Top news

UN Biodiversity Conference 2016: Compromise with a pinch of salt
18.12.2016

With less than four years remaining to implement the biodiversity plan agreed by world governments in 2010, IUCN calls for continued efforts to achieve the Aichi biodiversity conservation targets, as the UN biodiversity conference closes in Cancún, Mexico....

New bird species and giraffe under threat – IUCN Red List
08.12.2016

Cancun, Mexico, 8 December 2016 (IUCN) – Over 700 newly recognised bird species have been assessed for the latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM, and 11% of them are threatened with extinction. The update also reveals a devastating...

Mexico declares four new protected areas
07.12.2016

IUCN welcomes the recent declaration by the President of Mexico, His Excellency Mr Enrique Peña Nieto, of the establishment of four new protected areas in Mexico. This step will significantly accelerate global progress towards the global Convention...

Brazil to restore 12 million hectares of forests under Bonn Challenge for biodiversity and climate benefits
03.12.2016

Today, the government of Brazil committed to restoring 12 million hectares of deforested land under the Bonn Challenge, joining 38 other countries, associations and companies in the global restoration effort. The announcement was made by Brazil’s...

Global initiative calls for urgent action against invasive alien species
29.11.2016

A new global initiative to reduce the impacts of invasive alien species – the Honolulu Challenge - has been launched today by 33 organizations and institutions. The launch follows a call for urgent action on invasive alien species made by experts, governments...

Statement by IUCN Director General at the UNFCCC COP22 in Marrakech
17.11.2016

We meet at a historic moment in time. The rapid entry-into-force of the Paris Agreement, and the convening of CMA1 in Marrakech, heralds the beginning of a new era for achieving concerted global action on climate change.

Climate change dramatically disrupting nature from genes to ecosystems – study
10.11.2016

Gland, Switzerland, 10 November, 2016 (IUCN) – Global changes in temperature have already impacted every aspect of life on Earth from genes to entire ecosystems, with increasingly worrying consequences for humans – according to a new study co-authored by the...

Antarctic Ocean breakthrough: Ross Sea to become world's largest marine protection area
07.11.2016

The Ross Sea, considered by many scientists as the last intact marine ecosystem on the planet, is the first protected area in Antarctica, and home to most of the world’s penguins and many species of whale.

Major donation boosts efforts to save Madagascar’s lemur species from extinction
28.10.2016

A significant donation from a private Geneva-based foundation will boost efforts to protect Madagascar’s endemic lemurs, 94% of which are threatened with extinction – as announced by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, ahead of World Lemur...

World Heritage status not sparing iconic natural sites from mining and dams
26.10.2016

Paris, 26 October 2016 – Extractives and large dams are among the biggest threats to natural World Heritage sites, including iconic places such as Virunga National Park, Iguaçu and the Sundarbans. This is a conclusion of the World Heritage Committee meeting,...

Photo gallery: World Heritage mission to the Sundarbans in Bangladesh
18.10.2016

A mission report making a set of 10 recommendations for action to secure the long-term protection of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh has just been published. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) carried out a field mission to the site in...

Lawrence S. (Larry) Hamilton 1925-2016 – a good friend and a great colleague
17.10.2016

We have lost one of the great architects of protected areas world-wide. After a short illness, Larry Hamilton died on 6 October near his home in Vermont. His beloved wife, Linda, was with him. By Adrian Phillips.* 

New momentum for the global commons
17.10.2016

Leaders from international organisations, business and civil society have rallied around a new effort to safeguard the global commons on which all life depends.  

What does the new trade ban mean for pangolin conservation?
14.10.2016

Pangolins gained the highest levels of protection under CITES with the decision to bring in a ban on international trade. Dan Challender from IUCN’s Global Species Programme and Co-Chair of IUCN’s SSC Pangolin Specialist Group looks at what this means for the...

Law and the future of conservation: Perspectives from the World Conservation Congress, Hawaii
13.10.2016

At the World Conservation Congress in early September, thousands gathered to discuss the future of conservation.  These included scientists, explorers, economists, and activists, as well as judges and lawyers.  Environmental law has proliferated in...

Keeping leopards in the spot(light) at CITES
13.10.2016

At the 17th Congress of Parties of the Convention on Illegal Trade in Endangered Species (CITES CoP17) in Johannesburg, a side event reinforced the fact that leopards (Panthera pardus) need to stay in the spotlight and remain a conservation priority.

IUCN informs key decisions at the CITES conference on wildlife trade
07.10.2016

This article was also published in The Huffington Post At the recently concluded 17th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Conference of the Parties (CoP17) – the largest meeting of its kind ever...

Growing support for regulating international trade in rays and sharks
06.10.2016

Governments from around the world took solid steps toward ray and shark conservation at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Johannesburg, South Africa when they included...

A unified voice for African rhinos: Continent-wide conservation plan launched
28.09.2016

African rhino conservation has seen a major boost this week with the launch of the continent-wide African Rhino Conservation Plan, led by South Africa and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission’s African Rhino...

IUCN behind major advance for seahorse conservation
28.09.2016

Thailand, the world’s largest exporter of seahorses, decided on Friday to end seahorse exports until it can address the threats they pose to wild populations. The decision followed 22 years of work on the issue by IUCN SSC’s Seahorse, Pipefish and Stickleback...

Kering, ITC and IUCN release new data on the sustainability and livelihood benefits of python trade
26.09.2016

Three new reports published today by the Python Conservation Partnership (PCP), a partnership between Kering, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Species Survival Commission Boa and Python Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation...

Poaching behind worst African elephant losses in 25 years – IUCN report
23.09.2016

Africa’s overall elephant population has seen the worst declines in 25 years, mainly due to poaching over the past ten years – according to IUCN’s African Elephant Status Report launched today at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES,...

IUCN Congress boosts support for Indigenous peoples’ rights
10.09.2016

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 9 September 2016 (IUCN) – Key decisions boosting support for Indigenous peoples’ rights have been adopted by IUCN State, government and civil society members today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place in Hawaiʻi. 

New ocean Hope Spots, vetted by IUCN and Mission Blue, to ignite global support for ocean protection
09.09.2016

Honolulu, Hawaii, 9 September 2016 – Fourteen new ocean Hope Spots – marine areas critical to the health of the ocean and deserving special protection – have been announced today by Mission Blue and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, at the...

First global conservation priorities set – IUCN World Conservation Congress
07.09.2016

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 6 September (IUCN) – Limiting illegal trade in threatened species, promoting nature-based solutions to climate change and accounting for biodiversity conservation in the development of renewables are among the first global conservation...