Exchange programmes - IUCN

The focus of the QLF’s international work is on the theme of stewardship; more
specifically, on creating, nurturingand enablinga responsible approach by landowners
and resource users to the management of land and its natural and cultural heritage.
Stewardship taps the basic human instinct to look after “homes”. By fosteringindividual
and community responsibility, the stewardship approach puts conservation in the hands
of the people most affected by it.
Ways in which the exchange programme is said to be making a difference are very
similar to those already identified as the benefits of exchange programmes generally:
� Buildingleadership and strengtheninginstitutions: local leaders who have participated
in exchanges have reported that the exchanges have provided them with
new ideas, access to tools and strategies, increased confidence, professional
revitalisation, and a connection to an international network;
� Advancing new strategies for conservation and community development through
a transfer of innovations and mutual exchange among peers, and by the crossfertilisation
of ideas drawn from experience in diverse areas;
� Promotingcitizen participation in environmental problem solving;
� Helpingpractitioners develop effective ways to shape public policy;
� Encouraging citizen diplomacy by bringing together people of differing ethnic
and geographic backgrounds to work together on areas of shared interest. This has
worked particularly well in the Middle East programme, which has brought
together Arab and Jewish peers over the past seven years and is widely recognised
for its contribution to co-existence efforts in the region; and
� Fostering long-term co-operative links by growing and strengthening networks.
Other programmes
Global experiences with exchange programmes
� Parks Australia has an MOU with the Indonesian Directorate General Forest
Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA) to provide co-operation between the
two countries in matters of mutual conservation interest. One such project is the
twinningof Kakadu National Park in Australia and Wasur National Park in
Indonesia. Staff from Wasur have visited Kakadu and a Kakadu officer attended a
Wasur planningworkshop in Jakarta.
� A partnership agreement between Changbaishan National Park in China and Great
Smokey National Park in the US has been signed.
� Protected area staff exchanges have occurred between New Zealand and Nepal,
organised by the New Zealand National Parks Association.
� The US National Parks Service has a long-standing relationship with the US Peace
Corps. The NPS has provided assessment teams, assisted in recruitingvolunteers
for park-related assignments and conducted training for volunteers bound for
protected areas and parks. The effort continues today and is active in Central
Europe, Africa, and Latin America.
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