With eight successful events over the past six weeks, the "Vital Sites: The Journey to Marseille" team promises many new exciting webinars, panel discussions, and online events in the coming months.

August 2020 will see the Kenton Miller Award ceremony go online, as part of the Journey to Marseille.

To register for an upcoming event, or catch up with one you missed, learn more here.

The surface of protected areas in Uzbekistan has increased by 36% since its previous update 23 years ago, revealed the July release of the World Database of Protected Areas. This data submission is boosting the progress towards the achievement of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 set by the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Government of Uzbekistan has committed to increase the total protected areas coverage to 12% of its territory by 2028, as outlined in the recently adopted National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and the “Biodiversity conservation strategy for 2019-2028”.

Read more

World Ranger Day is celebrated worldwide each year on 31 July to commemorate Rangers killed or injured in the line of duty and to celebrate the work Rangers do to protect the planet’s natural treasures and cultural heritage.

Read more

IUCN-WCPA has joined with the IRF and six other conservation organisations to form URSA - the Universal Ranger Support Alliance. Launched on World Ranger Day (31 July 2020), URSA has prepared a global action plan to help support rangers achieve their goals. By ensuring that the urgently needed investment, tools, reforms and policy changes are put in place, the plans’s overall goal is:

A network of well-supported, professionally competent, mandated, motivated, responsible and representative rangers working effectively as custodians of biodiversity and the life systems upon which we all depend.

Read more

Set in 2010 by the 13 tiger range countries, the goal known as TX2, to double wild tigers, is one of the most ambitious conservation goals ever for a single species.

To recognise excellence in this field, two new awards will be open for nominations this year - the TX2 Award and Tiger Conservation Excellence Award. These awards are open to submissions from any site in a tiger range country that has achieved remarkable measurable progress since 2010.

Award winners will be announced on 23 November 2020 - the 10 year anniversary for the global TX2 goal.

Read more

These reserves, spread across 18 Indian states, cover over 7000 km2 and are home to over 80% of the world’s tiger population.

This announcement further strengthens India’s contribution to the global goal set in 2010 to double the number tigers in the wild, known as TX2. India reported a population of 2,967 wild tigers during the last census in 2018, which is more than double the last estimate in 2006.

Read more

"I have grown to know this country fairly well, but it is in getting lost that you get to know the country."

A ranger’s job is more multifaceted than it may appear from the outside looking in. Each day can be different than the previous — mainly because the assignments are so wide-ranging, and, in part, because rangers never know what type of conditions might come their way.

Erasto Fitz Maxwell Robertson, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is one of the many hard-working rangers around the world. In this interview on World Ranger Day 2020, Erasto provides a glimpse into life as a park ranger.

Read more

IUCN joins the international conservation community in condoling the death of John Foster CBE on 6 July 2020.

John won the Fred M. Packard Award for outstanding services to protected and conserved areas at the Perth Congress of IUCN in 1990, with the citation:

“In recognition of 40 years of distinguished service in landscape conservation and recreation planning and management, first as Director of the Peak National Park in England and subsequently as the first Director of the Countryside Commission for Scotland. John Foster has played an active part in Commission on National Parks and Protected Area's work at the international level from 1974 onwards, notably as Vice Chair for the Western Palaearctic Region between 1981 and 1988. He was also instrumental in reviving the European Federation of Nature and National Parks. He has made a particularly strong contribution to the development of interpretation techniques as tools of conservation education.”

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, has announced that a record 876 flamingo chicks hatched at Abu Dhabi’s Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, an IUCN Green List site.

This year, flamingos began building their nests around 15 March when EAD scientists observed the first egg. The commencement of breeding in 2020 was almost two weeks earlier in comparison to 2019. The current breeding season produced 876 chicks, which is the highest so far since the flamingos started breeding regularly at Al Wathba in 2011, with an increase of 22 percent in 2020. In 2019, 714 chicks were successfully raised from the same colony.

Read more

Because of decades of logging and rapid economic development in Greater Khingan Mountains, the moose population had sharply declined, and the habitat had been seriously damaged at Hanma National Nature Reserve in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China.

In order to protect and restore the moose population in Hanma and adjacent areas, this project has conducted in-depth research on moose and formulated protection measures.

Read more

Historical exploitation of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) on Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles) led to a dramatic decline in the numbers of nesting turtles, with the lowest numbers observed in the late 1960s. In 1968 turtle protection regulations were implemented throughout Seychelles. Aldabra Atoll was designated a special reserve in 1981 managed by the Seychelles Islands Foundation.

The successful conservation efforts have boosted the turtle population to 500-800% over a period of 40 years with an estimated 3100-5225 females nesting annually. Aldabra Atoll now holds one of the largest nesting rookeries for green turtles in the Western Indian Ocean.

Read more

The measures taken to prevent or control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have introduced challenges in the management of Africa’s protected areas (PAs) that had never been experienced before. As a result, most operations were scaled down or suspended, visitor facilities closed to the public, workplaces shut, “non-essential PA staff” withdrawn from their duty stations, and important supply chains disrupted, all significantly affecting critical day-to-day operations in protected areas. 19 countries responded to this endeavour undertaken to understand how the measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic had impacted protected area operations and programmes across the continent.

Read more

The Call for Proposals for Rapid Response Grants of the BIOPAMA Action Component will run until 31 December 2020. These grants aim at increasing the resilience of protected areas and local communities’ livelihoods facing the risks and difficulties of the global COVID-19 pandemic in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. It is aimed that the final decision on awarding the grant will be taken within 6 weeks of the receipt of proposals.

Read more

Read up on the latest developments of the global solution learning initiative PANORAMA: from the 2019 web platform statistics to a feature that shows how solutions from nature can help prevent future pandemics.

Read more

BEST 2.0+ continues the EU BEST Initiative and is a direct follow up of the BEST 2.0 Programme.

The objective of BEST 2.0+ is to promote the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of ecosystem services, including ecosystem based approach to climate change adaption and mitigation, in the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

Read more

In this unprecedented situation affecting all the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), the BEST Secretariat is very pleased to share that a new call for proposals will be launched in September 2020 under the BEST 2.0+ Programme.

The grant scheme is designed to provide effective support for small-scale actions on the ground carried out by local stakeholders. The maximum amount and duration of a project are respectively €60,000 and 18 months. It has been adapted to cope with the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and will be extended to circular economy solutions preserving ecosystems and reducing pressure on biodiversity.

Read more

Catch up with the latest news with the latest IUCN Green List Newsflash, including the latest sites to make it to the list, upcoming events, ways to get involved, updates on the new website, and deadlines EAGL site recommendations for the IUCN Green List Committee.

Read more

Over 13,000 students and to this date, over 1000 certificates of completion delivered to successful students. There is still time to request certificates, so there’s are not the final numbers. Thank you to all those who participated, to the student ambassadors who organised meetings when this was still allowed, and we are looking forward to the next session. Registrations will open shortly (mooc-conservation.org) and the session will run from 14 September to 13 December 2020.

Learn more about our MOOCs at mooc-conservation.org

When we think of protected areas, we usually think of National Parks controlled and managed by government authorities. In reality, protected areas are often managed by private organisations or individuals, indigenous peoples, local communities, or a combination of stakeholders. Learn more about the efforts of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) to document such non-state protected areas.

Read more

The Mount Imawbum National Park is the first in Myanmar to be gazetted through a comprehensive consultation process of indigenous people. It is based on FPIC, facilitated by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and the Forest Department, unlike previous protected area management projects that followed a “fence and fine” process. Using FPIC has put local and indigenous communities at the heart of the process, recognizing their traditional resource rights and maintained bottom-up community-based conservation.

Read more

The WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group has completed the first ever global guidelines for advancing best practices to protect the interconnections of protected and conserved areas, and restore degraded or fragmented ecosystems.

Culminating over 20 years of work at IUCN, these Guidelines for Conserving Connectivity through Ecological Networks and Corridors describe and exemplify innovative tools to support more consistent conservation efforts to combat fragmentation, halt biodiversity loss, and better adapt to climate change. Led by the WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group, and with contributions from more than 100 experts in 30 countries, this publication also provides 25 case studies illustrating a diversity of ways that ecological connectivity is being conserved around the world.

Read more

On Thursday 23 July 2020, IUCN launched the first-ever Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

In two high-level virtual events, stakeholders around the world joined leaders and champions of NbS from the private and public sector, to find out more about what is being done worldwide and what can be done with the Standard, to mainstream Nature-based Solutions and redefine our relationship with nature.

The two events were as follows:

High level launch event - rewatch here.
High level launch panel discussion - rewatch here.

Read more and download

Managing Scotland’s parks and greenspaces during COVID-19 brings together the latest guidance from Scottish Government and advice from Public Health Scotland, sportscotland, VisitScotland and a range of other organisations.

The document will be regularly updated to include new guidance and advice as we move through Scotland's Route Map.

The guide covers managing physical distancing and visitor numbers, staff and volunteers, site infrastructure and facilities, and communication. It also provides advice and practical examples of temporary interventions for adapting and managing greenspaces.

Download here

Humanity’s relationship with the natural world is more important than ever. At the IUCN Congress, experts showcase the latest conservation science, policy and best practice. IUCN’s government, civil society and indigenous peoples’ Member organisations vote to set priorities for nature conservation and sustainable development actions for the decades ahead.

IUCN and France have postponed the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 to 7-15 January 2021. Registration for the IUCN World Conservation Congress is now open here.

To receive IUCN Congress updates, subscribe here.

As part of Vital Sites: The Journey to Marseille, this year's Kenton Miller Award ceremony will be hosted online on 26 August 2020.

Register here

Mangrove forests and swamps are nature's superheroes, a vital ecosystem for climate mitigation, adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and many other benefits for humans and animals alike.

On the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem 2020, IUCN presents an interactive website to broaden understanding of mangroves and their role in nature-based solutions (NbS).

Explore

The journal "Sustainability" is offering an opportunity to present case studies, research findings and synthesis papers about inclusivity, with a special focus on conservation practices of local communities and indigenous peoples.

Manuscripts can be submitted any time until 31 August 2021.

Read more

Since its establishment in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. IUCN’s new legacy gift options will help ensure IUCN keeps playing this essential role for years to come.

Read more