CTC Executive Director Rili Djohani and CTC Senior Program Manager Hesti Widodo joined the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) held in Vancouver, Canada from February 3-9, 2022.

IMPAC, which is held every four years, is the premier international conference for marine conservation experts to exchange knowledge, best practices, and experiences in order to advance marine conservation and safeguard the natural and cultural legacy of the oceans. There was a lot of sharing, learning and networking on OECMs, role of indigenous people, equity and inclusiveness, 30×30, blue carbon, climate change, youth forums among others.

Ms. Djohani presented at several knowledge sharing events hosted by CTC’s partner organizations, including the following session: i) “Flipping Parks” from paper parks to effective MPAs highlighting lessons learned from the Coral Triangle, ii) “Maximizing impact from global solutions, how Panorama on-line platform can be used to create impactful change in marine conservation using Nusa Penida MPA as a case-study, and iii) “ Strengthening MPA Effectiveness and Equity Governance in Coral Triangle through Site Level Knowledge Exchange” and scaling up capacity building in the Coral Triangle.

Ms. Widodo also spoke at several events highlighting our work in advancing marine protected area effectiveness in Indonesia using the EVIKA tool as well as capacity building at the regional level in the Coral Triangle to achieve the global goal to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

IMPAC5 was jointly hosted by the Host First Nations—Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation) and Tsleil-waututh Nation—together with the Province of British Columbia, the Government of Canada, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IMPAC5 conference offered a platform for the international community to unite and lay forth a plan for accomplishing the ocean conservation goals of protecting at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030. Its objectives include, among others: giving nations an opportunity to collaborate on the creation of a post-2020 biodiversity framework for ocean conservation; and emphasizing the significant contribution that marine protected areas make to addressing the climate crisis and preserving biodiversity in a post-pandemic world.

IMPAC5 also aimed to engage the next generation of marine conservation experts and to draw attention to the leadership role played by Indigenous Peoples in marine protected areas all over the world. To accommodate attendees from all over the world, IMPAC5 was a hybrid in-person and online event.

By bringing together participants all over the world, IMPAC5 hopes to generate a broad commitment towards the protection, leadership, inclusive and equitable participation from all parties, including institutions, governments, organizations, Indigenous peoples, coastal communities, and individuals.

Photos: Rili Djohani/CTC & Hesti Widodo/CTC