ABSTRACT
In September 2003, the fifth World Parks Congress titled Benefits beyond Boundaries was held in Durban, South Africa, in a huge conference centre close to the ocean. Dozens of parallel sessions were filled with over three thousand people from around the world. They each represented international organizations, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and universities. They met to set out international nature conservation policy for the following ten years. Despite being the result at the end of a long series of preparatory sessions, for an individual on the ground it seemed an extraordinary place and an extraordinary moment: A huge group of professional people with apparently less than two weeks to define and write out what should be happening in national parks, nature reserves and other areas designated for nature conservation, all around the world. Responding to the main theme and reflecting the location of the hosting country, former President Nelson Mandela made the opening speech calling for international transboundary initiatives that would link parks in several countries to be vehicles of peace and development. The room was abuzz.
