North American Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected Areas Conservation

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Canada–United States–MexicoNAWPA CommitteeThe North american Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected areas Conservation (NaWPa Committee) is composed of the heads of federal agencies that oversee wilderness and protected areas in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. These agencies share a continent with vast, interconnected wilderness and other land, marine, and coastal areas protected in a natural state.

Forests, mountain ranges, wildlife species, wetlands, grasslands, freshwater systems, deserts, mangroves, and oceans, coral reefs, and marine life extending across boundaries are treasured by each country for their intrinsic and practical values. The tri-national NaWPa Committee aims to strengthen the conservation and management of these areas by cooperating on the formulation and implementation of strategies related to the research, monitoring, protection, and restoration of natural resources, ecosystems, and their components, including human communities, while facilitating opportunities for public outreach, education, visitor experience, and enjoyment, as well as ecosystem services.

Protection Beyond BoundariesThe NAWPA Committee, as defined by the MOU on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected areas Conservation, constitutes a productive body with the active engagement of agency leaders. Each participating agency strives to maximize cooperation across administrative and geographical boundaries towards healthy and well-protected natural resources that safeguard biodiversity and other essential ecosystem services in the face of rapidly escalating global change. To learn more about NAWPA, please visit this website: www.NAWPACommittee.org

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For NAWPA Agency Staff – How to Get InvolvedThe NaWPa Committee agency heads assign substantive work to their staff, who compose a working committee made up of a coordinating group (which provides intra-agency liaison) and working groups that address priority topics. The NaWPa Committee chair delegates leadership of agency staff to a working committee chair. The WILd Foundation (www.wild.org) acts as facilitator. To join a working group, please e-mail the facilitator at nawpa@wild.org. The facilitator will put you in touch with your agency’s member on the coordinating group, so that you may discuss your interest in NaWPa’s work.

The four working groups are:

1. The Role of Wilderness and Protected Areas in Responding to Climate Change (CCWG).

2. Ensuring the Relevance of Wilderness and Protected Areas in a Changing World (RWG).

3. Understanding and Communicating the Value of Ecological Goods and Services Provided by Wilderness and Protected Areas (VESWG).

4. Marine Wilderness and Protected Areas (MWPAWG).

Working group activities include field projects, reports, and communication tools, all aimed at specific audiences. The NAWPA working groups and coordinating group meet regularly by teleconference and annually in person.

director of USBLMChief of the USda Forest ServiceDirector of USDA OEM

NAWPA Committee CompositionCEO of Parks CanadaCommissioner of CONANPdirector of USNPSdirector of USFWS

The NaWPa Committee chairmanship rotates annually among agency heads.

1 A PDF copy of the MOU in English, Spanish, or French may be requested from nawpa@wild.org.

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NAWPA Mandate The mandate of the NaWPa Committee is prescribed by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation1 signed by the following seven North american government agencies at WILd9, the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WWC), in Mérida, State of Yucatán, Mexico, on November 7, 2009:

National Park Service (USNPS), Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the U.S. Department of the

Interior (USDI). Forest Service (FS) and Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets (now

Office of Environmental Markets) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) of the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

Parks Canada Agency (PCA) of the Government of Canada.

The MOU is the first international agreement dedicated to Wilderness and establishes a voluntary framework for cooperation between these countries and agencies. By agreement of the NaWPa Committee in May 2011, the MOU now extends to other protected areas. The MOU heralds a growing global understanding of the importance of wilderness and protected areas in the 21st century and the critical role they play in responding to climate change, the extinction crisis, shortages of quality water, and other environmental decline.

NAWPA Committee ChairsErnesto Enkerlin, National Commissioner, CONANP 2009–2010Alan Latourelle, CEO, Parks Canada 2010–2011Jon Jarvis, Director, US National Park Service 2011–2012Tom Tidwell, Chief, USDA Forest Service 2012–2013

The NaWPa Committee meets periodically in locations alternating among the three countries.

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NAWPA Committee Tri-National Cooperative Activities » Joint identification and conservation of transboundary resources, with a focus on the impacts of climate change, fire, and alien invasive species.

» Adopting a broader landscape approach to conservation management and setting transcontinental goals and developing plans of action.

» Valuing human livelihoods and communities dependent on these areas.

» Producing common, tri-national messages in products intended to educate policy-makers and render wilderness and protected areas more relevant to the public.

» Mechanisms of payment for ecosystem services.

» Sustained relationships between managers across agencies for the purpose of mentoring, sharing research and technology, and exploring common challenges and solutions.

» Exchanging information and best practices on innovative approaches to governance.

» Exploring potential to advance wilderness conservation in biosphere reserves and other protected areas.

» Facilitating visitor experience as a means to enhance relevance to the public.

» Research, inventory, documentation, and monitoring.