Story | 07 Sep, 2017
Global shift in Marine Protected Area analysis and reporting
The UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and IUCN have launched the Marine Protected Planet Interactive - the world’s most authoritative and ambitious platform for information about ocean protection. As of September 2017, Marine Protected Areas cover 6.35% of the ocean…
Story | 04 Sep, 2017
World gears up to boost ocean protection as global congress opens in Chile
Protecting the ocean from growing threats so that it can continue to feed communities around the world is the focus of the Fourth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4), hosted by Chile’s Ministry of the Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),…
Story | 31 Aug, 2017
Canada’s newest and largest Marine Protected Area: Tallurutiup Imanga – Lancaster Sound
Since the late 1960s, the Inuit living in the Baffin region of the Canadian Arctic have sought protection for their traditional territory – an area which has provided their people with food, clothing and shelter for millennia. On 14 August 2017, the Government of Canada (Parks Canada), the…
Story | 31 Aug, 2017
European Parks´ Academy – A new training format for protected area professionals
The European Parks´ Academy is a new training format on protected area management for executives and professionals from all over the world. Based on the outputs of the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 and the “Promise of Sydney”, the two-week summer academy with different training modules has just…
Story | 30 Aug, 2017
Supporting Mediterranean ecosystems helps buffer against climate change
Natural protected areas like forests, beaches, mountains, scrublands and river ecosystems provide a wide variety of benefits to both people and nature. Many of these ecosystem services are deteriorating due to temperature increases, unpredictable rainfall, the arrival of invasive species and…
Story | 29 Aug, 2017
IUCN and Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment sign agreement to promote closer collaboration
Phnom Penh 23 August 2017 — IUCN Cambodia and the Ministry of Environment (MoE) strengthened their cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in areas of natural resources conservation and local livelihood improvement. IUCN’s Asia Regional Director, Ms Aban Marker Kabraji, and…
Story | 28 Aug, 2017
Nature Lovers return mangroves to Pulau Dua
Well-known for its importance as a breeding site for water birds, Pulau Dua was established as a nature reserve in 1937. Unfortunately, in recent decades, much of Pulau Dua’s mangroves were cleared for shrimp farms. With coasts deteriorated, fish that had previously used the mangroves as…
Story | 24 Aug, 2017
When voices are heard in Cu Lao Cham Marine Protected Area
With a total area of 3.7 hectares (roughly the size of 5 football pitches), the coastline in front and the famous Hai Tang pagoda in back, the Pagoda Field in Cu Lao Cham, Viet Nam is a place of great natural beauty and of religious and historical value. The area is part of the Cu Lao Cham…
Story | 22 Aug, 2017
How one NGO in Viet Nam is saving the world’s most trafficked mammal
Appearing somewhat like a cross between an anteater and a lizard, and rolling into a ball when threatened, the pangolin looks like nothing else on earth. Most people have never heard of them, let alone seen one – yet these creatures are the single most…
Story | 18 Aug, 2017
IUCN and the World Commission on Protected Areas mourn the loss of wildlife defender Wayne Lotter
IUCN is shocked and saddened by the death of leading conservationist and IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) member Wayne Lotter, tragically killed in a gun attack in Tanzania on Wednesday 16 August.