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 Farewell Achim Steiner
31 May 2006
On his last day in office, outgoing Director General Achim Steiner recorded a short message to all the staff of the World Conservation Union, to thank them for their support over the past 5 years, and to introduce Ibrahim Thiaw as Acting Director General.
Farewell letter Watch the video message |
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 Global support for the World Conservation Union's Tsunami Response
30 May 2006
The World Conservation Union’s ‘Mangroves for the Future’ programme received active and enthusiastic support by governments as well as international and regional organizations at a meeting organized by the Office of the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, headed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), in New York.
Full releaseIUCN Tsunami Response |
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 Hearing Their Voices: New report about the women and children in the Pakistan earthquake areas
29 May 2006
The Pakistan earthquake killed and injured thousands of people and made millions homeless. Vulnerable groups such as women and children living in inaccessible mountain areas were particularly affected. A new report, initiated by IUCN Pakistan voices the hardships of women and children and provides advice on how to address their particular needs in the earthquake relief and reconstruction effort.
Full storyIUCN Pakistan Earthquake Relief EffortsIUCN Pakistan |
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 Philippines hosts the first national FLR workshop in Asia
26 May 2006
Nearly 60 percent of Philippine’s official forest land lacks any forest cover today, and only 15 percent of the remainder is covered by closed forests. To help address this problem, a national training workshop on Forest Landscape Restoration, co-organized by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) was held recently.
Full storyIUCN Forest ProgrammeInternational Tropical Timber Organization |
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 Council supportive of IUCN’s new “The Future of Sustainability” Initiative
23 May 2006
What is the future of sustainability? Is the conceptual framework of sustainable development moribund? How can we review the paradigm to bring the ecological dimension back into the sustainability debate?
Full storyDaily update on 65th IUCN Council meeting |
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 WHO Director General Lee Jong-wook passes away
22 May 2006
Dr Lee Jong-wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), died earlier today. On behalf of the World Conservation Union, Director General Achim Steiner extends his most sincere condolences to Dr Lee’s family, friends and colleagues.
Full storyWorld Health Organization |
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 New partnership to improve water and protected area management
22 May 2006
The World Conservation Union and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed an agreement in Paris, France on 16 May to work together on the sustainable management of water, the conservation of biodiversity, and improving the environmental performance of the private sector.
Full storyAgence Française de Développement |
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 Biodiversity:
Action needs to speak louder than words
22 May 2006
The release of the European Commission’s Biodiversity Communication marks a milestone towards the 2010 biodiversity target, Countdown 2010 comments. However, unprecedented action at all levels will be needed to halt the current loss of biodiversity by 2010.
Full storyCountdown 2010 |
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 Action, action, action to save biodiversity in the Caucasus
18 May 2006
A stark call for the protection of the natural wealth of the Caucasus emerged from the Countdown 2010 Caucasus Conference, held in Gudauri, Georgia from May 15-17. Nature conservation organisations launched a countdown to reach the 2010 biodiversity target. In this particularly biodiverse European region, at least 700 species are threatened with extinction.
Full storyMessage from GudauriCountdown 2010 |
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 Bowhead whale population re-surfaces in the Arctic
17 May 2006
Scientists recently spotted several bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) near Svalbard where they have only been spotted a few times in the last several decades. The sightings give a glimmer of hope for the recovery of the “Spitsbergen stock” of bowheads, a population that is Critically Endangered.
Full storyIUCN Species Survival CommissionSSC Cetacean Specialist Group |
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 Communicating biodiversity: Hard work and no fear of figures
17 May 2006
Even from the top of Europe the outlook for communicating biodiversity is bleak, participants of a three-day course on environmental journalism in Gudauri, Georgia concluded. To overcome low public interest, stories need to be relevant for the audience, easily understandable and supplemented by real-life examples.
Full storyInvitation[PDF]Programme[PDF]Com+ Alliance |
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 EU adopts new labelling rules to fight caviar smuggling
16 May 2006
The European Commission announced today the adoption of new rules regarding the trade and sale of caviar. The new regulation will apply to all caviar made from sturgeons, regardless whether it is wild-sourced or farmed.
Full storyTRAFFIC |
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 YOUNG CONSERVATIONIST AWARD – call for nominations
12 May 2006
The prestigious Young Conservationist Award is now open for nominations. The award is aimed at outstanding young conservationists working on protected area management. It was founded by the International Ranger Federation (IRF) and IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
More informationIUCN World Commission on Protected Areas |
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 Learning to build conservation capacities in Southern Africa
11 May 2006
A Southern African conservation learning network emerged from an innovative learning event at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, May 2-4. The network will build capacities and help move learning on the conservation, poverty reduction and sustainable development linkages from discussion to practice in a more systematic way.
Full storyWorld Conservation Learning Network |
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 Forest Landscape Restoration Gives Liberia Unique Opportunity to Rehabilitate Refugee Camps
9 May 2006
The recently held UNEP-sponsored workshop on Population Displacement and the Environment on the impact of population displacement on environment in Liberia comes at a timely moment for this war-torn country. IUCN’s training input focused on how Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) can serve as a guiding methodological framework for the rehabilitation of now degraded former camp lands. Refugee camps which provided security and shelter for up to 400,000 people during the war, left significant environmental impacts on areas that were once forests, plantations, wetlands or agricultural land.
Full storyIUCN Forest ProgrammeUnited Nations Environment Programme |
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 A new era of collaboration in protected areas in Saudi Arabia
9 May 2006
After over twenty years of technical collaboration in protected areas management, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) and the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Regional Office for West/Central Asia and North Africa (WESCANA), have reinforced their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on May 3, 2006.
Full storyIUCN Regional Office for the West/Central Asia and North Africa |
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 Planète Mers photo exhibition is launched at the French senate, Paris
5 May 2006
A stunning exhibition of marine photos in the Jardin du Luxembourg has been launched this week. The images are from Planète Mers, a coffee table book about the main threats to the oceans provided by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
Full storyIUCN Global Marine Programme |
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 How can we manage protected areas appropriately in densely populated areas?
4 May 2006
Highly populated boundaries, local people depending on the resources in the park and increased depletion of resources, are some of the dilemmas facing many protected area managers around the world.
Full story [PDF]IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management |
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 Efforts to Strengthen Local Rights to Own and Use Forests and Fight Rural Poverty
4 May 2006
Stating that the ambitious global effort to radically reduce poverty will fail unless it focuses on the 1.6 billion people who rely on forests for their livelihoods, a coalition of organizations has launched an international initiative advocating for stronger community rights to own and use forests and develop sustainable forest-based economies. The group, including IUCN, aims to assist communities and governments to double the global forest area under community ownership and management by 2015.
Full story [PDF]IUCN Forest Programme |
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 Release of the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals ongoing decline of the status of plants and animals
2 May 2006
The number of known threatened species reaches 16,119. The ranks of those facing extinction are joined by familiar species like the polar bear, hippopotamus and desert gazelles; together with ocean sharks, freshwater fish and Mediterranean flowers. Positive action has helped the white-tailed eagle and offers a glimmer of hope to Indian vultures.
The complete 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species will be available online on
Thursday 4 May at www.iucnredlist.org
Full releaseComunicado completoCommuniqué completIUCN Red List 2006 |
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 Goldman Environmental Prize goes to SDI Liberia
3 May 2006
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) extends its warmest congratulations to Silas Siakor of Liberia, a winner of this year’s Goldman environmental Prize, awarded in San Francisco California last week. SDI and Mr Siakor have been valuable partners of IUCN’s Forest Conservation Programme, working on critical issues related to forest concession review and reform, as well as initial efforts to introduce the African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance process in Liberia.
Full storyIUCN Forest Programme |
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 How do Tropical Production Forests Contribute to Biodiversity Conservation?
1 May 2006
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has begun field testing the revised ITTO Guidelines for the Conservation of Biological Diversity in Tropical Timber Production Forests in Brazil, Cameroon, Indonesia and Guyana. Over the next 15 months, the application of the guidelines will help optimize the contribution that tropical production forests make to the conservation of global biodiversity.
Full storyIUCN Forest ProgrammeInternational Tropical Timber Organization |
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 Union urges General Assembly to improve environmental governance
1 May 2006
The Union recommended a stronger programmatic and financial basis for UNEP, and improving regional environmental cooperation to the United Nations General Assembly. The UN GA is deliberating the institutional framework for the UN's environmental work, in response to the outcomes of the 2005 World Summit.
Full IUCN Statement |
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