DG Statement | 21 May, 2021
IUCN Director General’s Statement for International Day for Biological Diversity
We mark this year's International Day for Biological Diversity at a time of upheaval, in the midst of a continuing pandemic, a fast-changing climate, with biodiversity in steep decline. At the same time, we know that halting biodiversity loss is possible, and that it can open the way to a more…
Story | 22 Feb, 2021
One-third of freshwater fish face extinction, warns new report
A new report ‘The World’s Forgotten Fishes’ reveals the extraordinary variety of freshwater fish. This variety accounts for over half of all the world’s fish species and is essential to the health of the world’s rivers, lakes and wetlands and well-being of societies and economies across the…
Story | 01 Feb, 2021
Each year, the international community celebrates World Wetlands Day on the 2nd February, a day to put a spotlight on the state of our wetlands globally. Organised by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the 2021 theme focuses on the intrinsic link…
Story | 05 Aug, 2020
The IUCN SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force (“the Task Force”) today announces the approval of thirteen new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) in the Extended Southern Ocean Region.
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 | 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 | 30 Sep, 2019
BRIDGE: Hydrodiplomacy in Action
Globally, over 310 lake and river basins stretch across national borders. Around 60% of those lack any type of cooperative management framework. Good transboundary water management is crucial for peace, security, economic development and environmental…
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-…