Curitiba held the Third Workshop of IABIN’s Protected Area Thematic Network September 22-25. Representatives from 17 countries were present at the event where they were trained to work with tools for interacting with the World Database on Protected Areas.

According to Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza environmental project analyst Eduardo Dalcin, the highlight of the meeting was the good acceptance of the National Registry of Protected Areas, the Brazilian system for managing protected areas. “Among the participants, 15 declared they would recommend adoption of the Brazilian program in their countries. That is a clear indicator of the workshop’s success,” he said.

The participants also demonstrated satisfaction with the results. “I’m going back with more than expected. I’m very impressed with how advanced Brazil is in this matter. You should be very proud,” affirms Edgar Ek, representative from Belize.

“In Guatemala, biodiversity is not a priority, so we have many obstacles that do not allow us to advance much. With what we received here, we saved two or three years of work and lots of money, and with the implementation of these tools, we can focus our work on other areas,” comments the technician from Guatemala, Estuardo Cancinos.

At the end of activities, the participants were able to get to know the Nature Station exhibit and Salto Morato Natural Reserve, projects sponsored by Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza.