Press releases

Southeast Asia's appetite for pet otters supplied online
08.06.2018

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8th June 2018—The online pet trade has emerged as a pressing threat to otters in Southeast Asia with a new TRAFFIC-IUCN Otter Specialist Group (OSG) study revealing hundreds of the animals for sale on Facebook and other websites over a...

France to host IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020
18.05.2018

Marseille, France – The French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, today signed an agreement to jointly organise the next IUCN World Conservation Congress, to be held in 2020 in...

Livelihoods at risk as freshwater species in Africa’s largest lake face extinction – IUCN Report
30.04.2018

Seventy-six percent of freshwater species endemic to the Lake Victoria Basin, including many species important to local livelihoods, are threatened with extinction, a new IUCN-led report has found. 

Business in Key Biodiversity Areas: minimising the risk to nature
17.04.2018

Gland, Switzerland, 17 April 2018 (IUCN) – A roadmap for businesses operating in some of the most biologically significant places on the planet has been issued today by the Key Biodiversity Area Partnership involving 12 of the world’s leading conservation...

New IUCN guide highlights how sports industry can contribute to biodiversity conservation
09.04.2018

Gland, Switzerland, 9 April 2018 (IUCN) – A new guide designed to help the sports industry understand its potential impacts on nature and options for mitigating them, as well as identify new opportunities for sport to enhance conservation, was released today...

Loss of old trees threatens survival of wood-dependent beetles – IUCN Red List
05.03.2018

Brussels, 5 March 2018 (IUCN) – Almost a fifth (18%) of European saproxylic beetles assessed so far are at risk of extinction due to ongoing decline in large veteran trees across Europe, a new IUCN report has found.

IUCN at 70: knowledge and experience for today’s challenges
22.02.2018

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, IUCN has launched a new blog, where IUCN Members and partners will debate topical conservation issues, alongside a series of events to...

Unsustainable food systems threaten wild crop and dolphin species – IUCN Red List
05.12.2017

Tokyo, Japan, 5 December 2017 (IUCN) – Species of wild rice, wheat and yam are threatened by overly intensive agricultural production and urban expansion, whilst poor fishing practices have caused steep declines in the Irrawaddy Dolphin and Finless Porpoise,...

Protected areas across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific boosted with €60 million investment
28.11.2017

The European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States have invested €60 million in the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme over the next six years – making it one of the largest EU biodiversity...

Number of natural World Heritage sites affected by climate change nearly doubles in three years – IUCN
13.11.2017

Bonn, Germany, 13 November, 2017 (IUCN) – The number of natural World Heritage sites threatened by climate change has grown from 35 to 62 in just three years, with climate change being the fastest growing threat they face, according to a report released today...

Ancient ferns highly threatened in Europe – IUCN Red List
27.10.2017

Brussels, 27 October 2017 (IUCN) – A fifth of European fern and lycopod species, a group of vascular plants that underpins healthy ecosystems, are threatened with extinction and declining, as a result of urbanisation and expanding infrastructure, according to...

Paris Agreement only chance for coral reef survival – IUCN
22.09.2017

Limiting global warming to below 2°C in line with the Paris Agreement provides the only chance for the survival of coral reefs, warns David Obura, Chair of the International Union for Conservation of  Nature (IUCN)’s Coral Reef Specialist Group, writing...

Once-abundant ash tree and antelope species face extinction – IUCN Red List
14.09.2017

North America’s most widespread and valuable ash tree species are on the brink of extinction due to an invasive beetle decimating their populations, while the loss of wilderness areas and poaching are contributing to the declining numbers of five African...

Climate action and global food security depend on healthy drylands – IUCN
04.09.2017

Failure to up investment in protecting and restoring drylands – soils in particular – could put future food supplies at risk and hamper efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, says IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature ahead of the...

UNESCO urges Poland to immediately stop logging in the old-growth forests of Białowieża World Heritage site, following IUCN’s advice
05.07.2017

Kraków, Poland, 05 July 2017 (IUCN) – The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has adopted a decision today urging Poland to immediately halt all logging and wood extraction in the old-growth forests of Białowieża. The decision follows the advice of the...