A once-in-a-decade global forum on parks closed in Sydney on Wednesday calling for an urgent increase in ocean protection and stressing the economic benefits of natural sanctuaries.
The World Parks Congress, with representatives from 160 nations, outlined a pathway for achieving a global target to protect at least 17 percent of land and 10 percent of oceans by 2020.
The forum, organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), set out a broad agenda ranging from halting rainforest loss to planting 1.3 billion trees.
The world is so far on track to meet the 2020 targets, but the document notes that threats to nature are now at the highest level in human history due to human consumption, population growth, and industrial activity.
The week-long meeting followed an Australian-led scientific review which found governments needed to do more to protect national parks or risk losing their economic, environmental and social benefits.
A key focus of the forum was on the economic benefits of conserving the world's wildernesses and their contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Ocean sanctuaries were emphasized, as threats to marine life have become more obvious.
The meeting also highlighted the need to ensure that protected areas were established in the right spots to prevent further biodiversity loss.
The IUCN updated its "red list" of threatened species at the congress, naming the Pacific bluefin tuna, a fish used in sushi and sashimi dishes, as at risk of extinction as the global food market places "unsustainable pressure" on the species and others.
The Chinese pufferfish, American eel, Chinese cobra and Australian black grass-dart butterfly also made the list while the world's largest-known earwig was declared extinct due to habitat destruction.
PHOTO: A once-in-a-decade global forum on parks has closed in Sydney calling for an urgent increase in ocean protection and stressing the economic benefits of natural sanctuaries.
CREDIT: AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad.