Story | 02 Aug, 2022

Call to host the 6th International Marine Protected Area Congress (IMPAC6) in 2026

We are delighted to open a call for proposals to host the 6^th International Marine Protected Area Congress (IMPAC 6) in 2026. Since 2005 a global community of marine protected area managers and practitioners have come together once every four years at IMPAC, co-chaired by IUCN and the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA).

Call to host IMPAC6

Photo: IUCN

IMPAC aims to share knowledge and experience, and to join efforts to strengthen best practices in the creation and management of MPAs. Through these exchanges, it aims to promote the effective conservation of marine biodiversity as well as the natural and cultural heritage of the oceans. Canada has the pleasure of hosting IMPAC5 in Vancouver in 2023.

The four first IMPAC meetings were a tremendous success with high attendance rates, taking place in Geelong, Australia (2005), Washington, D.C., United States of America (2009), Marseille, France (2013), and La Serena, Chile (2017).

Over time, momentum has gathered force in numbers of individual and organisational participants and also state representatives, making IMPAC the technical and political platform to position MPAs as a key instrument for ocean regeneration, at the same time preserving the rights of indigenous people and empowering local communities of any MPA.

We hope that you are positioned for a proposal to host the 6^th IMPAC in 2026. Ideally the proposal will be between 10 to 12 pages long with contents summarized in an Annex (example Annex below). No doubt this correspondence will raise questions and excitement, and we look forward to further discussing IMPAC6 with you.

If you wish to be considered as a host country for IMPAC6, please submit your proposal by October 3, 2022, to Ocean@iucn.org (copy to fparedesv@gmail.com).

The host country and city will be chosen by the Selection Committee in late November 2022. If you are selected as the host country, we look forward to you attending IMPAC5 in Vancouver for the announcement of your winning selection and hand-over ceremony.

The selection committee will give special consideration to proposals coming from regions that have not previously hosted an IMPAC congress, have partnered with other countries for support, and have clear diversity and inclusion principles.

The Selection Committee is an international group comprised of WCPA-Marine (co-chair) and IUCN Ocean Team representatives, and previous hosts of IMPAC meetings.

We look forward to receiving your proposal to host IMPAC6.

Please submit your EOI using these forms and guidelines: