From policy to practice: IUCN's role in charting the course for the world's protected and conserved areas emerges from day four at IUCN Congress 2025

            In the penultimate day of the Exhibition, and the last day before the opening of the Members Assembly, the capacity for the Union to act as a ‘voice for nature’ - one that resonates from the depths of the ocean to high-level summits – spoke out for effective, equitable, and inspiring answers to our world's planetary crises. 

Panama announced as host of WPC2027 

Panama – a country boasting more than 120 protected areas - was announced as the host of the World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress 2027. At an energetic event featuring the participation of Panama's Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Navarro, alongside high-level representatives from IUCN, IUCN WCPA, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the excitement and sense of pride in Panama's leadership was palpable. 

‘Our national parks are a true wonder of the world. We have everything from marine parks in the Caribbean - protecting turtles, coral reefs, sea grasses, and mangroves – to the high mountains, down to the Pacific Coast where whales, turtles, whale sharks and manta rays thrive. For Panama, it's a matter of pride to host World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress - to bring the world to Panama, and share the richness of our natural environment with the world.’  HE Juan Carlos Navarro, Minister of Environment, Panama. 

The IUCN World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress 2027 will take place in the final years of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, coinciding also with the 2030 endpoint for the Sustainable Development Goals, and will be uniquely positioned to inform and set the agenda for the ensuing decades. This will be the first time this Congress will be held in the MesoAmerica region. Learn more. 

Strengthening participation for progress on the GBF 

Panama will again feature in the headlines of the conservation world in two weeks, when parties will hold the first meeting of the new Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. A timely dialogue, led by the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) explored the need for full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples in the new SB8(j). Speakers from IIBFB argued for the full participation of Indigenous representatives alongside State Party representatives, in-keeping with the modus operandi of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Article 8j. 

Elsewhere on day four of IUCN Congress 2025, participants learned about the importance of community-based monitoring and assessment for reporting to the Global Biodiversity Framework. This approach advances rights-based, equitable reporting by custodians, those often with the best knowledge to conserve nature. The session ended with a call for the integration of community-based monitoring into national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs), and the compilation of a compendium of cases to share at different scales, to demonstrate how effective this can be, which PCA Team can support through its programme of work. 

“Conservation monitoring and reporting by communities can include monitoring of rights and equity issues too” Neema Pathak-Broome, ICCA Consortium, International Policy Coordinator   

Marcus Rose / Workers Photos

Green List Awards at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 in Abu Dhabi

 The Green List Awards Ceremony 2025 

As the day came to a close, the 2025 Green List Awards celebrated 24 new Listings, representing over 120 protected and conserved areas across 13 countries. The IUCN Green List is listed as a voluntary indicator for effectiveness by the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the growing community of Green Listed sites represents an assurance that protected and conserved areas are achieving real conservation success. 

The Green List Awards in Abu Dhabi, though, was about more than recognising places; the event honoured the people behind them—rangers, site managers, experts, and communities—whose daily efforts make conservation possible. During the event, speakers shared how the IUCN Green List motivates teams, reinforces local tools and helps to align site-level work with global goals. Recognition was described as a powerful driver of change that turns good practices into models for others to follow. Overall, it was a night for celebrate, connect and collective commitment to effective and equitable conservation; the key to achieving a planet conserved through policy and practice. 

Illuminating conversations on OECMs 

Examples of work to identify and report Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) was also showcased on day four of IUCN Congress. At the Korea Pavilion, a session on OECMs in Asia convened representatives from Korea, China, and Indonesia, who shared progress and experiences with OECMs. The discussion highlighted that OECMs are not intended to replace protected areas, but rather to complement them, with each country presenting its own approach to OECM recognition and management. Later in the day, IUCN's Mohammad Khalid Sayeed Pasha highlighted OECMs as a key pathway to achieve the 30x30 target, beyond protected areas. He stressed inclusive governance, recognising the role of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and production landscapes in biodiversity conservation; and calling for stronger co-management, reporting frameworks, and capacity-building to accelerate OECM implementation in Asia. 

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