Story | 20 Dec, 2013
Shark expert and freediver joins IUCN’s ocean conservation mission
Despite the high profile media attention sharks receive, relatively little is known about their biology. Of those shark species that have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, nearly half are listed as Data Deficient, which means that we do not have enough information to…
Story | 19 Dec, 2013
Travel around the most beautiful places on Earth, for free!
This holiday season, IUCN's World Heritage Programme is offering you a trip around Earth’s natural wonders. Discover the locations of 222 natural World Heritage sites across the planet; let yourself be transported by 3D simulation, and inspired by some amazing photos.
Story | 26 Nov, 2013
Forest giraffe joins growing number of threatened species
The Okapi – a national symbol of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as the “forest giraffe” – and the sub-Saharan White-winged Flufftail – one of Africa’s rarest birds – are now on the brink of extinction, according to the latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.…
Story | 15 Nov, 2013
Registration now open for the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014
Registration is now open for the IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC), the landmark global forum on protected areas held every 10 years. The event takes place in Sydney, Australia 12-19 November 2014, with the theme 'Parks, people, planet: inspiring solutions' designed to help deliver IUCN’s three…
Press release | 23 Oct, 2013
World nearing 3% of ocean protection
Marseille, France, 24 October 2013 – Marine protected areas now cover 2.8% of the global ocean – an area larger than Europe – according to the official map released today based on data provided by the World Database on Protected Areas, run by IUCN and the United Nations Environment Programme (…
Story | 22 Oct, 2013
Thirty one new Hope Spots - places that are critical to the health of the ocean - were announced yesterday by renowned oceanographer and IUCN Patron Sylvia Earle, a global initiative of the Sylvia Earle Alliance “Mission Blue” and IUCN, with the aim to scale up the marine protection necessary…
Press release | 16 Oct, 2013
Biggest zone closed to fishing announced
Two high-seas areas in the Southern Indian Ocean have been added to the network of zones that are closed to deepwater trawling by a fishing industry group, making it the largest such enclosure in the world – IUCN and the Southern Indian Ocean Deepwater Fishers Association (SIODFA) announced…
Legacy Article | 12 Sep, 2013
The Duke of Cambridge and IUCN unite for wildlife
As part of his latest conservation initiative, The Duke of Cambridge brings together an unprecedented collaboration between the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, and seven of the world’s most influential conservation organizations, including IUCN.
Story | 15 Aug, 2013
Salmon fishing clashes with endangered gray whales
An IUCN group of experts is calling for an immediate halt to large-scale commercial salmon fishing near Piltun Lagoon, Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East because of the risk it poses to about 150 critically endangered Western Gray whales found in this area.