| Type | International organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Conservation; Sustainable use |
| Founded | October 1948, Fontainebleau, France |
| Headquarters | Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland |
| Key people | Julia Marton-Lefèvre Ashok Khosla |
| Revenue | CHF 133 million (2008) |
| Employees | Over 1,000 (worldwide) |
| Website | www.iucn.org |
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges."[1] The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of conservation organizations to rate which species are most endangered.[2]
The IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by more than 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. The Union’s headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, Switzerland.[1]
IUCN's stated vision is "a just world that values and conserves nature." Its mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and biodiversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable."[3]
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The first Director General of UNESCO, (Sir Julian Huxley), wishing to give UNESCO a more scientific base, sponsored a congress to establish a new environmental institution to help serve this purpose.[4]
At that first congress (held at Fontainebleau, France), on 5 October 1948, 18 governments, 7 international organizations, and 107 national nature conservation organizations all agreed to form the institution and signed a "constitutive act" creating an International Union for the Protection of Nature.[4]
From this beginning, the overriding strategy and policy of the institution has been to explore and promote mutually beneficial conservation arrangements that suit those promoting development as well as assisting people and nations to better preserve their flora and fauna.[4] When approached in 1978 by primatologist Richard Wrangham to contribute funds to the new Digit Fund to prevent further poaching of mountain gorillas near Dian Fossey's Karisoke Research Station in Rwanda, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declined to provide funds to the cause. Instead, the IUCN supported opening the Virunga Volcanoes to tourism as a way to encourage the Rwandan government to preserve the gorillas.[5]
At all times, the institution (in all its forms) has heavily emphasized as a key operating principle the strong need to cater to and address the needs of local nations, communities and peoples, so that those nations, communities and peoples can take ownership of future, long term conservation goals and objectivess in their local areas:[4]
| “ | Protected areas and threatened species could most effectively be safeguarded if local people considered it in their own interest to do so. Working with rather than against local people became a major working principle for IUCN. | ” |
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The IUCN's World Conservation Strategy (1980)[6] was founded upon this kind of principle, and clearly announced the IUCN's ambitions to more effectively enter into dialogue with the promoters of human development. The strategy was internationally applauded by many and served to secure the IUCN funds from several donors who did not themselves feel they could open up effective dialogue in the world's developing countries, nor that United Nations organizations and international banks would effectively engage in such dialogue.[4]
Since the World Conservation Strategy and the dawn of the sustainable development era, however, these goals have come to sit uneasily with attempts by institutions such as The World Bank to "mainstream the environment."[7] This has led to pressure from more powerful institutions, such as The Bank itself as well as the UNDP and UNEP, to help promote the expansion of the free-market onto the environment, re-named "natural resources," thus giving wealthy investors and multinationals the right to purchase rights to things previously considered intangible and common property, such as water, genetic resources, and the right to pollute the atmosphere.
With the pre-eminence of the concept of sustainable development, the IUCN has expanded into many of the nations around the world, making available the services of a large pool of mainly voluntary specialists, providing local level advice and conservation services, and expanding its networks of Committees and regional advisory bodies into increasing numbers of countries.[4] It remains to be seen how well the IUCN will be able to reconcile its founding ideals with the pressures of incorporation into the development institutions.
Some key dates in the growth and development of this organization include:[4]
The Union has three components: its member organizations, its 6 scientific commissions, and its professional secretariat.[1]
The Union unites both States and non-governmental organizations. They set the policies of the Union, define its global programme of work and elect its Council (comparable to a company board) at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. Member organizations organize themselves into National and Regional Committees.[1]
There are six commissions that "assess the state of the world’s natural resources and provide the Union with sound know-how and policy advice on conservation issues":[10]
IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC): CEC champions the strategic use of communication and education to empower and educate stakeholders for the sustainable use of natural resources. As of May 2010[update], the commission claims 700 members led by Chairman Keith Wheeler.[10][11]
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP): CEESP provides expertise and policy advice on economic and social factors for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. As of May 2010[update], CEESP has 1000 members and is led by Chairwoman Aroha Te Pareake Mead.[10][11]
IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (CEL): CEL advances environmental law by developing new legal concepts and instruments, as well as by building the capacity of societies to employ environmental law for conservation and sustainable development. As of May 2010[update], there are 800 members on this commission led by Chairwoman Sheila Abed de Zavala.[10][11]
IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM): CEM provides expert guidance on integrated ecosystem approaches to the management of natural and modified ecosystems. As of May 2010[update], it has 400 members and is led by Chairman Piet Wit.[10][11]
IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC): SSC advises the Union on the technical aspects of species conservation and mobilizes action for those species that are threatened with extinction. It produces the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. As of May 2010[update], SSC's members include 7500 species and biodiversity specialists worldwide, organized under Chairman Simon Stuart.[10][11]
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA): WCPA's mission is to promote the establishment and effective management of a world-wide representative network of terrestrial and marine protected areas. Membership consists of 1400, spanning 140 countries and is led by Chairman Nikita Lopoukhine.[10][11]
The IUCN is also the governing body responsible for the development the Management Categories into which each Protected Area is divided, depending on its conservation requirements and management aims.
The members and commissions work together with a professional secretariat consisting of over 1,000 people in more than 60 different countries. Julia Marton-Lefèvre, a global expert and leader in development and conservation, has been its Director General since 2 January 2007.
She succeeded Achim Steiner, who was appointed Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in June 2006. William Jackson serves as Deputy Director General.[12]
Conserving biodiversity and ensuring that any use of biological resources is sustainable are central to the mission of IUCN. The IUCN demonstrate how biodiversity is fundamental to addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges: tackling global warming, achieving sustainable energy, improving human well-being and building a green economy.[13]
IUCN gathers the latest knowledge about biodiversity and ecosystems and their contribution to human well-being; runs field projects around the world to better manage our natural environment and helps to develop environmental policy, laws and best practice.[14]
IUCN works to put nature at the centre of climate change solutions. Conserving nature can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation) and help us adapt to the impacts of climate change (climate change adaptation).[15]
IUCN helps to accelerate society’s transition to energy systems that are ecologically sustainable, socially equitable and economically viable.[16]
IUCN helps governments understand that nature conservation and the well-being of their people are inextricably linked.[17]
IUCN works with governments to ensure that economic, trade, and investment policies better integrate biodiversity considerations. It works with companies, industry associations and consumer groups to turn environmental concerns into action.[18]
Among the IUCN key products and services, it has produced and continues to maintain and monitor:
| Conservation status |
|---|
| by risk of extinction |
| Extinct |
| Extinct Extinct in the Wild |
| Threatened |
| Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable |
| At lower risk |
| Conservation Dependent Near Threatened Least Concern |
|
See also IUCN Red List International Union for Conservation of Nature |
IUCN has one of the world’s most comprehensive ranges of authoritative publications, reports, guidelines and databases for conservation and sustainable development.[19] They publish or co-author more than 150 books and major assessments every year, along with hundreds of other reports, documents and guidelines.[20]