Kathy MacKinnon (28 February 1948 – 18 March 2023) was a zoologist committed to conservation who worked with many governmental organisations and

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. She was the lead biodiversity specialist at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

for 16 years and chaired the

World Commission on Protected Areas The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is one of six commissions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). History In 1948, the IUCN established a Committee on National Parks. Two decades later the IUCN had been ...

of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

from 2015 until 2021.

Early life and education

Kathy MacKinnon was born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, UK on 28 February 1948. She studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and was awarded BA (Honours) in Zoology in 1969, followed by a master's degree and then a D.Phil. degree for work in zoology in 1976.

Career

MacKinnon spent a decade working in the field on tropical ecology in Indonesia and became recognised for her knowledge and expertise. Her focus developed into the planning and management of protecting areas because of their conservation value, and she worked for another 20 years on other conservation projects around the world taking leadership roles to apply knowledge to conservation of biodiversity, natural resources and the issues of local communities living in these regions. She was a member of several national and international committees and organisations working on nature conservation. She was the lead biodiversity specialist at the

for 16 years (1994–2010), and led the consideration of conservation within all development programmes. She was a member of the leadership of

Wetlands International Wetlands International is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from ...

from 2011 until 2021 and encouraged the organisation's involvement in the conservation of

peatlands A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

. She was the deputy chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas followed by two terms as Chair (2015 until 2021), having been involved with the organisation since 2010. MacKinnon co-chaired the IUCN WCPA Specialist Group on

Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are sites outside of protected areas that are governed and managed in ways that deliver the long-term In-situ conservation, ''in situ'' conservation of biodiversity. As of March 2023, 856 suc ...

with Harry Jonas from 2016 to 2023, which included securing a decision by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity that sets out a definition and criteria for identifying OECMs.

Personal life

MacKinnon had three sons. She died on 18 March 2023.

Publications

MacKinnon was the author or co-author of over 100 scientific publications, books and best practice guidelines. These included: * IUCN/WCPA (2018). ''Draft Guidelines for Recognising and Reporting Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures''. January 2018. IUCN *Woodley, S., MacKinnon, K., McCanny, S., Pither, R., Prior, K., Salafsky, N. and D. Lindenmayer. (2015) ''Managing protected areas for biological diversity and ecosystem functions'', ''in'' G. L. Worboys, M. Lockwood, A. Kothari, S. Feary and I. Pulsford (eds) ''Protected Area Governance and Management'', pp. 651–684, Australia National University Press, Canberra. * Davies, J., Poulsen, L., Schulte-Herbrüggen, B. Mackinnon, K., Crawhall, N., Henwood, W.D., Dudley, N., Smith, J. and M. Gudka. (2012). ''Conserving Dryland Biodiversity''. IUCN and UNCCD. * Mackinnon, K., Dudley, N. and T. Sandwith. (2011). Natural solutions: Protected areas helping people to cope with climate change. ''Oryx'' 45 (4) 461–462. * Kathy MacKinnon, Gusti Hatta, Hakimah Halim and Arthur Mangalik (1997) ''The Ecology of Kalimantan - The Ecology of Indonesia Series III''. Oxford University Press, pp 832 * Kathy MacKinnon (1992) ''The wildlife of Indonesia: Nature's treasure house'' Gramedia Pustaka Utama, pp 292 * John MacKinnon and Kathy MacKinnon (1986) ''Review of the Protected Areas System in the Afrotropical Realm'' International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources pp 284

Honours and awards

In 2007 she was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the Society of Conservation Biology. In 2018, she was awarded the Midori Prize for Biodiversity for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity at global, regional or local levels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKinnon, Kathy 1948 births 2023 deaths British zoologists British conservationists Alumni of the University of Oxford People from Newcastle upon Tyne