At this meeting representatives from government agencies, IUCN commissions, and conservation charities would work to set the policy agenda for the U.S. delegation at the World Conservation Congress in 2025.
Member organizations came with proposals for possible resolutions they wished to push forward and topics they wished to explore. While I had raised issues related to youth involvement on the opening panel, I was also there to chair the youth policy working group to help shape proposals to increase youth involvement across the organization.
What is the IUCN?
However, before we get into what happened, it is important to understand the broader context of the IUCN. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global organization dedicated to conserving nature and ensuring that natural resources are used sustainably. Founded in 1948, the IUCN brings together governments, NGOs, scientists, and experts to address pressing environmental challenges through research, policy advocacy, and on-the-ground projects.
The IUCN is most famous for its work creating the Red List of Threatened Species; a comprehensive inventory that assesses the conservation status of thousands of species worldwide.
The IUCN uniquely has government agencies and NGO’s sitting on equal footing when debating conservation issues. Because of this, it acts as a proofing ground for ideas before they make it into international treaty negotiations. Which was exactly what this regional conservation forum was for—to provide a testing ground for debating key ideas that American nature organizations wanted to make a reality.
What is a Regional Conservation Forum (RCF)?
The IUCN Regional Conservation Forum is held only once every four years. Members from conservation organizations and government agencies around the nation come together to begin sharing updates and ideas surrounding the future of conservation in the United States. However, this experience is not unique to just the United States, across the world eight other regional forums are held in preparation for World Conservation Congress in 2025.
The U.S. Regional Conservation Forum is small compared to its international counterparts. While international forums can garner massive attendance the U,.S. RCF only has about 100 attendees. This is not for lack of interest, but almost the complete opposite. The United States has more IUCN member organizations than any other country, with some of the world’s wealthiest and preeminent conservation organizations being based out of the U.S.
The U.S. RCF focuses heavily on policy and key gaps to address at the World Conservation Congress. Speakers discuss novel and new projects, areas of future work, and key areas for growth. IUCN North America invited me to speak on how to involve youth in conservation programs and decisioning making processes—an area in dire need of more advocacy.
Youth involvement in conservation
The IUCN defines “youth” as those under 35 years of age. As one of only seven people in the room to fall under this threshold I knew that I had to make the case for why there should be more young people at this meeting.
In my opening remarks on the 2030 conservations visions panel, I felt and acknowledged the weight of this responsibility. I spoke of my experience with the Global Youth Biodiversity Network USA chapter and attending the UN Convention on Biological Diversity as a youth delegate. I also highlighted that experience and expertise are incredibly valuable, but aspects of institutional knowledge cannot be shared and passed down if a younger generation is not invited to be in the room where decisions are made.
On the second day of the forum, I chaired a youth resolutions working group where attendees shared ideas for how to empower youth within the organization. We brainstormed solutions to the challenge of youth involvement, such as creating youth spots on the IUCN board, new funding arrangements for youth to attend decision making conferences, and even a potential way to track youth attendance at each IUCN event.
Attendees brought excitement to bolster youth involvement and even after our session time slot expired, people gathered in the halls to further discuss more ways we could help add young people into the IUCN process.
While no radical revolution of youth involvement occurred over those two days, the Forum began a needed conversation to increase youth conservation leadership. Institutions must continue to work on creating space for meaningful youth participation at all levels of decision making. It is also up to participating organizations to send younger members of their team alongside senior staff.
When provided these opportunities, young people can provide unique insights and begin building their skillsets to lead conservation organizations into the future.
The Monarch Butterfly’s Decline
North America’s monarch butterfly has been in rapid decline for the last few decades due to habitat loss and fragmentation, excessive pesticide use, and climate change. If the decline continues, the extraordinary monarch migration across the continent could cease altogether.
You can learn even more about the monarch butterfly and its important relationship with milkweed here.
In December 2024, the USFWS proposed listing the monarch butterfly as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act is the strongest conservation law in the United States. Under this act, plants or animals can be listed as either “threatened” or “endangered”. When a species is listed, it can help provide resources and even legal action to protect them. Interested in the difference between these two listings? See USFWS’s explanations here:
Endangered species: A plant or animal species “that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”
Threatened species: A plant or animal species “that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”
Does this potential listing help the monarch?
Protecting the monarch as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act could be great news for the monarchs! If approved, it will provide increased funding, coordination, and focus on the work to save this iconic butterfly species.
The National Wildlife Federation supports the protection of the migratory monarch under the Endangered Species Act and will continue its long-running monarch conservation efforts to help migratory monarch populations recover.
Wait, wasn’t the monarch butterfly already listed as endangered?
You may recall that a few years ago, there was big news about the monarch butterfly being “listed” as endangered. No, you’re not crazy! Though the USFWS proposed listing is new, the monarch’s plight is not. There are different scientific and international organizations that have provided their assessment of the status of the monarch butterfly over the years.
In 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the monarch butterfly as endangered and updated the classification to vulnerable a year later.
You can read more about that announcement here.
The most important difference between this IUCN listing and the one proposed this month is that the IUCN listing does not hold federal jurisdiction in the United States. Meanwhile, the new proposed listing of the monarch under the Endangered Species Act does actually carry legal and federal jurisdiction and can therefore open up more concerted opportunities and larger funding for recovering the monarch in this country. Both assessments and conclusions are important, and together they help communicate the need for protecting this species.
How You Can Help the Monarch Butterfly
While an Endangered Species Act listing will provide increased protection and resources for monarch conservation at the federal level, you and your community can take part in the monarch’s recovery too, at the local level!
One of the best ways to help is to create monarch habitat in your own yard, garden, and throughout your community.
Follow these Tips for Creating Monarch Habitat and learn more here.
Give Monarchs Food – Monarch butterflies feed on flower nectar and their young feed on the leaves of milkweed, their only caterpillar host plant. Plant native milkweed and other blooming plants in your garden beds to provide monarchs with a food source for both their adult and juvenile phase.
Choose Native Milkweed – There are over 70 species native to the U.S. Most likely, there’s at least one milkweed species native to your region. Many are cultivated and available in garden centers as well as online native plant sellers (This link will redirect you to a third party site). You might find local species not commonly cultivated through members of native plant societies, garden clubs, or butterfly groups. Never dig milkweed from the wild.
Don’t Spray Pesticides – Monarchs are insects so if you (or your landscaper or a pest control company) spray broad-spectrum insecticides in your yard, monarch butterflies or caterpillars that come in contact with these insecticides will be killed. Even botanical or organic insecticides kill monarchs and other insects. Similarly, herbicides kill the monarch’s nectar and host plants. Instead, rely on tried-and-true natural gardening techniques that minimize the chance of pests becoming established and that use control methods other than pesticides that don’t put monarchs at risk.
Learn more about the steps you can take to help monarch butterflies here! Plus, you can find milkweed species near you! This link will redirect to a third party site.
You can even get your own garden certified as a Certified Wildlife Habitat® and put out a sign to communicate your commitment to wildlife!
Here’s why. There are several different authorities both around the world and even within the U.S. that assign conservation status to species. They use different approaches to assess species’ populations and habitat and they often use different terminology (or the same terminology with different meanings). Importantly, not all carry legal weight. While this can be confusing it’s important to understand because it has real implications for what protections a species receives where.
The recent designation of the North American migratory monarch butterfly as endangered was done by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which uses a set of criteria and framework to assess the risk of extinction of wildlife species around the world. Their IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is used by many international organizations to inform and create plans for the conservation of global biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The recent listing of the monarch on the IUCN Red List applies specifically to the migratory monarch populations found in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. There are other non-migratory monarch populations in some parts of South America, Western Europe, Australia, and some Pacific and Caribbean Islands that are not included in the IUCN assessment.
Changing federal protections for monarch butterflies
What’s important to note is that the IUCN has no legal jurisdiction in the U.S. and their listing of the monarch doesn’t have any direct effect on federal protections. For a species to receive those protections here, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must conduct its own Species Status Assessments that inform the decision on whether or not a species requires protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). USFWS has a different meaning for the terms “endangered” and “threatened” than the IUCN does and it has NOT listed the monarch as an endangered species—yet.
That said, USFWS hasn’t ignored the situation. Back in 2020, USFWS completed a Species Status Assessment of the monarch species and all its subspecies—including the subspecies North American migratory monarch and all the non-migratory monarch populations located in the US and other countries—and determined that protections for the species are “warranted” but are precluded by higher priority listing actions. This means that a final decision on the monarch is delayed while the agency prepares regulations for other species that are in a more critical state. We hope to hear the final USFWS decision on monarchs by 2024. Until then, the monarch remains a “candidate species” for listing—and protection—under the ESA.
While the IUCN’s listing of the monarch doesn’t automatically mean that the butterfly will now be protected in the U.S., we cannot ignore this latest wake-up call. While we wait for the USFWS’s final decision, we must continue working on implementing conservation efforts that we know help the species, such as planting native milkweed as a food source for monarch caterpillars, planting native flowering plants to provide nectar to adult monarchs, ceasing the use of pesticides in the home and municipal landscapes, turning lawns into Gardens for Wildlife, and protecting America’s rapidly disappearing grasslands (essential habitat for monarchs for reproduction and migration).
State and Federal Policy is crucial to support our monarch conservation work. Bills such as Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the Monarch Act 2021 will provide the much-needed resources to implement key conservation efforts like the restoration and protection of native habitat for monarchs in breeding grounds and throughout their migratory pathway. You can support these bills by sending a letter to your state Senator.
What else can we do to help monarchs?
- Gardening for Wildlife and replace lawns with native milkweed and nectar plants that are the sole food source for monarch caterpillars and blooming wildflowers and shrubs for adult butterflies.
- Do not use pesticides in your gardens, and only plant native plants that are free of pesticides.
- Encourage local leaders to join the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, which supports habitat restoration, citizen science, environmental education, and local policy change to benefit monarch butterflies.
- Support the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act and other state transportation programs for roadside habitat.
The National Wildlife Federation’s International Wildlife Conservation team, Senior Climate Scientist, and Associate Director for the Pacific joined with our Hawai‘i state affiliate, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, in representing the Federation at this global event, the largest IUCN Congress to date.
The Congress, with 10,140 registered delegates from 192 countries was the largest conservation conference in U.S. history and the largest of IUCN’s World Conservation Congresses. The Congress meets every four years to set a global conservation agenda and define a roadmap for achieving its historic agreements. Over 80 motions (equivalent to the policy resolutions approved at NWF’s annual meetings) were approved, some with amendments.
Here are some of the major conservation priorities coming out of this year’s Congress:
Expansion of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
On the eve of the Congress, President Obama used his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The marine boundaries of the remote monument, first designated by President George W. Bush in 2006, were expanded from the existing 50 to 200 nautical miles, expanding the area that protects over 7,000 species of fish, birds and other marine life, including key apex predators such as sharks and endangered species such as the Hawaiian monk seal. Obama’s expansion makes Papahānaumokuākea the world’s largest protected area, encompassing an area four times the size of California.
The expansion was proposed by the Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group, led by Hawaiian scholar Scott Kekuewa Kikiloi, former state Department of Land and Natural Resources Director William Aila, and others and formally proposed by Hawai‘i Senator Brian Schatz. The supporting coalition campaign included Native Hawaiian practitioners, fishers, marine scientists, businesses, youth and conservationists. NWF’s Hawai‘i state affiliate Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, led by Executive Director Marjorie Ziegler worked tirelessly to build statewide support, and we are so proud to see these efforts result in such an impactful win for wildlife and wild places.
Protection of 30% of the World’s Oceans
While about 15 percent of the world’s terrestrial regions is currently under some form of protection, only approximately three percent of the ocean is protected, leaving it vulnerable to overfishing, mining, pollution and exploitation. The IUCN is often the cradle for innovative conservation treaties such as CITES (the Convention for International Trade In Endangered Species), and delegates at this year’s Congress voted to set a goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. In her speech at the opening ceremony, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell stated, “We’re proud that with Papahānaumokuākea we have the largest Marine Protected Area on the planet for now. But in many ways this is a start of an arms race for protected areas and we hope that this record will not stand for long”.
Two of the Most Endangered Species on the Planet
Unsustainable fisheries were the focus of a decision to draw attention to the imminent extinction of the critically endangered vaquita in Mexico. IUCN’s government and NGO Members called for a permanent ban to gillnet fishing throughout the entire vaquita range in the Pacific Ocean.
Members also urged tighter restrictions on the trade in threatened pangolin species as defined by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Despite current partial protection measures at the global and local levels, the species’ survival is at risk due to overexploitation, illegal trade and degradation of its habitat.
Global Ban on Elephant Ivory Markets
International ivory trading is banned, but domestic trade within countries is legal nearly everywhere. After much discussion, members approved a motion calling for the closure of domestic elephant ivory markets globally as a matter of urgency. Each country is now asked to enact laws individually, but IUCN’s policy experts will help countries craft the appropriate laws. “While the resolutions are not international law, in many cases, they are the genesis of international agreements,” said Enrique Lahmann, global director of the IUCN.
Hawaiian Bird Conservation
On behalf of more than a dozen national and international wildlife organizations, our affiliate, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, introduced a late motion supporting increased conservation effort for Hawai‘i’s threatened birds. The motion was based on new information on the precipitous decline of Hawaiian forest birds released just days before the IUCN vote to adopt the motion. The motion past with strong international support.
Reconnecting People with Nature
The IUCN was joined by National Geographic, Google Earth Outreach, and Vulcan Productions to build a new global conservation movement. Called #NatureForAll, this movement is founded on the idea that the more people experience, connect with, and share their love for the natural world, the more support there will be for its conservation in the future.
More than 110 organizational partners, including NWF, have already agreed to join forces to share best practices and tools to connect people with nature. Many of NWF’s education innovations are already a part of this program and huge opportunities exist for collaboration both in the U.S. and internationally.
Members of IUCN also defined “nature-based solutions” as actions that protect and manage ecosystems, while effectively addressing societal challenges, such as food and water security, climate change, disaster risk reduction, human health and economic well-being. The concept of nature-based solutions is particularly relevant to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals that were jointly proposed by the United Nations and the World Bank, (launched in 2015 for achievement by 2030).
Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Sacred Lands and Cultures
IUCN’s Members’ Assembly voted to create a new category of membership for indigenous peoples’ organizations. The new membership category opens the opportunity to strengthen the presence and role of indigenous people across the globe in IUCN. “Today’s decision to create a specific place for indigenous peoples in the decision-making process of IUCN marks a major step towards achieving the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources,” said IUCN Director General Inger Andersen. “Indigenous peoples are key stewards of the world’s biodiversity. By giving them this crucial opportunity to be heard on the international stage, we have made our union stronger, more inclusive and more democratic.”
Global Climate Action
New IUCN were approved to provide the conservation community with vital tools to support efforts to help species adapt to climate change. The guidelines are the work of more than 30 leading scientists and conservation professionals from around the world, who responded to the urgent need for a sound, wise way forward in this new and challenging field. As well as providing step-by-step guidance and information on freely available resources, the guidelines also include case studies of assessments carried out for species ranging from corals to butterflies and polar bears.
NWF Leads Conference Sessions
Second row: Marjorie Ziegler, Executive Director, and Jonee Peters, Administrator, Conservation Council for Hawai’i
NWF’s International Wildlife Conservation Program, led by Vice President Barbara Bramble, co-presented a panel session on the current status of private sector commitments to eliminate deforestation from agriculture commodity supply chains. Expansion of agricultural production of major commodities has been the key driver of tropical deforestation for the last couple of decades. As more retail chains and manufacturers demand only “zero deforestation” products, the message is getting through to suppliers in the Brazilian Amazon, Indonesia and other tropical countries. As of 2016, over 360 major corporations have pledged to meet zero deforestation goals for the “big four” commodities, which are cattle, soy, palm oil and wood/paper.
Led by senior climate scientist Bruce Stein, NWF also held a half-day training session as part of the Congress’s Conservation Campus, which focused on providing participants with an introduction to climate adaptation. The training was based on NWF’s highly regarded publication “Climate-Smart Conservation: Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice” and was delivered in collaboration with the U.S. National Park Service and Wildlife Conservation Society. Fifty participants from more than 30 countries learned how climate change is affecting species, ecosystems and human communities, and how climate impacts are transforming the practice of conservation. The workshop focused on helping participants understand how to manage for inevitable changes, and how to link strategies and actions to climate impacts and vulnerabilities.
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The Congress was a long and exhausting once-in-a-lifetime event for everyone involved. But it was also exhilarating. When so many people come together, of all ages and from every corner of the world to address the most pressing conservation challenges of our time, great solutions are shared and hope rises. We surely have work to do to ensure our planet and the life support it provides continues to survive. Working together on a global scale, we may just have a chance.
Learn MoreLearn more about NWF’s international work and get involved.
Founded in part by the National Wildlife Federation in 1948, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a member union of government and civil society organizations that provides tools and knowledge showing how human progress, economic development and nature conservation can take place together.
The World Conservation Congress – “the Olympics of the conservation world” – takes place once every four years when IUCN’s membership comes together to vote on resolutions and share best practice with the public and private sectors. This year was the first time that the Congress has been held in the United States. The National Wildlife Federation’s International Wildlife Conservation Program staff joined our Hawaii affiliate, the Conservation Council of Hawaii, in representing the Federation.
Forest conservation and business engagement were both major themes of this year’s Congress, and the International Wildlife Conservation team co-hosted a side event (along with The Forest Dialogue, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and IUCN) that brought these two themes together. Our panel explored the opportunities, challenges, and lessons-learned from “Zero Deforestation Supply Chains”. The official event page is available here.
Following opening remarks from Moderator Jeff Milder, Chief Scientist at the Rainforest Alliance, NWF’s own Barbara Bramble kicked off the event with a high-level overview of the link between agriculture and forest loss and what companies and governments are doing to sever this link. Agriculture remains the primary driver of deforestation around the world, and every year, nearly 4 million hectares of tropical forests are cleared – an area about twice the size of Massachusetts or New Jersey – for agricultural commodities like cattle, soy, palm oil, and timber, pulp and paper. Collectively, deforestation and agriculture represent almost a quarter of global carbon pollution.
Fortunately, companies and governments – following prodding by civil society – are starting to take action. In 2014, over 50 major companies signed The New York Declaration on Forests, which includes an explicit private sector goal of eliminating deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities by no later than 2020, and ending all deforestation by 2030. In addition to saving invaluable wildlife habitat, full implementation of the Declaration would prevent the release of dangerous carbon pollution equivalent to removing one billion cars from the world’s roads. To date, over 360 companies have now put forth their own zero deforestation commitments.
Of course, defining what “zero deforestation” means in practice can be tricky, and Barbara shared several definitions being used by governments and industry, as well as several examples of what has worked well in Brazil: the Amazon Soy Moratorium and Zero Deforestation Cattle Agreements. While there is still much work to be done to completely sever the link between forest loss and commercial agriculture, there is mounting support for this goal from the private and public sectors. NWF remains optimistic that, through collective efforts, we can achieve an agricultural transformation that safeguards forests and wildlife.
Following Barbara, Marcelo Furtado, Executive Director of the Arapyaú Institute and representative of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests, and Agriculture shared insights into how a coalition of the willing in Brazil has helped to push the government to get serious about tackling deforestation. Business leaders recognized that Brazilian agribusiness would not remain competitive in global markets unless they were able to achieve low carbon production and ensure that robust social and environmental safeguards were in place. When the necessary regulatory framework wasn’t in operation, these leaders began lobbying for action rather than remaining paralyzed.
In addition to describing the goals of the Coalition, Marcelo also stressed that it is absolutely critical to engage the young people of the world and connect them with forests and farms. Only when they understand the complex connections between agriculture and forests – and know where their food comes from – will they embrace what it really means to achieve sustainability.
Representing the private sector, Dr. Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing Innovation for Kering (the parent company of luxury and lifestyle brands like Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Puma, and Volcom) expanded on the importance of definitions when discussing sustainability and zero deforestation. Building on Barbara’s and Marcelo’s talk, she too stressed that leadership is needed from the private sector, and shared that Kering is striving not only for zero deforestation, but also for no conversion of any natural ecosystem (along with other sustainability criteria like just and fair working conditions). She cautioned that businesses and NGOs should try to frame things more positively. As we move away from agricultural systems that degrade ecosystems, we should be moving toward those that create services and value for people, wildlife, and environment. In this way, we can shift the paradigm from “do less harm” to “do more good”.
Last, but certainly not least, Omer van Renterghem of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands represented the government perspective. Omer was an architect of the Amsterdam Declaration on palm oil (co-signed by Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Norway), which aims to support the European private sector in achieving 100% sustainable sourcing and trade, and increased traceability of palm oil by 2020. The Declaration stresses Europe’s “opportunity and responsibility to move the global economy to a more sustainable path.”
As the second largest global import market for palm oil, and the home of many large brands, Europe has an important role to play in the global movement toward zero deforestation palm oil. Omer stressed that through coordinated support from European Union nations, combined with additional support from other consumer countries and key private sector actors, we can eliminate deforestation and achieve sustainability in palm oil production.
The session ended on a tough question from the Moderator: How are we doing in our quest to meet the New York Declaration’s goal of eliminating commodity-driven deforestation by 2020? While there were varying degrees of optimism among the panelists about reaching the target on time, there seemed to be universal agreement that setting an ambitious goal had spurred accelerated action among governments and the private sector. To paraphrase a quote from Dr. Crowley: you can’t just have little halfway targets when fighting deforestation – climate, communities and wildlife simply can’t wait.
Learn MoreLearn more about NWF’s international conservation work.
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This is happening on our watch: so what are we doing about it? A whole lot, but not enough and not nearly fast enough. Our window of opportunity is closing, but it’s not shut yet.
You can join the global conservation community in Hawai‘i September 1 – 10 at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress to help define the path to a sustainable future. Learn about the latest in conservation and sustainable development from top scientists and experts. Share your ideas with heads of state, CEOs and leaders from NGOs and Indigenous people’s groups, and network with thousands of conservation and sustainable development professionals from around the world.
This ten-day event starts with the Forum, four days of the world’s largest marketplace of conservation ideas with over a thousand workshops and other sessions. The Forum informs the next five days, the Members’ Assembly. This is where IUCN’s 1300+ government and NGO Member organizations from over 160 countries vote on actions to address some of the world’s most pressing and often controversial conservation and sustainable development challenges.
This is the moment for all of us to come together and get it right.
Take PartCome, be part of the action and help define a sustainable world for wildlife, wild lands and our children’s future. Registration and more information here.
The upcoming International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s World Conservation Congress (#IUCNCongress) in September is our opportunity to share with other global citizens our amazing islands. WCC, long supported by the National Wildlife Federation and their Hawai‘i state affiliate Conservation Council of Hawai‘i, is also a chance to highlight the extraordinary host culture that nurtures these remarkable resources. People often talk about environmentalism in terms of stewardship, but for Native Hawaiians, the relationship is one of kinship.
We are literally the children of this land, kama‘āina. We call this land our “one hānau” the sands of our birth. Our origin stories or genealogy, mo‘okū‘auhau, link us to this place. To us, the Earth is Mother, Papahānaumoku – “Papa who gives birth to Islands”.
Our inspiration continues to grow from our environment. With an extraordinary cache of native language resources, Hawaiians enjoy a long history of knowledge transmission through a variety of practices that continues today. Scientific data lies thoroughly embedded in our expressions of cultural knowledge, whether in song, story, dance, or other forms.
This existing traditional ecological knowledge of Hawaiians developed from thousands of years of prosperous living on the islands free from outside influence. Extending far beyond cultural heritage, our knowledge includes complex understandings of evolutionary biology, watershed health, agricultural, aquaculture, and resource management that allowed over 1 million people to sustainably reside in Hawai‘i. This expertise will be integrated into the programming across the Congress. It is a model of sustainability that we continue to find ways to perpetuate – for our children’s sake and for our planet’s survival.
Hawai‘i, as an island, is a microcosm of the planet. We have seen our island communities struggle, realizing our resources are fraught with fragility and challenges. Yet, true island people understand the necessity of clinging together in times of greatest adversity.
We understand the need to protect critically endangered species, such as the Hawaiian monk seals, as Hawai‘i remains the site of some of the most diverse and threatened ecosystems on the planet. It is called the “endangered species capital of the world,” yet these tiny islands just passed the broadest wildlife trafficking ban in the nation.
You cannot imagine how painful it is to walk through a forest knowing the songs of beloved, native forest birds that once filled those very spaces are gone forever. It is the heaviest silence in the world. We are a small population that fights so hard to protect our beautiful home, because we know loss and we want to stop the loss from continuing.
We understand it is essential to find ways to transform fear into faith – to turn loss into love and hope. So we offer the planet our own experiences as it stands at the crossroads, and we hope the road ahead for all of us is enriched with the knowledge of the past as it forges its way into the future.
NWF encourages members, supporters and affiliates to consider how they can be part of this momentous opportunity and to support the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress.
Tell us what conservation topics you’d like to see discussed in the comments below!
It began in 2008 when thousands of people including national leaders and conservation practitioners from around the world gathered in Barcelona, Spain, to attend the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress (WWC). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), based in Switzerland, is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries.
We knew in our hearts that Hawai‘i could inspire the world through our amazing biodiversity, our vibrant indigenous Hawaiian culture and the commitment of the conservation community to work together to develop some of the most cutting edge biocultural conservation programs on earth. Hawai‘i has been called the endangered species capital of the world, and for good reason. Nearly all of our native wildlife, from monk seals to hoary bats to sea turtles to forest birds are currently listed as threatened or endangered.
In short, we knew that holding a WCC in Hawai‘i could be a game changer – it could be an important factor in moving our planet away from rapidly approaching the tipping point, and instead slowly move towards a turning point that will take us to sustainability. The stakes are high and our children’s children depend on us to make this change. Our planet’s biodiversity is our life support system and it is being degraded and destroyed at the rate that is unsustainable!
“Having been born and raised in Hawai‘i I have seen first-hand the increasing endangerment of our unique biodiversity and the renaissance of our native Hawaiian culture. Islands are evolutionary engines that generate biocultural diversity but they are sensitive ecological systems that are often the first places to feel the impacts of development, invasive species and climate change. Hawai‘i is a microcosm of the issues the IUCN is dealing with around the world and we have developed innovative and collaborative programs to deal with these issues. ”
In time, the dream spread and many passionate people began to add their voices and talents to our cause. While I was the elected leader for this effort, it took an army of dedicated people from the national conservation, environmental and foundation community to pull it off including help from the National Wildlife Federation and their Hawai‘i state affiliate Conservation Council of Hawai‘i.
After many unsuccessful appeals to the US Department of State, it appeared that we had exhausted our options. With the determined insistence of former NWF board member Steven Montgomery, and fast action by NWF to mobilize fellow national conservation organizations, a sign on letter was produced at the 11th hour that helped to push the State Department to finally support and sign off on our bid to host.
Then, on May 21, 2014, to our amazement, and the amazement of many around the world, the IUCN Council voted unanimously to award the 2016 World Conservation Congress to Hawai‘i!
As we count down to September 1-10, 2016 when the world will meet in Hawai‘i, I encourage all NWF members, supporters and affiliates to consider how they can be part of this once-in-a-lifetime historic opportunity.
If you are an NWF affiliate or partner organization, consider joining as an IUCN member and send a delegation to the Congress. Your participation and support will help to ensure that the 2016 World Conservation Congress leaves a legacy that will change the world.
Leave a comment of support below!
The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016 will be the first major international conservation event held in the United States in decades, and the decisions made there will have impacts that last for generations. National Wildlife Federation, as a founding member of IUCN back in 1948, has worked alongside the State of Hawai‘i , our state affiliate the Conservation Council of Hawaii, Hawaiian cultural leaders and leading national conservation organizations to help bring this important global gathering to the US for the first time.
September 1 marks one year before the IUCN World Conservation Congress and the beginning of a pivotal year for our world’s future. Later this month, the world will commit to deliver Sustainable Development Goals with a timeframe of 15 years – an ambitious agenda for improving human living conditions for all. In December, world leaders will meet in Paris to set the direction for combatting climate change. And one year from now, the Members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), over 1300 of the most influential nation states, government agencies, and national and international conservation organizations in the world, will convene at the IUCN World Conservation Congress to set the global conservation agenda for the next four very important years.
This blog post from IUCN Director General Inger Andersen speaks to the urgency and importance of conservation’s role in defining the path humanity will take and how far that path takes us toward a more vibrant and sustainable future. It is also the theme of the upcoming IUCN Congress.
Planet at the Crossroads
We live in a time of tremendous change, the nature and extent of which is the subject of intense debate and attention around the world. At the heart of this debate is the clash of immediate human needs with their long-term impacts on the planet’s capacity to support life.
With a timeframe of 15 years, all the nations of the world have committed to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals – an ambitious agenda for improving human living conditions for all. There is a real sense of urgency in this call to action, as many believe that current trends are not sustainable and that there is a closing window of opportunity to effect meaningful change in Humanity’s trajectory. Our future will be decided by the choices we make now.
Today we are some 7.3 billion people on Earth and the UN estimates that, under a medium growth scenario, we will be more than 8.4 billion by 2030. Over half the world’s population is already living in urban areas, increasingly disconnected from the complex systems of Nature and the biodiversity that keep us all alive. Shifting patterns of global wealth and economic growth over the past 15 years have led to important increases in economic wellbeing, lifting hundreds of millions of people from poverty.
But in addition to the type of progress we all applaud, such as poverty reduction and improved maternal health, other problems persist or grow steadily worse. The benefits of development are not shared equitably, the gap between rich and poor is widening, and economic growth is occurring at the expense of ecological integrity. We can expect more of this to happen over the next 15 years, and time is running out for us humans to find ways of progressing that safeguard and reinforce the natural world that sustains us.
One can take a pessimistic view — that it is already too late to avoid catastrophe, and therefore we must now focus on survival and recovery. This leaves people in despair. Or one can be optimistic — arguing that Humanity has faced and overcome many great challenges in the past and will continue to do so. This risks indifference and denial.
There is, however, an emerging viable third alternative – embracing the reality that change is coming, and this can either enhance resilience or result in greater instability and uncertainty. This alternative future has been described in various global declarations over recent years, including IUCN’s World Charter for Nature, Agenda 21 and The Earth Charter from the Earth Summit in Rio, and several U.N. General Assembly resolutions on Harmony with Nature. Collectively, they point to the need for profound transformations in our patterns of production and consumption, and recognition that every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
This alternative approach stresses that nature conservation and human progress are not mutually exclusive: economic, political and technological choices can promote and even enhance our planet’s natural assets.
To inform these choices, IUCN works around the world in three areas: valuing and conserving wildlife and all of Nature’s diversity, advancing effective and equitable governance of the use of Nature, and deploying Nature-based solutions to climate, food and development challenges. IUCN is demonstrating that Nature is not an obstacle to human aspirations, but rather an essential partner, offering valuable contributions towards all our endeavours.
But there is much to do: We need to bring these pieces together, with all of IUCN’s members and partners, to collectively complete the greatest puzzle ever attempted: to secure Nature’s support systems so that Humanity and the greater community of life may continue to prosper on Earth.
This is our collective challenge for the next 15 years, and this is the invitation that the 2016 IUCN Congress is offering to the world.
About the Author:
Ms. Inger Andersen is the Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and was appointed Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in January 2015.
Ms. Andersen brings a passion for conservation and sustainable development with more than 30 years of experience in international development economics, environmental sustainability and policy-making, as well as in designing and implementing projects and generating on-the-ground impact. She has played a key role in supporting riparian countries on international water management and hydro diplomacy.
What stood out in particular, as a participant, were the level of governmental support demonstrated for greener campuses in Korea, its international approach, the focus on climate change and wildlife sciences, and its large network of energized students.
Government Makes Greener Campuses Priority
The Governors of Gyeonggi-Province and Yongin City and other senior public officials, shared perspectives with attendees on the importance of greener campuses to South Korea and to the larger world. The President of Kangnam University, Yoon Sin-il, highlighted the
“meaningful roles of the green campus movement in assisting with the country’s preparation of environmental policies, sustainable development strategies and measures for addressing climate change.”
Government support has also helped South Korea link to international efforts. Over the past three years, for example, its global green campus forum has brought in university practitioners from at least eleven countries and four continents, including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
From Sustainability Curricula to Sacred Forests
Proceedings illustrate various higher education emphases across countries and continents and highlight exemplary programs that might not otherwise be known as widely as deserved, such as Miriam College in the Philippines, in which the faculty and staff take a
“whole-school approach to sustainability education,” according to presenter, Reyett Paunan, “developing sustainability modules for most courses and implementing policies for campus operations, including the recycling of 80% of the campus’ materials stream and green building standards.”
Sonia Koumba Christelle Gerda, from Gabon, meanwhile, described her research efforts at Dalian University of Technology in China, focused on a large-scale urban renewal project in Libreville, Gabon, as well as work to protect and connect the country’s network of thirteen national parks that include biosphere reserves, elephants, and sacred forests.
Low-Carbon Strategies
Green campuses are one of eight national priorities in Korea for addressing climate change science, according to Environment Bureau Director General, Shin-Whoan Park, and also play a role in wildlife and habitat protection and restoration. Professor Si-hu Ju, of Kangnam University, for example, illustrated how the campus is achieving its goals to lead in becoming a low-carbon campus through education for students and staff, a detailed green campus plan with targets and timetables for efficiency and conservation, use of geothermal and other clean energy sources and a recycled water treatment system. The campus also boasts a state-of-the-art resource monitoring and management system designed by Honeywell.
Protecting and restoring wildlife habitat
Green Campus Initiative organizers shared the 2008 report, The Wetlands of Gyeonggi Province, describing Korea’s protection plans and priorities for some 2,000 rivers and streams that provide some of the most important habitats in the world for migratory birds, insectivorous (e.g. carnivorous) plants, and life sustaining water for farmers. Students and faculty, they explained, are key to the research, education and hands-on projects needed to protect and restore these important sanctuaries that hang in the balance as citizens debate the most sustainable approaches to development.
Passionate student leaders for climate solutions
The students supported through these various programs presented about how the hundreds of green projects they have lead to date, all across Korea and beyond, are motivated by the need to find solutions to growing global ecological and social problems. They pass out stickers that encourage “turning off power strips and standby power,” “saving every drop of water” and to “remember the millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from shortage of water and the climate refugees whose homeland is turned into desert.”
Fostering International Linkages
Thank you to Korea’s Gyeonggi-do Association for Green Campus Initiative for the honor of inviting me to present a keynote for this year’s forum about how “Ecologically Literate and Engaged Students will Lead the 21st Century,” as well as to Paul Rowland, executive director of the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for connecting Korea’s green campus leadership with National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program. It is clear that Korea is working hard to advance green campuses as a national framework for sustainability and, through its higher education leadership and international linkages, is a country to watch as it enlightens the world about what is possible.
Global Green Campus Forum South Korea
Ashwini Srinivasa Presents and Reports on Global Green Campus Forum
Green Campus, Amanda Miu Chung Han, Asia Pacific Business & Technology Report, June 8, 2012