IUCN is bringing together a small number of prominent individuals from various sectors, including business, philanthropy and conservation who are inspired by IUCN’s mission and are willing to help achieve it. These people are passionate about the environment and use their talents to support IUCN's quest for a just world that values and conserves nature.
Patrons of Nature play a key role in advising IUCN’s top management on a wide range of strategic issues related to IUCN’s work, as well as help us raise our visibility, strengthen our funding base and reach out to decision makers.
The first formal meeting of Patrons of Nature took place at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Republic of Korea, in September 2012.
H.S.H Prince Albert II of Monaco has been Regent of the Principality since 2005. In 2006, H.S.H. the Prince decided to establish his own Foundation, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, to address our planet’s environmental challenges.
The Foundation encourages sustainable and fair management of natural resources and places humankind at the centre of its projects. It supports the implementation of innovative and ethical solutions in three areas: climate change, water and biodiversity. In order to be an influential player in environmental protection on an international scale, the Foundation has established a network of men and women from the worlds of politics, science and economics, all of whom are ready to take joint action towards a common objective.
The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is an active member of IUCN.
In the words of His Highness, "It is important to join forces to increase awareness of the importance of safeguarding our environment. We need to continue our efforts, now more than ever, to protect our planet; it is the responsibility of every single one of us so as to ensure the future of humanity.”
Her Majesty Queen Noor is an international public servant and an outspoken voice on issues of international exchange and understanding of Arab, Muslim and Western relations, and conflict prevention and recovery issues such as refugees, missing persons, poverty, climate change and disarmament. Her peace-building work has focused on the Middle East, the Balkans, Central and Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Queen Noor’s work in Jordan and the Arab world has focused on national and regional human security issues in the areas of education, conservation, sustainable development, human rights and cross-cultural understanding.
Since 1979, the initiatives of the Noor Al Hussein and the King Hussein Foundations which she founded and chairs have transformed development thinking in Jordan and the Middle East through pioneering best practice programmes in the fields of poverty eradication and women’s empowerment, microfinance, health, and arts as a medium for social development and cross-cultural exchange. The Foundations provide training and assistance in implementing these programmes in the broader Arab and Asian regions. www.nooralhusseinfoundation.org; www.kinghusseinfoundation.org
Carl Philip, Prince of Sweden, Duke of Värmland, is the second child of His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf and Her Majesty Queen Silvia.
Prince Carl Philip is Captain in the Swedish Amphibious Corps, has an interest in arts, is a graphic designer and photographer (closely collaborating with Swedish photographer and explorer and IUCN Goodwill Ambassador Mattias Klum).
He also participated in some of the journeys that were conducted for the documentary film Expedition Linné. A nature lover, outdoors sportsman (skiing and sailing in particular), the Prince is, among others, patron of the charity Lilla Barnets Fond which supports medical research and the development of care for newborn babies in Sweden, and the sailing race Volvo Ocean Race.
Margot Bennett-Mathieson is a Canadian national. Passionate about human rights and fight against human trafficking, Mrs Bennett-Mathieson is Global Ambassador for the Toronto based Kids Internet Safety Alliance. KINSA is an international law enforcement alliance to protect, rescue and heal child victims of abuse whose images are shared on the Internet. Her other passion is nature and biodiversity conservation. “Having grown up in a nature loving family in Canada, IUCN is part of my DNA”. Mrs Bennett-Mathieson has been a supporter of IUCN for many years.
Called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and Time Magazine’s first “Hero for the Planet,” Sylvia Earle has led more than 100 expeditions as an oceanographer and explorer, authored 180 publications, and lectured in 70 countries.
She is Explorer in Residence of the National Geographic Society, Leader of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, Council Chair for the Harte Research Institute, Founder of Mission Blue and the SEAlliance, and formerly the Chief Scientist of NOAA.
Dr Earle has founded three companies and served on various corporate and non-profit boards including WWF US and International, Aspen Institute, Conservation International and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
A graduate of St. Petersburg College and Florida State University with MA and PhD from Duke University she has 22 honorary doctorates and more than 100 national and international awards including the 2009 TED Prize and in 2011 the Royal Geographical Society’s Patron’s Medal, the Medal of Honor from the Dominican Republic and Australia’s SIMS Green Leadership Award.
Former President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo has a double role as IUCN High Level Envoy for Sustainable Development in Forest Countries and IUCN Patron of Nature.
For many years, President Jagdeo has emphasized the need for urgent international action to avert the worst extremes of climate change – and “ to make global development and combating climate change compatible, not competing objectives”. As part of his vision to show how progress is possible, Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy sets out a national scale, replicable model to protect Guyana’s 18 million hectares of forest and to provide insights on how to curb the 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions that result from deforestation and forest degradation, while re-orienting the Guyanese economy onto a long-term “low deforestation, low carbon, climate resilient trajectory”.
Speaking of his new roles, President Jagdeo said: “The ideas and human energy that will solve many of today’s biggest global challenges will come from today’s developing world. In particular, forest countries and peoples will be to the fore of solving the inter-inked challenges around how we use our planet's land – to feed the world, source the minerals needed for prosperous economies; preserve bio-diversity; avert climate catastrophe; and protect the rights and livelihoods of people who depend on forests. These are some of the biggest challenges in the world today. Working with IUCN, I hope that I can help to catalyse greater South-South innovation towards solutions, as well as support partnerships between forest nations and progressive countries and institutions from today’s industrialised world.”
Dr Richard Leakey is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, New York where he also serves as the Founder and Chair of the Turkana Basin Institute, a Kenya based research facility that studies the history of life, past climate change and origins of humans.
Formerly Director of Kenya’s National Museums, Director of the Wildlife Conservation and Management department, founding Director and Chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Member of Parliament in Kenya and Head of the Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Richard Leakey is now focused on funding the research institute at Turkana. He is Chair of the Kenya chapter of Transparency International and Chair of WildlifeDirect, a web-based conservation advocacy and fundraising organization.
Richard Leakey played a key role in efforts to combat elephant and rhino poaching in the early 1990s. He has actively campaigned for the protection of the Great Apes and has become increasingly vocal about the threats to biodiversity arising from climate change and human population growth. Richard Leakey is Kenyan, lives in Nairobi but travels widely to promote his concerns and interests. He has published widely and has participated in many documentaries.
"For too long we have abused nature and the health of this planet. We must recognise that conservation is not a choice but an imperative and those who stand tall in support of saving nature's riches for unborn generations should feel proud, not apologetic. IUCN is a fundamental tool in fashioning our future."
Landscape is the context and source of inspiration for American artist and architect, Maya Lin. Her works address how we relate and respond to the environment, and presents new ways of looking at the world around us.
A committed environmentalist, Lin has consistently focused on environmental concerns, promoting sustainable building design in her architectural works, while making the environment the subject of her artworks. She is deeply committed to focusing attention back to the environment and to ask us all to pay closer attention to the natural world. Ms. Lin is currently working on her latest creation, What is Missing?, which focuses on the current crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss.
Sally Ranney has dedicated her life to protecting the genetic archives of the planet, securing conservation custody for millions of acres of wild places in the Western U.S., Alaska, Chile, Argentina, Africa, and Canada.
Her experience spans 30 years within the private and public sectors in land, water and energy policy; biodiversity and wildlife protection and climate change. A Resource Policy Analyst for the Wilderness Society, she co-founded American Wildlands, serving as President for 20 years. She has worked closely with several U.S. Presidents and members of Congress and was appointed by President Reagan to serve on the Presidential Commission on Americans Outdoors.
Ms. Ranney is Chair of the American Renewable Energy Day (AREDAY) Summit, Co-Director of the International Women’s Earth and Climate Initiative (IWECI), CEO of StillWater Preservation, LLC, a private, Colorado-based wetlands mitigation banking company, Chairman of the non-profit Era Global; and President of Rising Wolf International, a specialized consulting group. She is a member of the Global Advisory Committee of Women and the Green Economy (WAGE) and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). She sits on the boards of numerous organizations including the American Renewable Energy Institute (AREI), the Sonoran Mexico Jaguar Project, Lighthawk, and the Grand Canyon Trust. She is the anchor for ‘A Matter of Degree’, a new pilot for TV and internet broadcast focusing on climate change.
Sally has received several awards, including the Horace Albright Award/U.S. National Park Service, the Meritorious Conservation Award/ International Wildlife Foundation, ‘Who’s Who in the West’, and Steward of the Future Award/Earth Guardians. She is a U.S. trainee for Al Gore’s Climate Project and delivered a TED talk at TEDx Denver in 2011.
Erik Solheim is the Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee. Previously he was the Norwegian Minister for the Environment and International Development from 2007 to 2012 and for International Development 2005-07. He is a former chairman of the Socialist Left Party of Norway and a former member of the Norwegian Parliament.
During his terms as Minister, Erik Solheim launched two major international policy initiatives in support of climate change mitigation and the protection of nature: Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and Energy+, which are central elements in international climate change negotiations and the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
For this he was awarded the “Champion of the Earth” by the United Nations. Another main achievement is the innovative Norwegian Nature Diversity Act.
Solheim is also an experienced peace negotiator. He was the most recognizable figure in the peace negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers and has also made contributions to peace in Nepal, Sudan and a number of other countries.
“I am extremely honoured to be a Patron of Nature”, he says, “ I consider IUCN to be absolutely crucial to the global struggle for sustainability, poverty reduction and the protection of the beauty of mother earth. With joint efforts we will prevail!”
Maurice F. Strong, is a Canadian environmentalist, entrepreneur and a former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations.
Born in Oak Lake, Manitoba, Maurice Strong began his career in the resources field and became president of Power Corporation of Canada in 1966.
His role in leading the UN’s famine relief programme in Africa was one of a series of UN assignments, including reform, Secretary-General of the 1972 Stockholm Conference and the UN Conference on Environment and Development—best known as the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Participants at the Rio Conference approved conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Desertification, an extensive Agenda 21 and a statement of principles.
Maurice Strong was President of the Council of the United Nations University for Peace from 1998 to 2006. Today Strong is Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General of the 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), an active honorary professor at Peking University and Honorary Chairman of its Environmental Foundation. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Research on Security and Sustainability for Northeast Asia.
Adam Sweidan is a founding partner and Chief Investment Officer of Aurum Fund Management Ltd. He has been investing in the alternative investment industry for more than 17 years.
Jessica Sweidan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with a focus on Art from Northwestern University. In 1995 Jessica formed a partnership with Adam to create a philanthropic foundation. Together they created The Synchronicity Foundation with her role being to oversee donations to a range of global projects with varying themes including, education, environment, social and economic development, creative endeavours, health care, relief efforts and children’s well-being.
The Synchronicity Foundation has worked with over 70 projects in nearly 40 countries. In 2007, the Foundation began exploring ways to have a greater impact within the conservation realm, and decided to start a new charity, Synchronicity Earth, which was launched in January 2010.
Synchronicity Earth has two goals: to increase the scale and impact of environmental philanthropy, and to partner with the most effective organizations and individuals to reduce the loss of species and ecosystems. Their vision is to create a sustainable world, where all life is valued.
