About IUCN

What is the World Conservation Union?

The World Conservation Union is the world’s largest and most important conservation network. The Union brings together 82 States, 111 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership.

The Union’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.

The World Conservation Union is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1000 staff located in 62 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.

What does IUCN stand for?

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Use of the name “World Conservation Union” began in 1990, but the full name and the acronym are often used together as many people still know the Union as IUCN.

The World Conservation Union was founded in October 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (or IUPN) following an international conference in Fontainebleau, France. The organization changed its name to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1956.

Why does the World need the World Conservation Union?

While the idea of conserving the environment has steadily gained political acceptance over the past few decades, people still misunderstand and ignore the goods and services that nature, biodiversity and ecosystems provide to us.

For example, 15,589 species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction and many ecosystems – wetlands, forests – are being degraded and destroyed, while we know that natural ecosystems provide humans with a large range of highly valuable services.

The importance of well-functioning ecosystems in helping reduce poverty and improve livelihoods, societies and economies is increasingly clear to scientists. This knowledge needs be integrated into the decisions and actions of local, national and international policy makers in all sectors, as well as business leaders.

The World Conservation Union continues to improve scientific understanding of what natural ecosystems provide to humans. But the Union also seeks to ensure this knowledge is used in practical ways by bringing together scientists, policy makers, business leaders and NGOs to impact the way the world values and uses nature.

What does the Union do?

The World Conservation Union supports and develops cutting-edge conservation science; implements this research in field projects around the world; and then links both research and results to local, national, regional and global policy by convening dialogues between governments, civil society and the private sector.

The priority of the Union’s current Programme (2005–2008) is to build recognition of the many ways in which human lives and livelihoods, especially of the poor, depend on the sustainable management of natural resources.

In its projects, the Union applies sound ecosystem management to conserve biodiversity and builds sustainable livelihoods for those directly dependent on natural resources. The Union is actively engaged in managing and restoring ecosystems and improving people’s lives, economies and societies.

The Union’s databases, assessments, guidelines and case studies, prepared by its global membership, Commissions and Secretariat, are among the world’s most respected and frequently cited sources of information and reference on the environment.

As the world’s largest environmental knowledge network, the Union has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. The Union also has the official status of Observer at the United Nations General Assembly.

Some examples:

Knowledge

• Monitoring the state of the world’s species through the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

• Contributing to and supporting the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

• Convening multi stakeholder events such as the World Parks Congress in 2003

• Disseminating the Union’s knowledge and expertise through the World Conservation Bookstore

Policy

• Giving policy advice and technical support to governments, UN organizations, international conventions and other groupings such as the G8 and G77.

• Assessing all new sites nominated for natural World Heritage Site listing

• Contributing technical assistance to prepare national biodiversity strategies and action plans

• Providing technical support for drafting environmental laws and natural resource management strategies

Action

• Through the Water and Nature Initiative, working with 80 partners in a five-year global action plan in 10 water basins

• Through the Forest for Life Strategy, promoting wise management through guidelines for fire prevention and community management of forest resources

• Working with the corporate sector on energy and biodiversity, and mining and protected areas

Facilitating Parks for Peace between countries in areas of conflict.

How is the World Conservation Union organized?

The World Conservation Union is a membership organization. The Union has a membership of more than 1,000 organizations, as well as 10,000 individual scientists and experts structured in six Commissions. The priorities and work of the Union are set by members every four years and subsequently coordinated by a professional secretariat with 1,000 staff in 62 countries.

Members

The Union has 1,000 member organizations including 82 States, 111 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Members meet every four years at the World Conservation Congress (the Union’s General Assembly) to express their views, guide the Union’s policy and approve its programme. The last Congress was held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2004.

Committees

Members within a country or region often organize themselves into National and Regional Committees to facilitate cooperation and help coordinate the Union’s work.

Commisisions

The six Commissions, networks of volunteer scientists and experts, are principal sources of guidance on conservation knowledge, policy and technical advice, and implement parts of the Union’s work programme. The priorities and work of the Commissions are also set every four years at the World Conservation Congress.
The Commissions are:

• Ecosystem Management
  Guiding the management of natural and modified ecosystems

• Education and Communication
  Promoting sustainability through education and communication

• Environmental, Economic and Social Policy
  Advising on economic and social factors that affect natural resources

• Environmental Law
  Advancing environmental laws and its application

• Protected Areas
  Advising and promoting terrestrial and marine reserves, parks and protected areas

• Species Survival
  Supporting species conservation and protecting endangered species

Council

Members of the Union elect the 32-member Council every four years at the World Conservation Congress. Along with a President, Treasurer and three representatives from each of the Union’s eight regions, the Council also includes the Chairs of the six Commissions. The Council functions in a similar way to a Board of Directors, meeting once or twice a year to direct Union policy, approve finances and decide on strategy. The Council may appoint up to six additional Councillors.

Secretariat

The Secretariat has over 1,000 full-time staff in 62 countries. Seventy per cent of them are from developing countries.
Accountable to the Council, the Secretariat is led by a Director General and has a decentralized structure with regional, outpost and country offices around the world. Our Headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.
The Secretariat is structured in four broad areas:

• Regional Offices
  Each operational region around the world is led by a director, reporting to the Director General. The regional offices implement the Union’s programme in their respective territory. The Union has offices in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

• Global Programme
  Driving the implementation of the Union’s work programme throughout the world, the team is organized into various programmes and themes.

• Global Strategies
  Including Conservation Finance and Donor Relations, Membership Relations and Governance, as well as Communications and Publications.

• Global Operations
  Including Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology Management, and Legal Counsel.

Projects and activities

All projects and activities are executed in partnership by a mix of organizations and individuals from Member and partner organizations, Commissions, and the Secretariat.