ICPL was established in 1990 to offer training for protected area professionals and to provide advisory and consultancy services to governments and non-government organisations around the world.



The idea for the Centre was conceived following a 1987 Symposium on Protected Landscapes, held in the UK, from which emerged the Lake District Declaration calling for a "world-wide exchange of information and experience on the management of such landscapes" and stressing the need "to encourage and extend training".



It is these needs that ICPL seeks to address. It does so through a range of activities including academic and professional training; consultancy and research; and through establishing networks and partnerships with individuals, organisations and institutions around the world who, like ourselves, are endeavouring to address the challenges of protected area management in the 21st century.