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Independent News
09 October 2008
Press Release: IUCN
Largest environmental meeting sends wake-up call to the world
Barcelona,
Spain, 9 October, 2008 (IUCN) – It’s time to wake up and take
action to protect the planet’s natural wealth. That’s the
message of the first part of IUCN’s World Conservation Congress.
More than
8,000 specialists from the conservation community, governments,
NGOs, academia, private sector, women and indigenous groups have
gathered in Barcelona to discuss the most pressing issues of our
time.
“In the
last four days the call to protect the planet has been heard from
both government leaders and the NGO community,” says Valli Moosa,
President of IUCN. “Environmental concerns are now at the top of
the decision-makers’ priority list.”
“Absolutely
everyone now agrees that we can’t postpone decisive action if we
are to avoid major disruptions in all spheres of human and natural
activities,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “Business
as usual is simply not an option.”
While
climate change was on everybody’s mind and was addressed in many
reports and presentations, the scope of the topics examined during
the meeting is indicative of the challenges the world is facing.
From threatened species to forest management, from the impact of
climate change on infectious diseases to the need for private
sector involvement, or from indigenous rights to fisheries
governance, participants were exposed to a great deal of new
research, new approaches and new partnerships.
Concrete
announcements were made regarding species and habitat protection.
The IUCN Red List showed that we are facing an extinction crisis,
but that properly funded and well-planned conservation measures
can be successful – with close to 40 species of mammals showing
signs of recovery.
Announcements
of millions of dollars dedicated to species conservation made by
the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, by the GEF and by
the Living Oceans Foundation have shown that more and more people
understand the need to invest in conservation.
Important
initiatives, such as the work with Google Earth, will also help
raise the awareness of the general public and give new tools for
conservation experts around the world. The MacArthur Foundation
announced a US$50 million commitment for climate change adaptation
measures. Three scientific marine expeditions were announced, with
the goal of increasing our knowledge about the state of our
oceans.
Far-reaching
agreements were also concluded. Agreement on key principles on
high-seas governance was achieved; new working relationships with
fishermen’s associations and conservation groups were
established; an historical agreement on principles guiding forest
management to face climate change was announced by a group
including business, indigenous and conservation groups,
international financial institutions and trade unions.
While the
world seems to be entangled in the turmoil of a financial crisis,
civil society, environmentalists, governments and business were
busy defining a different way to do things. With initiatives such
as The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), or
Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT), collaboration
between the conservation and business world is taking on a new and
promising meaning.
“What
we have seen is a defining moment in bringing different
perspectives together and, in some cases, developing consensus
that will have an important and long-lasting impact,” says Bill
Jackson, Deputy Director General of IUCN. “We heard about new
facts – mostly negative – and about new science and solutions.
I think we are setting a different and much more productive way to
deal with fundamental conservation issues.”
The IUCN
World Conservation Congress allowed NGOs to have direct access to
decision makers – governmental or from the private sector. A
session with 10 African Ministers allowed participants to raise
their concerns and their ideas directly. Panel discussions allowed
spiritual leaders, philanthropists or climate change specialists
to share their thoughts to a wide and varied audience.
“More
than ever, we were able to share ideas and network in very free
and productive ways. I’m convinced that the contacts we have
made here will bring benefits to the people we are working with,”
says Sanit Aksornkoae, of the Thailand Environmental Institute.
The IUCN
World Conservation Congress now enters its second phase, where
IUCN’s members will elect a new president and Council and vote
on the resolutions which will guide IUCN’s work for the coming
four years.
About IUCN
IUCN,
the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the
world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment
and development challenges by supporting scientific research;
managing field projects all over the world; and bringing
governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies
together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
The
world's oldest and largest global environmental network, IUCN is a
democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and
NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists
and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by
over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of
partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.
IUCN's headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in
Switzerland.
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