Story | 24 Jul, 2014
One tenth of bird species flying under the conservation radar
More than 350 newly recognised bird species have been assessed by BirdLife International for the first time on behalf of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The assessment shows that more than 25% of these newly recognised birds have been listed as threatened on The IUCN Red List -…
Story | 17 Jul, 2014
Another Step Forward on High Seas Governance
The international community continues to make progress in its discussions on issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. At the eighth meeting of the UN Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study such issues…
Story | 15 Jul, 2014
Call for nominations for the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of IPBES
IPBES has issued a call for nominations for the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP) for the three-year term 2015–2017, replacing the current interim MEP. The MEP is an important body as it is responsible for overseeing the…
Story | 09 Jul, 2014
SOS Marine: Collaboration key to saving Bangladesh’s cetaceans from gillnets
The lives of Bangladesh's fishermen and its coastal cetaceans are intertwined. Regarded as their brethren at sea, fishermen often lament the death of these top predators through entanglement in gillnets. Finding mutually beneficial solutions, Brian Smith and colleague Rubaiyat Mowgli Mansur,…
Story | 09 Jul, 2014
Natural World Heritage reaches 228 sites, including 19 ‘in danger’
Delegates from over 100 governments met last month in Doha during the 38th World Heritage Committee meeting to take decisions on new and existing World Heritage sites. As usual, IUCN experts were there to give advice on natural World Heritage and the action needed to assure its conservation. The…
Story | 02 Jul, 2014
IUCN releases new guidance document on ocean acidification policy and governance options
Story | 26 Jun, 2014
Javan Rhinos: Rangers protect the unseen
Like the semi-mystical Saola, the Critically Endangered Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is rarely seen. That does not…
Story | 24 Jun, 2014
More good news for Saola as rangers collect over 7,800 snares
How do you protect what you never see and of which we know so little? According to SOS Grantee and IUCN Member, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Alex McWilliam, Deputy Director of the WCS Lao PDR Programme, by far the greatest immediate threat to the survival of the Saola throughout its…
Press release | 21 Jun, 2014
Iconic Okavango Delta becomes 1,000th World Heritage site
Doha, Qatar, 22 June 2014 (IUCN) – Botswana’s Okavango Delta, one of the most iconic natural areas on the planet, has been listed as 1,000th World Heritage site today. The decision follows the recommendation of IUCN, UNESCO’s advisory body on nature.
Story | 18 Jun, 2014
IUCN welcomes emphatic ‘no’ to extractives in World Heritage
Following IUCN’s advice, the World Heritage Committee has sent a strong message to oil and gas and other extractive industries not to operate in World Heritage sites. The message came during discussions about World Heritage sites in Danger, including Africa’s iconic Virunga National Park, at the…