Kathy MacKinnon (28 February 1948 – 18 March 2023) was a zoologist committed to conservation who worked with many governmental organisations and NGOs. She was the lead biodiversity specialist at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

for 16 years and chaired the World Commission on Protected Areas of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

from 2015 until 2021.

Early life and education

Kathy MacKinnon was born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

, UK on 28 February 1948. She studied at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

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 mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

. 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 of biodiversity. As of July 2022, 785 such sites have been repor ...

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