In response to interest from the membership, and with generous support of the Government of Italy, IUCN undertook a situation analysis in 2006 and 2007 of the socio-economic and environmental challenges facing islands and efforts to address them. The study included a survey of the views of a diverse set of island stakeholders; identified island values and environmental issues important to them; and confirmed the usefulness of a more focused approach to island issues within the overall IUCN Programme.

  • Much to conserve: As significant – and vulnerable – repositories of the world’s biodiversity, islands are central to global conservation efforts. Island populations, and particularly the rural and coastal poor, often directly rely on ecosystem services from island systems (and the biodiversity that underpins these services) for their livelihoods, and healthy ecosystems are therefore essential to island sustainable development;
  • Much to learn: Island ecosystems are characterised by their vulnerability, and that vulnerability carries with it the need for resilience and adaptation. Islands can help the world to understand the impacts of natural and human stresses on ecosystems – and how to build resilience and sustainability, in terms of climate change, energy futures, human well-being, and economic development;
  • Much to share: Islands, though incredibly diverse, have many characteristics, issues, and constraints in common. And because the learning they offer can be applied more broadly, they also have much to share with the rest of the world.