Tag Archives: IUCN

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has expressed shock and sadness by the death of leading conservationist and IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) member, Wayne Lotter, who was tragically killed in a gun attack in Tanzania on Wednesday, August 16, 2017. “We are appalled by the killing of a conservationist whose fearless frontline work made ...

The guideline on hydraulic infrastructure development in West Africa was adopted recently during the 78th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers held in Monrovia, Liberia. The guideline enters into force across all ECOWAS member countries. The States are expected to domesticate it into their legislation, albeit within three years in principle. The adoption is the outcome of a regional dialogue on ...

Chad has pledged to restore five million hectares by 2030 as part of the Bonn Challenge. The commitment was made at the recently held Southern Africa (SADC+) Bonn Challenge Ministerial Roundtable, organised by the Malawi Department of Forestry and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Chad’s pledge brings the total hectares pledged to the Bonn Challenge to ...

A preliminary draft of a “Global Pact for the Environment” – which aims to serve as a basis for a new UN treaty to define fundamental environmental rights – was recently launched at a high-level event in Paris, with the backing of French President Emmanuel Macron, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and IUCN President, Zhang Xinsheng. The Pact synthesises fundamental ...

Full of giant trees, dense, mossy and mysterious, the Białowieża Forest in Poland has been described as one out of a fairy tale. It is said to be is one of the last remnants of the ancient forest that once covered half of Europe for millennia. The forest, which is home to a herd of 900 wild bison and straddles ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 adopted a decision urging Poland to immediately halt all logging and wood extraction in the old-growth forests of Białowieża. The decision follows the advice of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the official advisory body on nature to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which meets this week in ...

Comoé National Park in Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 came off the List of World Heritage in Danger, as its wildlife recovers from impacts of civil unrest. The decision follows a recommendation from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the official advisory body to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which meets this week in Kraków, Poland. It ...

New guidance launched recently by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) urges the World Heritage Convention to better conserve wilderness areas, and large landscapes and seascapes, as they are increasingly threatened, including by climate change. It explains how this can be achieved through existing mechanisms, identifies broad gaps where new wilderness World Heritage sites might be found, and ...

Illegal fishing, logging and poaching are impacting two-thirds of the 57 natural World Heritage sites monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this year, putting some of the world’s most precious and unique ecosystems and species at risk. Ahead of the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee, starting on Sunday, July 2, 2017 in Kraków, Poland, IUCN has ...

On World Day to Combat Desertification observed globally on Saturday, June 17, 2017 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) explores how conserving soil biodiversity can make dryland communities more resilient to drought and other threats, and prevent desertification Conserving soil-dwelling worms, insects and bacteria is not the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about nature conservation. In fact, ...