In his statement "Addressing biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development", IUCN Director General Dr Bruno Oberle stressed the importance of stopping biodiversity loss to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Read more 

National governments have fallen short on delivering conservation commitments for protected and conserved areas under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), despite the expansion in protected areas over the last decade. Read more 

New roads and fences, changes in agricultural practices, and land development are affecting vast deserts and dry grasslands of Central Asia, home of Goitered gazelle. Many are hunted illegally – be it for meat or trophies. To increase the odds for its survival, IUCN Save Our Species is funding four conservation projects across Kazakhstan. Read more

European bison and Persian leopards have been released into the wild as a part of long-running reintroduction efforts backed by WWF-Russia and other partners. Both species have a crucial role to play, helping to create the right balance of species in the areas where they live. Four individuals from the endangered Persian leopard species were released – two in the Caucasus Nature Reserve and another two in the Turmonskiy Sanctuary, after being reared from birth at a reintroduction centre. There has also been good news about efforts to introduce bison to the Turmonskiy Sanctuary. 

Uzbekistan has designated Tudakul and Kuymazar Water Reservoirs as its third Wetland of International Importance. Read more

Georgia has designated as Wetlands of International Importance two alpine lakes surrounded by marshes, boggy meadows and rivers on the Javakheti plateau in the south of the country. Read more

Andrej Sovinc, representing IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, reminded the participants at the roundtable on 25 September in Tirana, Albania, that the proclamation of the Vjosa National Park would, in addition to protecting the river, provide income for the local communities living along it. Read more

IUCN Species Survival Commission Freshwater Fish Specialist Group and Freshwater Conservation Committee jointly with global organizations call for the ban on the construction of Small Hydropower projects endangering critically important rivers and rare and endemic wildlife. Read more

Contributing to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, countries of Central and Eastern Europe recognised the efforts made through a new model of cooperation – the Biodiversity Task Force of South-East Europe that is advancing strategic planning for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Western Balkans. Read more

We are excited to share with you an article published recently that glimpses into the details of eLENS development, and aims to test the capability of the developed Earth observation (EO) algorithm and corresponding processing chain to detect deforestation using Sentinel-2 imagery. Read more

The first regional webinar on Nature-based Solutions with spotlight on the Western Balkans gave an overview of the major challenges in the region when it comes to reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change and highlighted the NbS potential. Read the report and watch the recording on IUCN ECARO YouTube playlist.   

The Western Balkans are highly prone to climate change, affecting water resources, while predictions indicate increases in extreme weather events leading to repeated disasters. Read more

The Bonn Challenge is a global goal to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. On 2 September, the 24-hour digital event #RestoreOurFuture, showcased the unprecedented restoration action that has been achieved over the last decade, across all time zones. Read more in EN and RU, and watch the IUCN Bonn Challenge – Spotlight on Uzbekistan and Armenia. 

August saw 150 schools compete in the semi-finals of the nationwide environmental school competition known as the Niko Ketskhoveli School Premier! The competition was founded back in 2015 by CENN with the financial support from the Austrian Development Cooperation. It aims to encourage youth to make a positive change for their communities in regard to social or environmental issues. These activities support the achievement of the sustainable development goals. Read more

With expertise in climate change policy, policy analysis, and development of indicators for monitoring and evaluation, the expert will create an enabling policy environment for the implementation of Nature-based Solutions for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction across sectors at scale. Apply by 18 October 2020. Read more

We are seeking to contract an external, independent and qualified audit firm for conducting annual audit services for three consecutive years. Apply by 21 October 2020. Read more

There is an open call for project proposals that focus on in-situ conservation of globally threatened trees. Apply by 25 November using three template forms (project proposal, budget and logical framework) that can be downloaded here. 

In view of the sanitary situation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, France and IUCN have decided to postpone the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which was to be held in January 2021 in Marseille. New dates for the event will be announced in due course. Read more

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By increasing the biodiversity of soils through sustainable practices, farmers could deliver substantial benefits for food and water security as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation, according to a new IUCN report.

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Ending gender-based violence and securing environmental sustainability are global priorities, linked in many ways, across contexts, countries and communities. Interested to learn how environment programming can work to address gender-based violence? Visit the new platform to discover.

IUCN launched a global standard for classifying the severity and type of impacts caused by alien species, known as the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT). This tool will alert scientists, conservation practitioners and policy makers to the potential consequences of invasive alien species, guiding the development of prevention and mitigation measures. Download here

The book gives an overview of the current categories of the protected areas and restricted use areas of the Russian Federation. It assesses the existing categories for compliance with the categories of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

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The Conservation Standards provide a user-friendly, evidence-based, and consistent approach that, when applied to EbA, can help the teams identify priority ecosystems, assess conventional (non-climate) and climate-related threats, and determine the most appropriate interventions. 

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#EUGreenWeek

EU Green Week 2020

Snow Leopard Day

#SnowLeopardDay #SnowLeopards 

Youth Climate Action Day

#climateactionday #FridaysForFuture

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Being a Member of IUCN enables you to both advance your own cause and to strengthen common action in overcoming barriers to a sustainable future. Through IUCN, members become part of a collective and global voice on important issues of our age. Learn more