UICN - Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature

IUCN’s impact on international conservation

28 October 2010 | News story

As the world’s association of conservation agencies, including 84 States, 116 government agencies, and 909 non-governmental organizations, IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) is in a unique position to reflect the priorities of the global conservation community.

It is the only environmental organization with Observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, so IUCN is also able to deliver the perspectives of its members at the highest international level of diplomacy.

Between 1948 and 1994 IUCN has held 19 General Assemblies, typically with an accompanying Technical Meeting. Beginning in 1996, the General Assembly and Technical Meeting components were combined and re-labeled as the World Conservation Congress. Four such congresses have now been held, in Montreal, Amman, Bangkok, and Barcelona. The fifth Congress will be held in Jeju, Korea, in 2012.

Each of these 23 meetings of IUCN members has produced policy recommendations from the members.

Jeffrey McNeely is Senior Science Advisor to IUCN and he has been investigating the impact these resolutions actually have. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the agreement on the next IUCN World Conservation Congress between IUCN, the Korean government and the government of the Jeju self-governing province, held at the Convention on Biological Diversities Tenth Conference of the Parties (CBDCOP10) in Nagoya, Japan, he talked about those big achievements.