IUCN Statement | 30 Apr, 2020
IUCN deplores the brutal killing of 17 people in Virunga National Park
IUCN is deeply shocked by the tragic loss of 12 park rangers, a staff driver and four civilians close to Virunga National Park, following an attack by armed militia on 24 April. One of the world’s most biodiversity-rich areas and home to the last remaining mountain gorillas, Virunga is Africa’s…
Story | 25 Mar, 2020
Nature-based Solutions for Water Infrastructure at your service
'Natural water infrastructure' is not built infrastructure. Instead, it is shaped, grown, eroded or deposited by nature over time. It refers to services nature provides for free, such as mangroves protecting shorelines from storms, peatlands sequestering carbon, wetlands filtering contaminated…
Story | 12 Mar, 2020
Report: Blue Infrastructure Finance, where all win
All coastal and marine ecosystems are critical to human well-being and global biodiversity. Mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds are examples of these. But urban and rural infrastructure investments are having a heavy negative impact on these systems, and it is…
Story | 19 Feb, 2020
Emergency Recovery Plan could halt catastrophic collapse in world’s freshwater biodiversity
With biodiversity vanishing from rivers, lakes and wetlands at alarming speed, a new scientific paper outlines an Emergency Recovery Plan to reverse the rapid decline in the world’s freshwater species and habitats – and safeguard our life support systems.
Story | 17 Feb, 2020
IUCN Council adopts first-ever Global Standard on Nature-based Solutions
Gland, Switzerland – The first-ever Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions has been developed by IUCN. Last week, the IUCN Council adopted the standard, clearing the way for it to be launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in June.…
Story | 31 Dec, 2019
Following the decision by IUCN Members to adopt a universal definition of nature-based solutions (NbS) in 2016, IUCN has been working with key stakeholders in relevant sectors, such as water, food, development and humanitarian aid, encouraging them to systematically incorporate NbS into their…
Story | 04 Nov, 2019
The Chad Basin, a lifeline for people, nature and peace
The Chad basin, centred around Lake Chad, covers almost 8% of the African continent and is home to over 30 million people. Over half of this population carves a living out of farming, herding and fishing thanks to the…
Story | 03 Sep, 2019
Thailand introduces SMART tech to protect Asian elephants
In early May, the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), together with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), organised a three-…
Story | 29 Aug, 2019
The Future of Dams - Viable Options or Stranded Assets?
Since the 1997 IUCN-World Bank study 'Large Dams: Learning from the Past, Looking at the Future' and the subsequent establishment of the World Commission on Dams, IUCN recognises dams are, for better or worse, an integral part of a post fossil-fuel future in which energy needs are met for all.…
Story | 23 May, 2019
From helplessness to hope through restoration
With successive waves of environmental foreboding predicted by the world’s leading scientific authorities, hopeful nature-based solutions for the planet’s future have never been more necessary. Fortunately, from increasing the productivity of…