Name: Global Collaboration for Protected Area Management
Start: 2026-01-15T18:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-01-15T19:30:00+00:00
Location: Huxley Lecture Theatre, ZSL Meeting Rooms

Global Collaboration for Protected Area Management

Hear from world-leading conservation practitioners on how they deliver effective and efficient protected area management.
About this Event

Applying data-driven tools to deliver effecitve and efficient protected area management and tackle conservation challenges.

Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims for the effective conservation and management of at least 30% of global land and sea by 2030, but this ambition is undermined by chronically under-resourced management and the current lack of robust systems to measure management effectiveness in many areas worldwide.

This broader context provides the backdrop for this event, which introduces the SMART–EarthRanger Conservation Alliance (SERCA), a new, pioneering, global collaboration to revolutionize protected area management. SMART (which focuses on adaptive management and data-driven decisions) and EarthRanger (which delivers real-time intelligence to managers) exist to help practitioners assess and strengthen protected and conserved area (PCA) management. SERCA unites these tools and approaches under one banner, extending their collective reach and impact to over 2,000 areas across more than 100 countries, and drawing on the expertise and skills of nine conservation organizations.

In this event, you’ll hear from some of the world’s leading conservation practitioners on their experiences working with partners to apply SERCA tools to help improve management effectiveness and efficiency across a diversity of sites, landscapes and use cases. We’ll explore the ways that established and new technology is being used to aid management practices, from more traditional-based patrolling or wildlife surveys to more sophisticated area-based management. Finally, we’ll explore how greater collaboration and alignment among these approaches presents a critical opportunity to build more comprehensive, integrated systems for adaptive PCA management, thus addressing the challenge of effectiveness at the necessary scale and with urgency.

Speakers

Xia Stephens, Panthera - Integrated use of SMART and EarthRanger for effective patrolling in the Kafue landscape, Zambia
Tom Bruce, ZSL - Use of SMART for systematic biodiversity monitoring in the Dja Landscape
Jes Lefcourt, Allen Institute for AI - The value of real-time intelligence in PCA management
Nara Batdorj, Wildlife Conservation Society - Lessons learned from a national adoption of SMART in Mongolia
Freya Larsen, Frankfurt Zoological Society - How technology tools can be used to collate data to track the impact of area-based conservation
Anthony Dancer, ZSL - Advancing global collaboration to strengthen management effectiveness of protected and conserved area
Cleo Smart, SMART-EarthRanger Conservation Alliance - The future: The SMART-EarthRanger Conservation Alliance

Attending this event

This event is free to attend but registration is required so we can monitor event numbers.
The event will feature a presentation from the author, followed by a Q&A discussion. It will run from 6:00pm - 7:30pm, and doors will open at 5:30pm.
Seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Venue: Huxley Lecture Theatre at the Meeting Rooms of the Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, NW1 4RY.
Travel: Nearest underground: Camden Town Station; Nearest bus: no. 274.

Further Information

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