Profile: La Red de Áreas Conservadas de Venezuela (Venezuelan Network of Conserved Areas)

Jose Ramón Delgado, Edgard Yerena, & Vilisa Morón

Venezuela has a long-standing history of conserving land, primarily through state-managed protected areas. A wave of environmental activism in the 1970s strengthened the movement, inviting greater citizen participation and opening the door to voluntary civil-society conservation. This was bolstered in 2003 when a group of landowners established the Venezuelan Association of Private Areas for the Conservation of Nature, although the organization operated for only six years. Today, a new group has appeared on the scene, throwing open a window of opportunity for private land conservation across the nation.

The Network of Conserved Areas of Venezuela (RACV) was born in 2024 and hosted its first in-person member meeting in November of that year. 60 people attended, including representatives from 23 Conserved Areas. In Venezuela, Conserved Areas are defined as natural spaces conserved by NGOs, individuals, and communities that contribute to biodiversity conservation.

Background

RACV is a voluntary initiative aimed at convening people and organizations with a variety of experience and expertise in conservation. Members include Conserved Area managers—some of whom are commercial companies, civil associations and universities—and environmental experts. The network forges working relationships among its members that may then help achieve institutional support for Conserved Areas from state entities. The RACV seeks to enhance biodiversity conservation within the framework of Venezuela’s commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) decision on protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).

The RACV emerged from a 2010 study by the Protected Areas Laboratory of the Department of Environmental Studies of Simón Bolívar University, which explored the landscape of Conserved Areas. The study identified 110 such areas, demonstrating the vitality of private conservation in Venezuela despite the nation’s social, political, and economic crises. In December 2022, several leading conservation organizations signed the Caracas Declaration for the Conserved Areas of Venezuela of 2022, a manifesto that established the conceptual basis for the RACV.

The network’s model is a response to the political and social circumstances of the country, which complicate formal, structured organizations due to the complexities of state registration processes and operational procedures.

Network Characteristics

The RACV is the only initiative of its kind in Venezuela. It currently has 38 duly registered Conserved Areas protecting an estimated 27,081 hectares (about 66,919 acres), with 80 associated members. Currently, most of the RACV’s Conserved Areas are in the central region of Venezuela, but the network hopes to expand to have representation across the country.

Legal Context

The RACV is working within a tenuous legal landscape for voluntary conservation. Venezuela has yet to establish clear guidance or expectations for private land conservation that could provide a legal, financial, and institutional framework for the work of its members. The nation has no legal body that explicitly promotes or regulates in situ civil society conservation in accordance with the CBD’s guiding principles for OECMs. But certain laws and regulations for protecting biodiversity are implicit in the nation’s legal system.

The Venezuelan Constitution established in 1999 calls on citizens to participate in biodiversity conservation. Similarly, the Organic Law of the Environment (2007) states that civil society is co-responsible for environmental management and empowers it to develop projects in this regard, even recognizing the existence of “private areas for conservation” without defining that term.

Finally, the Forests’ Law (2013) promotes civil society conservation initiatives and establishes that natural space cannot be considered “idle or unfarmed.” It also designates Reservas de Medio Natural (which translates most closely to “Wild Environment Reserves”), a figure defined by the Law that applies to private protected areas recognized by the State, as a tool for landowners to protect rural properties that promote ecological balance and biodiversity. To do so, a landowner must request approval and certification from the Environmental Authority. Unfortunately, this mechanism has not been well promoted and is largely unknown and rarely implemented.

Organization

The RACV receives financial support from members who make voluntary contributions. It is guided by a five-member steering committee and a coordinator who is responsible for organizing and operating the RACV. Additionally, the network aims to appoint an advisory group, which will consist of members selected for their professional experience in biodiversity conservation, sustainable production, environmental education, tourism, financial and business management, and legal advocacy.

Its members are divided into three categories. (1) Conserved Areas – consisting of owners or representatives of the areas being conserved; (2) Allied Organizations – comprised of associations or collectives committed to protecting Conserved Areas; and (3) Friends – made up of all relevant individuals, committed to protecting Conserved Areas who do not belong in either of the former categories.

Looking forward

In coming months and years, the RACV seeks to gain recognition and trust for its work in the conservation of biodiversity in private and community areas as a resource across three specializations: (1) sustainability education and awareness; (2) application of conservation actions, and (3) design and implementation of Nature-Based Solutions.

The network’s next steps include developing a legal defense manual, outlining a strategy for enabling legal recognition for Conserved Areas, and developing a mechanism to monitor, evaluate, and certify members’ conservation impacts. Additionally, it hopes to raise awareness for and encourage members to register properties as Wild Environment Reserves.

The RACV’s work today represents a resurgence of the nation’s longstanding commitment to nature. It once again seeks to strengthen Venezuela’s legal framework to better serve its biodiversity, landscapes, and people. To do so, it leverages the power of unity, this time building off the research, connections, and progress colleagues have made during a period of unprecedented innovation both domestically and internationally.

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