World Conservation Union
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "World_Conservation_Union".

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IUCN
Type International Organization
Founded October 1948, Fontainebleau, France
Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
Key people Mr Valli Moosa
Ms Julia Marton-Lefèvre
Industry Natural resource conservation
Revenue SFr 99,348 (2005)
Employees approx. 1,100 (worldwide)
Website www.iucn.org

The IUCN is the acronym used by the World Conservation Union, once known as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources [1], and now simply known as the IUCN. It is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation.

Founded in 1948, its headquarters is located in the Lake Geneva area in Gland, Switzerland. The IUCN brings together 83 states, 108 government agencies, 766 NGOs and 81 international organizations and about 10,000 experts and scientists from countries around the world[2].

Contents

Mission

Logo in 2007, before "World Conservation Union" was dropped as an official name.
Logo in 2007, before "World Conservation Union" was dropped as an official name.

IUCN's mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable[2].

IUCN's History

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[1].

At that first congress (held at Fontainebleau, France), on 5 October 1948, 18 governments, 7 international organisations, and 107 national nature conservation organisations all agreed to form the institution and signed a "constitutive act" creating an International Union for the Protection of Nature[1].

From this beginning, the overriding stategy and policy of the institution has been to explore plus promote mutually beneficial conservation arrangements that suit those promoting development as well as assisting people and nations to better preserve their flora and fauna[1].

At all times the institution (in all its forms) has heavily emphasised as a key operating principle, the strong need to cater for 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 objects in their local areas.[1]:

"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." (Page 61)

The IUCN's World Conservation Strategy (1980) was founded upon this kind of principle, and clearly announced the IUCN's ambitions to more effectively enter into dialogue with the promotors of human development. The strategy was internationally applauded by many and served to secure the IUCN funds from several donors who didn't themselves feel they could open up effective dialogue in the world's developing countries, and didn't themselves feel United Nations organisations nor international banks would effectively engage in such dialogue[1].

The IUCN has now expanded into many of the nations around the world, making available the services of a very large pool of mainly voluntary specialists; providing good qaulity, local level advice and conservation services; and expanding it's networks of Committees and regional advisory bodies into increasing numbers of countries[1].

Some key dates in the growth and development of this organisation include[1]:

  • 1956: name changed to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN);
  • 1959: UNESCO decides to create an international list of Nature Parks and equivalent reserves, and the United Nations Secretary General asks the IUCN to prepare this list;
  • 1961: after more than a decade of funding difficulties, emminent science and business personalities (including Sir Julian Huxley) decide to set up a complementary fund (the World Wildlife Fund) to focus on fund raising, public relations, and increasing public support for nature conservation
  • 1969: the IUCN obtains a grant from the Ford Foundation which enables it to boost, substantially, it's international secretariat.
  • 1974: the IUCN is involved in obtaining the agreement of it's members to sign a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), whose secretariat was originally lodged with the IUCN
  • 1975: the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) comes into force, and it's secretariat is administered from the IUCN's headquarters

Organizational Struture

The Union has three components: its member organizations, its 6 scientific commissions and its professional secretariat[2].

IUCN Members

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[2].

IUCN Commissions

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[2]:

1. Commission on Ecosystem Management

IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM): CEM provides expert guidance on integrated ecosystem approaches to the management of natural and modified ecosystems. As at May 2008: Members - 400 ; Chair - Hillary Masundire.

2. Commission on Education and Communication

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 at May 2008: Members - >500; Chair - Keith Wheeler (USA); Vice Chair - Juanita Castaño (Colombia).

3. Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy

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 at May 2008: Members - >500; Chair - Taghi Farvar.

4. Commission on Environmental Law

IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (CEL): CEL advances environmental law by developing new legal concepts and instruments, and by building the capacity of societies to employ environmental law for conservation and sustainable development. As at May 2008: Members - >800; Chair - Sheila Abed.

5. Species Survival Commission

IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC)[2]: 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 at May 2008: Members - >7000 species and biodiversity specialists worldwide; Chair: Holly Dublin.

6. World Commission on Protected Areas

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas(WCPA)[3]: WCPA promotes the establishment and effective management of a worldwide representative network of terrestrial and marine protected areas. As at May 2008: Members >1300 protected areas experts worldwide; Chair-Nikita Lopoukhin[3]

IUCN Secretariat

The headquarters in Gland
The headquarters in Gland

The members and commissions work together with a professional secretariat: over 1,100 people in 62 different countries. Ms. 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.

Key products and contributions

Amongst the IUCN key products and services, its has produced, and continues to maintain and monitor:

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Christoffersen Leif. E (1997) IUCN - A Bridge Builder for Nature Conservation in Green Globe Yearbook 1997. Pg 59-69
  2. ^ a b c d e The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Website Accessed 1 May 2008
  3. ^ [1] Accessed 4 May 2008
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