IUCN - World Conservation Congress - Invitation to the Press - Press Conference in Amman, Saturday 9 September, 2000

Invitation to the Press

IUCN’S World Conservation Congress: Over 2,000 representatives to convene in Jordan next month
Press Conference in Amman, Saturday 9 September, 2000

Gland, 5 September, 2000 (IUCN) - Media representatives are kindly invited to attend a Press Conference to be held at the Royal Cultural Center, Amman, on Saturday 9 September at 10 am. Jeff McNeely, IUCN’s Chief Scientist, together with Josué Anselmo, Head of the Communications Unit, will provide the final agenda, content, and substance of the World Conservation Congress to convene in Amman between 4 and 11 October. Should you not be able to attend the Press Conference and wish information about the World Conservation Congress, please consult our Web site (www.iucn.org - Amman Congress section), or contact IUCN's Communications Unit (press@iucn.org).

The World’s umbrella organization of environmental institutions assembles
More than 2,000 representatives of states, government agencies, NGOs, global business leaders and politicians will convene in Amman, Jordan next month to attend IUCN’s World Conservation Congress. The decision-making general assembly of IUCN - The World Conservation Union takes place only once every four years.

The Amman Congress, which will be opened on 4 October by His Majesty King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, will highlight major issues such as the species extinction crisis, management of ecosystems, climate change, globalisation, the effects of civil unrest on biodiversity and the release of genetically-modified organisms.

IUCN is the world’s umbrella organization of environmental institutions, and lists 78 state members, 112 government agencies, 735 NGOs and some 10,000 experts. IUCN bridges public and private sectors, governments and civil societies. “IUCN’s strength comes from its ability to link individuals, communities, organizations and governments in a cooperative effort,” says Maritta Koch-Weser, IUCN’s Director General. “The combination of people power, political clout and scientific knowledge is a powerful one. This meeting will give us a unique opportunity to set the conservation and sustainable development agenda for the coming years.”

Eco-space - transboundary management of the environment
The special theme of next month’s Congress is “Eco-space,” explains Koch-Weser. “We will try and bring home the message that transboundary management of eco-systems is vital for the environmental agenda. Look at the ways in which national borders cut across ecological spaces. Watersheds, river basins, oceans. Eco-spaces need to be managed jointly by neighbors to achieve true sustainability.”

"Such gatherings, in the past, proved to be crucibles for initiating the development of global conservation policy instruments, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species”, says Dr. Steve Edwards of IUCN, who is coordinating the motions to be considered at the Congress. “Changes that we see today stem from resolutions that were adopted at past assemblies. We expect the Amman Congress to result in concrete measures to address the loss of biodiversity."

Loss of biodiversity is key to IUCN’s agenda. Jeff McNeely, IUCN’s Chief Scientist, estimates that 11% of the birds, about 20% of the amphibians, 25% of the mammals and some 15% of the plants are threatened with extinction. “Every one of the species that is alive today has an unbroken history of ancestry back 3.5 billion years. And when a species goes extinct we have reached the end of a line that goes 3.5 billion years back into the past”, says McNeely.

One hundred resolutions and a programme
More than 100 separate resolutions, recommendations, expressions of opinions and proposals are pending before the Congress. They address a wide range of issues, from saving endangered species such as river dolphins, Houbara bustards and black rhinos to the management of ecosystems in Antarctica, MesoAmerica, and the Mediterranean. Several resolutions refer to protected areas, and others concentrate on the impacts of dams, mining, forestry, fisheries and global trade on species and ecosystems.

The resolutions adopted by the membership will orient IUCN’s new programme and strategies for the next four years.

“The Amman programme represents an opportunity to adopt a long-term programme which can evolve with time”, says IUCN’s Bill Jackson, who drafted the programme.

Besides the Members’ sessions, two full days of the Congress will be devoted to "interactive sessions" that will showcase leading experts on key conservation issues related to the Eco-space theme of the Congress. The themes of the 12 interactive sessions include environment and security; management of mountains; watershed and river basin ecosystems; integrating biodiversity science into environmental policy and management; averting the world water crisis; and agriculture and biodiversity. IUCN members from the Arctic to the Amazon will participate in the sessions, each of which will be concluded by a press briefing.

The first Earth Forum
"Environmental degradation is at the root of so many of today's humanitarian catastrophes, such as natural disasters - floods and droughts - conflict and mass migrations," says Koch-Weser. “Let us take a critical look at the forces driving this degradation, poverty as well as wealth and greed. We need systems that will ensure the long-term maintenance of vital resources - river basins, underground aquifers and regional seas, for example.”

Alongside the Congress, experts and private sector leaders will debate at an innovative "Earth Forum.” The Forum is organized, in association with IUCN, by Maurice Strong - the prime mover of the 1992 Rio Summit. The discussion, to be held on 4 October, comes shortly after United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan initiated the Global Compact, a UN-sponsored platform that encourages good corporate practices in the area of human rights, labor rights and the environment.

Dubbed "A Davos for the Environment," the Earth Forum is titled Where are we going? Prospects for Earth in the New Millennium. It will feature a debate on the sustainability of development, the role of civil society in environmental protection, emerging environmental conflicts over shared resources, and economics.

Media events during the Congress
Media representatives will be invited to attend most of the Congress’ debates as well as a series of events including:

The launch of the “Global Youth Reporters Programme”, which brings 18 young reporters from around the world to Amman.

The launch of the “Street Kids Journal”, which is a daily newsletter about the Congress that will be produced by six 11-year-old children. The newsletter will be distributed throughout Amman by 60 children.

The presentation by Her Majesty Queen Noor, Patron of IUCN, of the regional and global winners of the Reuters-IUCN Media Awards for excellence in environmental reporting.

The launch by Her Majesty Queen Noor of the book, “Threatened Birds of the World”, produced by BirdLife International, an IUCN member.

An open debate, with a panel of prominent experts, on Genetically Modified Organisms.

An excursion to Dana Wildlife Reserve.

The Amman Congress as part of the global environmental debate
As Rio+10 - the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio - approaches, actions addressing global environmental problems are gaining momentum. This World Conservation Congress comes at a crucial time in the debate. The 6th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - a Convention agreed upon in Rio - will take place in The Hague in November 2000. In May, a similar event on the Convention on Biodiversity was convened in Nairobi.

Says IUCN’s President, Yolanda Kakabdse: “The integrity of nature is threatened like never before by the penetration of the world’s last frontiers, unsustainable exploitation and population growth. Extinction is forever - we must all join hands to insist on faster, more effective nature conservation before it is too late. And conservation of nature can only be achieved with and for people.”

For further information, please contact Josué Anselmo, Head of the Communications Unit at IUCN-The World Conservation Union: (41 22) 999 02 07. Mobile: (41) 79 477 21 28. Or consult our Web site, www.iucn.org, Amman Congress section.

IUCN - The World Conservation Union was founded in 1948 and brings together 78 states, 112 government agencies, 735 NGOs, 35 affiliates, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. Its 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. Within the framework of global conventions IUCN has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN has approximately 1000 staff, most of whom are located in its 42 regional and country offices while 100 work at its Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.

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