The IUCN Programme 2009–2012 identifies one core programme area and a related set of four thematic programme areas. These areas target critical issues that need to be addressed to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s conservation challenges and reflect the lessons we have learned in the implementation of previous programmes of work.
At its core, the IUCN Programme 2009–2012 has the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources. Building on this foundation IUCN will address the four thematic programme areas – in terms of the impact of these issues on biodiversity and in terms of the potential for biodiversity to provide solutions and tools to address the impact of these issues on human well-being. IUCN will adopt an adaptive management approach, which recognizes that ecosystems and socio-ecological systems are dynamic, and that management interventions lead to new lessons being learned; these lessons can be subsequently applied to further improving ecosystem management in a continuing cycle of improved adaptation to changing conditions.
