A Year of Impact: Reflecting on 2025, Looking Ahead Together

Photo by Ted McGrath CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Dear Members,

As we step into the year ahead, we want to take a moment to reflect on last year’s meaningful progress, collaboration, and growth for the WCPA Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group (UCSSG). Our collective work continues to strengthen the ability of conservation practitioners to serve urban people, urban places, and urban institutions, recognizing that protected and conserved areas are essential not only in remote wilderness but also in and around cities, where nature must remain accessible to urban communities.

Leadership 

In November 2024, we were delighted to welcome two new Co-Chairs into leadership of the Specialist Group.

Carolina Figueroa Arango brings deep expertise in biodiversity conservation, climate-resilient development, and urban nature-based solutions, informed by her work across international, national, and municipal contexts. We are also excited to announce that Carolina recently stepped into a new role as Head of Protected Areas for the City of Bogotá.

Hoda Gray contributes extensive experience in park governance, policy, and inclusive stewardship from her leadership roles in Canada and the United Kingdom, and her current position with Seattle Parks and Recreation. She brings strong expertise in strategic leadership and multi-level governance, having guided complex partnerships and long-term management initiatives for protected and urban park systems.

Key Accomplishments in 2025

This year marked a significant milestone for the Specialist Group with the publication of Rethinking urban conservation: considering a new Urban Protected Area category or other formal international recognition in PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation. The paper advances global dialogue on urban protected areas (UPAs) by situating them within their social, legal, financial, and political contexts, recognizing their role as vital social spaces that connect urban communities to nature while delivering ecological, climate, and wellbeing benefits. It highlights governance, funding, legal, and social challenges and emphasizes the importance of holistic, community-centered approaches to UPA management that integrate urban planning and flexible governance.

Building on this work, the UCSSG convened a workshop at the 2025 World Conservation Congress titled Rethinking Urban Conservation. The session brought together a globally representative panel of urban conservation leaders and used an interactive World Café format to explore investment, governance, legal frameworks, and citizen involvement in UPAs. Discussions emphasized the need to move beyond outdated paradigms and recognize UPAs as not only ecological assets, but also deeply social spaces that support well-being, resilience, and belonging. Participants highlighted the importance of inclusive governance, collaboration across scales, and practical guidance to help local governments and communities translate ambition into action 

Insights from this workshop will directly inform the upcoming update of the IUCN Urban Protected Areas Guidelines and continue to shape how urban conservation is positioned within the broader global conservation agenda.

Concurrently, we gathered input from our members to better understand your priorities for the years ahead, and we were encouraged by the strong alignment across responses. Members consistently emphasized the need for practical guidance and tools to support urban conservation in diverse contexts, including updates to the IUCN Urban Protected Areas Guidelines, the sharing of case studies, and the development of adaptable frameworks that can be used by municipalities, practitioners, and communities. Many highlighted nature-based solutions as a central pathway for addressing climate risks in cities—such as flooding, extreme heat, biodiversity loss, and coastal vulnerability—while also enhancing human well-being. Members also underscored the importance of inclusive governance and community engagement, calling for stronger collaboration with local governments, Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, and marginalized communities, and for addressing inequities in access to urban nature. We look forward to using these responses to help shape the Specialist Group’s priorities and activities in the years to come.

Updates from the Dark Skies Advisory Group and Trails and Conservation Working Group

Dark Skies Advisory Group

After the 2025 release of The World at Night, the Dark Skies Advisory Group (DSAG) sadly said goodbye to our Chair, David Welch. With his guidance, the new Chair, Sharolyn Anderson, led an internal survey to determine the group’s direction following the publication. The response was overwhelmingly positive, confirming that DSAG would continue to support night sky protection and address light pollution in partnership with WPCA. We have successfully kept the DSAG website updated quarterly with newly certified Dark Skies locations worldwide, and we look forward to 2026, when we will share new research and developments in protecting the environment from light pollution. 

For more information about DSAG, please contact Sharolyn Anderson directly. 

Trails and Conservation Working Group

The Trails and Conservation Working Group has an exciting update: during the 2025 World Conservation Congress, a new motion titled Trails and Conservation was formally adopted, recognizing trails and ecological trail corridors as powerful—and often underutilized—tools for biodiversity conservation, particularly in urban and peri-urban contexts. Originating within the Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group, this work builds on early efforts to highlight trails as important physical and psychological connectors between urban people and nature, and led to the establishment of the Trails and Conservation Working Group in 2019. 

The work called for in the motion is cross-cutting and will be led by the WCPA Trails and Conservation Working Group in cooperation with the World Trails Network. Administrative and research support will be provided by the motion’s sponsor, the InterEnvironment Institute, with engagement across IUCN, including relevant WCPA specialist groups, the Dark Skies Advisory Group, and SSC groups addressing human–wildlife interactions and invasive species. This work directly supports targets under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and contributes to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. Together, this marks an important step forward in elevating trails within global conservation policy and practice. 

For more information about the Trails and Conservation Working Group, please contact Pedro Menezes directly. 

A New Way to Connect

Building on the momentum of this year, we launched a dedicated online hub to better connect our global community and share our growing body of work. Our new website serves as a central space to learn more about the Specialist Group, explore our leadership and areas of work, stay informed about upcoming events, and access key publications and resources. 

The website features a growing blog that explores spotlight UPAs from around the globe as well as important messages from the Specialist Group. We see this as a living space shaped by our community. We warmly invite members to contribute guest blogs sharing their experiences, insights, and areas of interest in urban conservation. If you are interested in writing for the site, please reach out to us at wcpa.urban@gmail.com 

Looking Ahead: Priorities for this Year 

As we move into the next phase of our work, the Specialist Group will focus on two core priorities:

• Growing and strengthening our membership, with attention to geographic, sectoral, and experiential diversity, ensuring the Group reflects the realities and voices of urban conservation practitioners worldwide.

• Updating the IUCN Urban Protected Areas Guidelines, incorporating new evidence, case studies, and lessons from cities and regions actively advancing inclusive, resilient urban conservation.

In parallel, we are beginning to think strategically toward the 2027 IUCN World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress (WPC 2027) in Panama, ensuring that urban conservation continues to be visible, well-resourced, and meaningfully integrated into global conservation discussions.

An Exciting Co-Chair Update and Upcoming Leave

As we reflect on the progress made by the UCSSG during the last year, we also want to share an important leadership update. Both Co-Chairs have just welcomed new additions to their families and have begun their maternity leave. During this period, the group’s work will continue, with Peter Frost serving as the Interim Lead. Please continue the conversation with us using our email, wcpa.urban@gmail.com, which will be monitored by our IUCN WCPA Young Professional, Amie Kusch.

Join Us

Urban areas are where conservation meets people every day. We invite you to join us in shaping the future of urban conservation, bringing your expertise, experience, and perspective into this growing and evolving field. Together, we can strengthen the role of UPAs as essential components of biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and human well-being.

To learn more about the Specialist Group and how to get involved, please visit our website. We look forward to continuing this work with you in the year ahead.

With gratitude,

Carolina Figueroa and Hoda Gray

Co-Chairs of the WCPA Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group