Keynote Presentation: Transboundary Protected Areas As A Vehicle For Peaceful Co-Operation

Transboundary protected areas TBPA’s as well as Peace Parks as defined by IUCN have attracted worldwide interest not only because of the publications of a number of significant papers describing successes but also through the recent declaration of new TBPA’s particularly in Southern Africa. The many benefits concerning biodiversity, promotion of international peaceful co-operation, economic improvement to people living in or near the areas, as well as more effective control of fires and poaching and recognition of the many services are described. There are presently 169 TBPA’s located in 113 countries. It is argued that Peace Parks should not be exclusively restricted to TBPA’s since it would no