Story | 14 Dec, 2016
Update on global statistics from Protected Planet Report 2016
The latest update to the Protected Planet Report 2016 shows that there are now just under 15,000 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) spread across 18.5 million square kilometres of ocean and sea. Up to 13% of territorial waters are now protected, and dramatic progress has been made towards achieving…
Story | 17 Nov, 2016
Safety net: climate change response and recovery in northern Panay, Philippines
Typhoon Haiyan wrought destruction in the Philippines exactly three years ago, in November 2013. The island communities of northern Panay were particularly hard-hit. Recovery efforts relied heavily on coastal resources, and especially on fish for subsistence survival, yet boats, nets and other…
Story | 07 Nov, 2016
World Commission on Protected Areas - Marine: making a big splash for the future of our ocean
The 2014 World Parks Congress in Sydney saw a significant scaling-up of recognition of ocean issues by IUCN, WCPA-Marine and partners. Since then, much has taken place behind the scenes to expand WCPA-Marine action areas,whilst strengthening existing programmes, membership services and…
Story | 28 Jun, 2016
The tourist-proof region of Cerbère-Banyuls
Cerbère-Banyuls Natural Marine Reserve is located on the Catalan coast of Southern France in Languedoc-Roussillon in the Midi-Pyrénées. It’s a small area, taking up 6.5 km of coastal waters, and covering just 650 hectares overall. It was founded in 1974 as the first Natural Marine Reserve in…
Story | 22 Jun, 2016
New Publication: Framework for Assessing and Improving Law for Sustainability
Despite a proliferation of legal instruments related to the environment, environmental challenges such as ecosystem degradation, climate change and species loss continue to accelerate. At local, national and global scales, environmental legal systems are not consistently achieving the goals for…
Story | 14 Apr, 2016
Exposing illegal trade in elephant tusks
Following a seizure of ivory, a suspected illegal trader has been sentenced to imprisonment. Paul de Ornellas of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), a grantee with IUCN’s SOS initiative, explains how ZSL helped expose the crime.
Story | 04 Mar, 2016
Getting SMART about tackling wildlife crime on the frontline.
With illegal wildlife trade being a core issue of the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016, the role and value of SMART conservation software is pertinent. Marking World Wildlife Day March 3 2016, we travel to the Okapi Faunal Reserve in Democratic Republic of Congo to learn more about…
Story | 01 Feb, 2016
World Wetlands Day: Wetlands & Sustainable Livelihoods
Each year, 2 February marks World Wetlands Day, to celebrate our planet’s wetlands but also to draw attention to the challenges that their degradation brings.
Story | 20 Jan, 2016
Could conservation become a new investment asset class?
A new IUCN-backed report released yesterday identifies three new investment structures that could help catalyse finance to meet the world’s pressing environmental challenges and sustainable growth goals.
Story | 17 Jan, 2016
Making the case for a net positive impact on biodiversity
Exploring how a Net Positive Impact (NPI) approach on biodiversity can enable the private sector to better manage biodiversity and contribute to global conservation is the focus of two new papers released today under the auspices of the NPI Alliance.