NPS Banner

 

OIA Title Box

 

A Bay Breasted Warbler. Image from Wikipedia.

 

 

 

 

Office of International Affairs
Program Topics

 

 

 

     

The National Park Service is involved in a variety of international activities. The Service provides Technical Assistance and Exchange to a variety of nations around the world.

Sharing expertise with visiting park and conservation professionals, in addition to the National Park Service’s overseas technical missions, demonstrates the full-range commitment of the Park Service in its contributions to global environmental conservation.

  Yosemite NP Rangers visit a national park in Chile.
Yosemite NP rangers, shown with Chilean park staff, visited Chile on a technical assistance exchange program.
     
International exchange is truly a two-way street: the National Park Service learns much from working with international partners. One way of formalizing technical assistance and exchange is to create a Sister Park relationship between a park in the United States and a park in a another country.
   A sisterpark signing ceremony between the NPS and a Chinese national park.
NPS/Chinese Sisterpark signing ceremony in China.
     

The World Heritage Convention lists natural and cultural areas of global importance.

These sites are such outstanding universally recognized natural and cultural features that they attract the admiration and merit the protection of all people worldwide. They are a heritage Americans share with the world.

  A view of Yosemite valley.
Yosemite National Park: a World Heritage Site since 1984.
     

Every year, more than one hundred individuals from all over the world volunteer in America's National Parks. The International Volunteers program places these international park professionals and students of park management, ecology and related subjects in U.S. National Parks.

From wetlands research in Everglades National Park, to Peregrine Falcon studies within Dinosaur National Monument, NPS International Volunteers participate in wide range of learning experiences.

   An NPS international volunteer at Zion.
An IVIP from Austria (center) assists two visitors in Zion National Park.
 
     

The World Protected Areas Leadership Forum draws together directors and CEOs of protected area agencies from across the globe.

The WPALF is a relatively small group of influential leaders from different countries. It provides an opportunity to share common experiences about emerging issues for protected areas around the globe.

   Members of the 1st WPALF meeting in Virginia.
Members of the first WPALF meeting in Virginia, 2000.
     

Park and protected area professionals from around the globe and other foreign dignitaries frequently travel to the United States to learn more about the National Park Service (NPS) and how it manages the National Park System. The Office of International Affairs frequently hosts International Visitors to Washington and to a great many units of the NPS.

 

   A small Chinese delegation poses in front of an NPS arrowhead.
  Members of a Chinese delegation pose with NPS staff after a meeting coordinated by the Office of International Affairs.
     
Park Flight is a cooperative initiative between the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and American Airlines to help Central American nations protect neotropical bird species which migrate between North and Central America.
   A Park Flight volunteer at Point Reyes National Seashore.
    A Park Flight volunteer at Point Reyes National Seashore stands ready to look for birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W NPS Arrowhead            
Park Flight Links WPALF Experience your America Logo
International Visitors Accessibility Site Index  
Technical Assistance Privacy Policy Disclaimer Information Act Contact OIA