Story | 02 Nov, 2017
Cooperative governance of the Ganges Brahmaputra Meghna Basins (GBM) region was strengthened through the recent launch of a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) vision for improved transboundary water management. The vision, which was developed by a network of over 25 CSOs from Bangladesh, Bhutan,…
Blog | 21 Sep, 2017
What can climate change response teach us about human-elephant conflict management?
Apparently unrelated, there are some similarities between responding to climate change and managing human-elephant conflicts. To make human-elephant conflict obsolete in Bangladesh, its management could learn a few things from our responses to climate change, writes Haseeb Md. Irfanullah of IUCN…
Story | 11 Sep, 2017
New farming methods secure livelihoods of communities in India
Pampa Dolui is from Udayan, a small village among the mangroves of Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha, India. Her early childhood memories are of her family’s rice paddy fields and clear water ponds. As a 15-year-old, Pampa also experienced the devastation of the 1999 Odisha cyclone – reckoned…
Story | 18 Jul, 2017
U.S.-ASEAN Conference on Marine Environmental Issues to be held in Bangkok, Thailand
The Stimson Center, on behalf of the U.S. State Department and in collaboration with IUCN and the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Programme, is co-chairing the U.S.-ASEAN Conference on Marine Environmental Issues.
Story | 26 Jun, 2017
New tools to assess vulnerability of wetlands in the Mekong
From June 19 to 21, IUCN staff, partners, and local officials from the Xe Champhone and Beung Kiat Ngong Ramsar sites in Lao PDR gathered in Champhone District for a training on the use of a new series of tools to assess the vulnerability of the areas’ wetlands. The…
Story | 23 Jun, 2017
TROSA: New trans-boundary water governance initiative aims to enhance regional cooperation
Over the last decade, IUCN has been working with governments, civil societies and academics in Asia on trans-boundary hydro-diplomacy through its initiatives in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) and Mekong river basins. Based on IUCN’s experiences and its long-term experience in the Mekong…
Story | 22 May, 2017
Tapping into sustainable tourism to safeguard biodiversity
As the sun rises and the flooded forests of Cambodia’s Stung Seng wildlife sanctuary come alive with the chattering and whooping of endangered monkeys with their elegant silvery-grey fur, fishermen from the Phat Sanday commune make their way towards the lake to set their nets for the day.
Story | 21 May, 2017
Banning vs. legalise and regulate in forest management
Two years ago, on a field survey in Bac Kan Province in Viet Nam, we heard about a farmer who needed 30 stamps to get a permit to harvest a single Styrax tonkinensis tree that was growing on his land. Even though the tree was on land that was designated as plantation forest and the farmer had a…
Story | 04 May, 2017
Working together to build MPAs for long-term marine resources management
Our oceans, coasts and wetlands are crucial for our survival. Mangrove forests, for example, sequester massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and protect coastal communities from cyclone storm surges, while coastal wetlands and coral reefs provide breeding and nesting grounds for…
Press release | 03 Apr, 2017
Enhancing regional cooperation to protect and restore Indo-Burma wetlands
The importance of regional cooperation took centre stage at the first Steering Committee meeting and inception workshop for the Indo-Burma Ramsar Regional Initiative (IBRRI), held on 29 and 30 March in Bangkok, Thailand.