Previous Conferences

SAMPAA has held five previous conferences on Science and the Management of Protected Areas:

• First International Conference on Science and the Management of Protected Areas -- held in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. May 1991
• Second International Conference with a theme of Ecosystem Monitoring and Marine Protected Areas and Sustainable Fisheries -- held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. May 1994
• Third International Conference with a theme of Linking Protected Areas with Working Landscapes Conserving Biodiversity -- held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. May 1997
• Fourth International Conference with a theme on Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future -- held in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. May 2000
• Fifth International Conference with a theme of Making Ecosystem Based Management Work: Connecting Managers and Researchers -- held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. May 2003

SAMPA I - 1991 - Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Wolfville proved to be an ideal site for the first International Conference on Science and the Management of Protected Areas. The spring weather was warm and welcoming. Participants came from 15 countries to make up an interesting mixture of academics, civil servants, conservation advocates, business people, and students.

The content of the conference reflected a number of themes and the following is reflective of the papers presented and the discussion that took place. The importance of greater legal protection of natural areas and of sounder stewardship of natural heritage was a dominant concern because of the accelerating decline in global biodiversity. Protection implies explicit strategies for the management of natural systems including those in marine environments. Science plays an essential role in assisting in the definition of strategic objectives and providing means for the realisation of those objectives, such as the in the scientific approach to land use planning and protected area selection and design. It was noted that adopting scientific approaches towards determining policy and in putting policies into action, partnerships must be forged between managers and scientists and between popular groups, notably between dominant cultures and cultural minorities.

The natural systems we seek to protect are dynamic and management objectives for protected areas are of necessity very long term. Under these circumstances floral and faunal management is complicated and must be based on adequate monitoring of the bio-physical elements of natural systems and understanding the ecological interactions. Protected Areas play a crucial role as benchmarks for global climate change research, which involves novel approaches to data management and to the monitoring of water quality. Often of more direct concern to protected area managers, however, are the direct human impacts created by factors such as tourism. A declaration relating to the responsibilities of governments was also affirmed at the conference. Chris Maser (Oregon State U.), Hal Eidsvik,( IUCN) Dave Lohnes,(Parks Canada), Peter Ottesen (Great Barrier Reef), were among the key speakers.

SAMPA II - 1994 - Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

The focus of the second Conference was on Scientific Monitoring in Protected areas. As the environmental impacts of humanity have grown, the need for measures of environmental change has become acute. In this regard, the importance of protected areas as baseline-monitoring sites has increased use of these areas by scientists. Programs for environmental monitoring have been developed in many parts of the world and there is an increasing awareness of the importance of biodiversity monitoring as a key factor in what is sometimes called "ecosystem health". The central concept for the conference was that by bringing together people who are involved in environmental and ecological monitoring, both as scientists and managers, the world would be better able to deal with environmental change by being more aware of it and better able to predict it.

The conference had generic, terrestrial and marine components. There was a primary focus on monitoring concepts, frameworks for monitoring systems, applications and approaches to monitoring such as; biological community approaches, species approaches, physical applications of monitoring, and landscape applications. Other papers responded to the need for partnerships and volunteers as well as overviews of protected areas systems and their relationship to monitoring.

In addition, there was a five part Symposium on Marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries. Three different perspectives on marine areas, natural science including marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries examined the role of non-extractive reserves, the designation of seasonal conservation zones, marine zoogeography in the design of MPA’s and species protection. A further session identified and assessed approaches to the establishment and maintenance of MPA’s and marine ecosystem monitoring networks with a focus on providing a comparative perspective on the establishment and maintenance of MPA’s in various jurisdictions around the world. This session suggest that indigenous subsistence, commercial, and recreational fishing and management agencies require increased awareness regarding the value of MPA’s. The final session probed the links among the many social aspects of planning and establishing MPA’s. Presenters included: Gene Likens (Institute of Ecosystem Studies NY.), Bill Ballentine (New Zealand), Peter Ottesen and Richard Kenchington (Australia) and Tundi Agardy (World Wildlife Fund US.).

SAMPA III - 1997 - University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta

This was the first time the conference was held outside of Nova Scotia and as a consequence it brought together a number of people from the west, while still providing a forum for international participants. Fourteen percent of delegates were from outside of Canada with 13 countries represented. Calgary was a perfect location for the theme " Linking Protected Areas with Working Landscapes-Protecting Biodiversity". The development and conservation initiatives occurring along the western cordillera and the field trip through the Bow Valley to Banff National park provided an in-depth illustration of the pressures and stresses of eco-tourism.

An appreciation of the magnitude of the cumulative impacts that managers deal with was gained by participants. The central focus of the conference on "Linking Protected Areas and Working landscapes", attracted a number of papers on the Yellowstone to Yukon Corridor concept. Other conference sub-themes attracted considerable attention such as: First Nation approaches; Air Quality, Ecosystem Research and Policy, Partnerships; Education and Public Awareness and GIS applications. The conference concluded with papers on New Methods and Science, Philosophy, Ethics, People and the Management of Protected Areas. This last session attracted many papers and reflected a significant recognition that the social sciences form an integral part of protected areas research. Adrian Phillips, Chair of the World Parks Commission, John Reynolds, Regional Director Pacific West of the US. National Parks Service, Michael Soule (US.) Richard Braithwaite from Australia and Jim Butler at the University of Alberta, and Caroline Underwood from the CBC were the plenary speakers.

SAMPAA - IV - 2000 - University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario

The Fourth SAMPAA Conference was organised through a joint effort between SAMPAA and the Parks Research Forum of Ontario (PRFO). The World Parks Commission-North American Chapter also held a meeting in conjunction with the Conference. A total of 186 papers were given within 25 sessions over the 5 day conference.

The opening session was titled Globalisation and Protected Areas. Papers in this session considered the impact of the long term trend towards economic and social globalisation on the natural world and protected areas. The two plenary speakers were ecological economist Bob Costanza, who examined the economics of globalisation, and evolution biologist and futurist Elisabet Sahtouris, who spoke about the biology of globalisation. On the second day the plenary session was "The Changing Role of Ecosystem Science, with speakers Stephen Woodley, Tom Nudds and Tom Hoekstra. An important part of this theme was a parallel session addressing the human dimensions of ecosystem planning and management. A special evening session was held on the Ontario Lands for Life program with speakers and panellists from Ontario Parks, the Ministry of Natural resources, and non government organisations. After field trips on Wednesday, the conference addressed marine protected areas with a plenary led by Elliot Norse and Tundi Agardy.This provided a focus for the four day concurrent session on the marine environment. On the final day of the conference a plenary panel on Ecological Integrity featured Richard Sellars, Pamela Wright, Kevin McNamee and Nik Lopoukhine addressing contemporary issues associated with the maintenance of Ecological integrity. The conference wrapped up at the final luncheon with Chris Williams from the World Wildlife Fund who presented a striking visual presentation of ecosystem conservation in the Chihuahuan Desert.

SAMPAA - V - 2003 - University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

The Fifth International Conference on Science and the Management of Protected Areas (SAMPAA V), held in Victoria, British Columbia, provided a forum for resource managers, researchers, students and policy makers to discuss the latest developments and ideas in terrestrial and marine protected areas establishment and management. Over 500 attendees explored the theme of Ecosystem Based Management and its relevance to researchers and managers in both terrestrial and marine realms. In this conference we departed from our tradition of publishing a hard-cover conference proceedings for three reasons: reduced costs, wider dissemination and faster publication. A CD was produced instead.

The Proceedings are organized in a similar fashion to the conference. The seven plenary presentations form an introductory chapter, as they provide the overarching context for the remaining papers. Some of the special sessions (CPAWS workshop on Climate Change, Parks Canada workshop on Species at Risk) are presented as autonomous units, while a special workshop sponsored by the World Commission on Parks and Protected Areas is integrated into a broader chapter on collaboration across boundaries. As usual, the Proceedings open with internationally focused papers, followed by conference sub themes including ecosystem monitoring, social science of monitoring ecological integrity, and understanding human preferences in park planning. System planning, ecosystem based management in theory and practice, and economic benefit and analysis (organized by the Canadian Parks Council) wrap up the terrestrial component of the proceedings. The next three chapters explore marine issues: marine protected areas planning and design; inventorying, monitoring and the role of science in MPA's; and marine ecosystem based management. The taped Panel Discussion and recommendations arising from the interactive program of the final day wrap up the proceedings.