By Jessica George-Joseph – Amazon Conservation Team

When establishing protected areas, the presence and rights of indigenous peoples must be accounted for. The Kanashen Protected Area in Guyana serves as a model for how indigenous lands and protected areas can work together as one to provide benefits to indigenous communities and biodiversity conservation. This case shows how the Wai-wai people of southern Guyana adopted their indigenous lands into the protected areas system. Read more.

By Kelvin Passfield – Technical Director, Te Ipukarea Society

Climate change is having severe impacts on small island developing states, causing socioeconomic and environmental challenges. In Rarotonga, part of the Cook Islands, coastal erosion is one major challenge that is being addressed by the Te Ipukarea Society through a community-based adaptation project involving geo-textile sandbags. They aim to replace environmentally damaging rock seawalls, which cause further erosion, with these sandbags as a hybrid nature-based solution. Read more.

By Vladan Ivetić and Jelena Milovanović, ADAPT project

The changing climate of the Western Balkans has generated predictions of increased heat waves, flooding, and decreased precipitation in the summer months – all having an impact on forests. Supporting forest landscape restoration as a nature-based solution in the region is essential for providing climate change resilience. The ADAPT project is looking at ways to improve restoration initiatives to mitigate flooding and disaster risk, including a site in Kraljevo, Serbia. Read more.

France Médias Monde, the official international media partner for Congress, will cover the event in Marseille through their television and radio channels, giving Congress a broad reach with national and international audiences. Read more about France Médias Monde and the partnership here.

The virtual Conservation Action Cafés at Congress will enable participants to generate new ideas and partnerships for concrete action on the ground. Each session will be dedicated to a single Congress theme, facilitated by a professional moderator and include interactive breakout rooms. A link will be provided to all participants five minutes before the opening of each session and will be on a first-come first-served basis. Join the Conservation Action Cafés and provide your insights!

The Congress Forum programme identifies all the sessions that will be held onsite, virtually, or in a hybrid format. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the full options with onsite participation. See the updated Forum programme here.

IUCN has lined up a wide range of top-tier speakers from diverse backgrounds, to share their insights and expertise on the most pressing nature conservation and sustainable development issues. See the full list of speakers here.

IUCN and the French government are committed to a safe Congress and are taking every precaution to ensure the health and safety of all participants. For more information about health and safety at Congress and traveling to France, see here.

Organising a sustainable event is at the core of Congress preparations, with sustainability policies in place and the use of the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System. Learn more about the Sustainable Action Plan and view the Sustainability Guide for Participants here.

Gender equity and a diverse, professional and harassment-free experience are top priorities for the Congress. The Evénement Egalité Femmes Hommes (Large Event Gender Equity label) is a certification that Congress is working towards. To learn more about inclusivity at Congress and to view the anti-harassment policy see here.

Use the #IUCNcongress social media kit to share your enthusiasm for the Congress with videos, images and sample posts. Check out the toolkit here.

Take advantage of our exclusive deals on hotel rooms in Marseille. Hotels with sustainable programmes are available and easy to identify.  Read more.

Reserve your space on a variety of special excursions around Marseille and Provence, just for Congress participants. Read more.

Preparations for Congress are continuing. Please check the Congress website for updates and find answers to frequently asked questions by consulting our Q&A page here.