less developed countries. The PARC project aims to organise protected area information and disseminate it globally while paying special attention to the needs of countries with limited access to modern communications technology.

The international information gradient:

Paralleling international disparities in distribution of wealth are sharp disparities in the distribution of information resources and in access to international information networks. These disparities mean that those on-the-ground, working to save the most sensitive and most vulnerable areas of our planet, are least able to gain direct and timely access to essential information resources and services. Moreover, disparities in access to networks has meant that best practice examples of protected areas management are not easily disseminated, nor can effective lateral communication or sharing of experiences occur.

The PARC Project is designed to deliver essential resources and services to those most in need of them. One of PARC's underlying principles is that project design must lessen the destructive effects of global information disparities.

The PARC Project:

The Information Resources and Information Services Model The PARC Project is designed to provide for the information needs of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the wider protected areas community. PARC will seek, wherever possible, the most efficient development of resources and services by fostering cooperation among all major players in world-wide and regional protected area work.

PARC will establish a three tiered network of protected area resource centres: at the international, regional and local level. At each level the centres will be situated in suitable "host" institutions which can provide the necessary infrastructural support. The international PARC will be based at UNEP-WCMC where it will coordinate and support the network of regional PARCs in each of the 15 WCPA regions. "PARC International" will provide a dynamic focal point for the collection of protected area data; for the production of new protected area resources; and for the design and delivery of information services.

Within the WPCA regions local PARCs will be strategically located to provide access points for on-the-ground delivery of resources and services. It is envisaged that this distributed network will create both a heightened awareness of regional and local resources and a greater sensitivity and responsiveness to regional and local conservation needs.

As an initial test phase, it is proposed that PARC International be established along with several regional PARCs. The regional PARCs will in turn work with several local PARCs to insure a valid test of the PARC model. Local PARCs, in this initial phase, will be carefully selected to provide a diverse range of challenges to the PARC model.

The Goals of the PARC Project:

• To develop new protected area information resources and strengthen support to existing resources;

• To develop new protected area information dissemination services: blending services currently available with new and innovative services;

• To coordinate protected area networking and resource sharing and support mechanisms of feedback ("vertically") to the international level from the protected area community; and

• To offer training in best practice uses of information management tools and computer-based technologies.

The PARC Plan

To achieve the goals set out above PARC will implement a series of actions which have been identified under each of the four goals.

1. The Development of New protected Area Information Resources and the Strengthening of Support to Existing Resources.

PARC will provide a one-stop information source of protected area literature by:

• Providing an Internet accessible automated library catalogue of protected areas literature;

• Creating an inclusive bibliographic database of protected area citations.;

• Establishing a single united database of catalogues protected areas literature and citations to the protected areas literature;

• Identifying a "core document set" of protected area literature (for replication and distribution in varied formats);

• Continuing support and development of the UNEP-WCMC Protected Area Virtual Library and Biodiversity Map Library;

• Identifying and evaluation of software relevant to the protected areas community; and

• Carrying out an inventory and cataloguing of core sets of slides, audio and video tapes from IUCN, UNEP-WCMC, WWF and other sources.

2. Development of New Protected Area Information Dissemination Services.

Information dissemination services will be developed through:

• The licensing and distribution of (or provision of remote access to) commercially available CD-ROM;

• The production of a PARC Current Awareness Service including:
  • Combined accessions lists from partner organisations to create a "union accessions list" of new protected areas literature;

  • A Protected Area Calendar of conferences and other meetings;

  • A Protected Area Academic Directory listing academic programs, internships, scholarships and other activities;
  • Protected Area grants and general fund-raising information;

  • A Protected Area Projects Directory listing projects currently underway as well as a retrospective listing of projects;

  • A Protected Area Clippings service: collection and distribution of selected "current events" articles; and

  • A directory of WPCA members, giving details of each member's professional expertise.

• The development of a variety of protected area document delivery mechanisms using all appropriate media (from conventional mail to the Internet).

3. The Coordination of protected area networking and resource sharing including effective mechanisms for feedback ("vertically") to the international level from the protected area community.

Coordination will include:

• The establishment of a system of regional Internet nodes at the Regional PARCs and the development of dissemination mechanisms, from these nodes;

• The establishment of thematic and geographic LISTs on the Internet; and

• The circulation of WPCA RFC's (Requests for Comment).

4. Design, implement and support training in best practice uses of information management tools and computer-based technologies.

The training element of PARC will include:

• The establishment of an "Expert Partners" (Mentoring) system within WPCA; and

• Training in the use of information and communications technology including: electronic publishing and statistical software; GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and database management, communications, image processing and management software.

For further information contact:

Tom Moritz, Convenor,
Director of the Library
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street at Central Park West
New York 10024, USA

Tel: +1 212 769 5417
Fax: +1 212 796 5009
Email: tmoritz@amnh.org