Putting good information to productive use requires objective analysis and organization, but also advocacy effective within the particular cultural and political realities of a given nation. Thus, a key component of the ParksWatch program is forging partnerships with individuals and NGO’s knowledgeable about local politics and advocacy.

ParksWatch was initiated in 1999 with a pilot project in Venezuela and currently has active partnership programs in Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina. Evaluations of key protected areas in Ecuador have been conducted in the first half of 2004.

Additional partnerships will be forged elsewhere in the tropical countries of Latin America, and ultimately we hope to expand to cover the entire tropical world, including Africa and South Asia. ParksWatch has carefully crafted and refined a methodology for monitoring and evaluating parks that we believe can work throughout the world, for the benefit of biodiversity.