IUCNThe World Conservation Union

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F O R G I N GL I N K AG E S

. . .

An

Assessment

of Progress

2004

Published by IUCN,Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK

ISBN: 2-8317-0882-6

Written by James Workman

Design & layout by åtta design sàrl

Printed by Sro-Kundig, Geneva, Switzerland

Printed on Aconda FSC 135 gsm paper made from woodfibre from well-managed forests certified in accordancewith the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

© 2005 International Union for Conservation of Natureand Natural Resources

F O R G I N GL I N K AG E S

. . .

An

Assessment

of Progress

2004

FOREWORDOUR DONORSYOLANDA KAKABADSE ASSESSES THE PASTVALLI MOOSA PLANS THE FUTURE

8 LINKING TIME > USING THE PAST TO SHAPE THE FUTURE

MEMBERSHIP TRENDS OVER TIME – OUTWARD, ONWARD AND UPWARDTHE WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS – NINE DAYS FOR NEW CONFIDENCE AND FOCUS

20 LINKING PLACES > BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE WORLD

WILLIAM JACKSON – HORIZONTAL LINKAGES ACROSS UNCHARTED TERRITORYIUCN IN AFRICA: DECOLONIZING NATUREIUCN IN ASIA: RESTORATION, REHABILITATION AND RESILIENCEIUCN IN THE AMERICAS: SECURING A NATURAL FOUNDATIONIUCN IN EUROPE AND CIS: FROM NO-MAN’S-LANDS TO HAVENS OF LIFE

44 LINKING PEOPLE > MOVING IN UNISON THROUGHOUT SOCIETY

ACHIM STEINER – THE EVOLUTION OF SYNERGYI. EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION OF ECOSYSTEMSII. KEY INSTITUTIONS, AGREEMENTS, PROCESSES AND POLICIESIII. INCENTIVES AND FINANCEIV. EQUITABLE SHARING OF COSTS AND BENEFITSV. ASSESSMENT OF BIODIVERSITY AND RELATED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORSVI. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMSVII. EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

CHARTING THE COURSE AHEAD: WHERE COMMISSIONS ARE TAKING THE UNIONA SECURE FOUNDATION FOR STRATEGIC INVESTMENTSTHE IUCN PROGRAMME 2001 - 2004: CONFIDENCE, FOCUS, RESULTS

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3The World Conservation Union drawsstrength from the diversity of its member-ship, commissions, partners, donors, pro-grammes, projects and global staff. Thisreport reveals the contours of that diversity,assesses the progress of our programme,and measures the strength of our character.

Our Progress and Assessment Report is firstand foremost a tribute to the individuals andinstitutions who support the idea and thework of this remarkable Union through theirenthusiasm, commitment and resources.

In 2004, the Union grew stronger than everas it:

• Expanded the scientific conservationof biodiversity into more biomes – marine,mountains, arctic tundra and desert dryland;

• Broadened the base of financial resourcesthrough fresh target audiences;

• Increased membership to record levels;

• Engaged more with members, whilewelcoming Angola, Iran, Gabon, Cote d’ Ivoire,Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome e Principeas State members into our network;

• Strengthened its local presence withnew offices in Africa, Asia, Europe and theMiddle East;

Foreword

• Established strong and strategic newalliances, including with trade officials,game poachers-turned-wildlife scouts,universities and multinational companies;

• Leveraged every € 1 in member fees into€ 11 of conservation funding;

• Convened, mobilized and empoweredmore than 4,800 participants in the world’slargest conservation assembly.

A rapid expansion in diversity tests theelasticity and integrity of any complexsystem, whether natural or institutional. Inthree distinct stages, this report reveals howthe Union evolves by forging enduringlinkages through history, across geographyand among peoples.

Indian school children, their faces painted like tigers, participate in a campaign to createawareness for conservation of tigers in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. ��© Reuters

© IISD

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Bilateral Donors

Department for InternationalDevelopment, United Kingdom

Federal Ministry for EconomicCooperation and Development,Germany

German Technical Cooperation

Department of Foreign Affairs,Ireland

Ministry of Agriculture,Nature and Food Quality,The Netherlands

Ministry of Environment andProtection of the Territory,Nature Conservation Service,Italy

Ministry of Environment, Spain

United States Agency forInternational Development

Federal Ministry for theEnvironment, NatureConservation and NuclearSafety, Germany

Japan International CooperationAgency

Forestry Commission of GhanaBesides the Framework Agreements and voluntary contributions,IUCN received project funding above 250,000 Swiss francs from:

To date, six governmentagencies have signedFramework Agreementswith IUCN:

Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency

Royal Danish Ministry of ForeignAffairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Directorate-General forInternational Cooperation(DGIS), The Netherlands

Norwegian Agency forDevelopment Cooperation

Swedish InternationalDevelopment Agency

Swiss Agency for Developmentand Cooperation

In addition, IUCNreceived voluntarycontributions from:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Directorate General forDevelopment Cooperation, Italy

Department of State,United States of America

Our Donors

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Multilateral Donors,Agencies andConventions

Asian Development Bank

Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora

European Commission

Global Environment Facility

International Bank forReconstruction andDevelopment

International FinanceCorporation

International Tropical TimberOrganization

United Nations DevelopmentProgramme

United Nations EnvironmentProgramme

United Nations Educational,Scientific and CulturalOrganization

World Bank

Non-GovernmentalOrganizations,Foundations andCorporations

Conservation International

Fondation Internationale duBanc d’Arguin

Ford Foundation

Humanist Institute forCooperation with DevelopingCountries

International DevelopmentResearch Centre

Shell International

Total Foundation

World Wide Fund for Nature

The work of The World Conservation Union –IUCN is made possible through thegenerosity, trust and confidence of agrowing number of partners: governments,bilateral development assistance agencies,multilateral and intergovernmental insti-tutions, international conventions andnon-governmental organizations (NGOs),foundations, corporations and individuals.We are most grateful for all the contri-butions received in 2004 to support theUnion’s work.

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It is but a nanosecond in geological terms,andonly a blink in humanity. Yet eight yearsrepresents one-seventh of the Union’slifespan. What I find so astonishing is howduring those years, IUCN defied the naturallaws of entropy. Other aging institutions maysoften, slow down, lose direction, or retiregracefully. Not us. If anything, each year ourUnion grows only more dynamic, assertive,muscular and organized for enduring impact.Why?

One of the reasons, I think, is an ethos ofrigorous peer review – in our publicationsand in our work – that constantly sharpensour edge. It would be nice, for example, tocongratulate ourselves for convening aseries of successful events. Instead, wequestion it: Do our strenuous efforts before,during and after pivotal assemblies –Johannesburg, Durban and Bangkok wereonly a fraction of our meetings – subtractfrom our long-term work programme?What is the ‘return on our investment’? Theanswer depends on how, where, by whomand for what purpose we invest energy.

At the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment, the Union’s investment in ourhigh profile Environment Centre empoweredus to: amplify and clarify the voice of theconservation movement; mainstreamsustainability into the technocratic discourseof trade and development; and integrateeconomics and social equity into ongoingenvironmental plans.

Investments in the Vth IUCN World ParksCongress let us scale upward, grow outward,and reach downward: heads of Statecommitted to € 25 million and 200,000square kilometers of new protected areas;those areas expanded beyond existingboundaries to include integrated ecosystems;and State agencies devolved more man-agement authority downward to localcommunities to share the costs and benefitsof conservation.

And our 3rd IUCN World ConservationCongress let us integrate conservation anddevelopment in ways that elevated our profilein both areas. Trade, finance, health, waterand environment ministers – ranging fromPakistan to Senegal to Ecuador – turned toIUCN as the authoritative voice forrecommendations. Finally, for the first time,the G-8 Summit opened its speakers’platformto us.

If done with care and foresight, conveningmeetings and events further intensifies andcrystallizes our networks’ rationale, our edge.Indeed, our raison d’être. It positions us ashonest brokers who lead pragmaticresponses. It ensures transparent peer reviewthat legitimizes our applied scientificconsensus. It reinforces our niche as a globalcatalyst of discussion and action betweenconservation and development, governmentsand NGOs, science and society, economy andecology.

So, looking back we discover that our dualleadership roles – convening and conser-vation – are not, in fact, mutually exclusive.They have become, and will remain,profoundly symbiotic.

Yolanda Kakabadse Assesses the Past

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Valli Moosa Plans the Future

After absorbing the strong views of almost5,000 outspoken conservationists, somemight panic and worry that the WorldConservation Union may be getting ‘too big’.

It is not. It can never grow too big, toocomplex, too diverse or too inclusive. Myhome country of South Africa’s motto –“Unity in Diversity” – is not a paradox, Iassure you. For it is from diversity that wegain our muscle, our political niche and ourunique moral authority.

Rather than hold back, limit or micro-manage our swelling ranks we need toengage and involve and reach out to morepeople: young, old, rich, poor, urban, rural,scientist and layperson.We need to continueto grow forceful through numbers andthrough variety. We need to include allstreams of thought through incentives,merging these many diverse tributaries intoa more powerful current.

The World Conservation Union is a uniqueand expanding partnership between civilsociety and governments, far greater thanthe sum of its parts. And its ability to bridgethe North-South divide means it, uniquely,can accomplish great things through thelinks in its vast network. As the Union’s firstAfrican President, I hope to be part of thoselinks and of that accomplishment.

Scientific knowledge is the touchstone ofour standing and legitimacy, and will remainso. Yet knowledge alone does little unless wepersuade old and new constituencies toinstill it into their policies and practice. Wealready own the ‘know-why’ of conservation.Let us now prove we also possess the know-how, know-who and know-where.

As we enter the next intersessional period, weknow ourselves equipped with the tools toaddress the threats to our very existence. Now,let us show ourselves willing to fight for theintegrity, intrinsic value and diversity of nature.Willing to stand together to defend our sharedinterests. Willing to light candles in the darkcorners of conservation and development,faceseemingly insurmountable obstacles, andnever, ever, lose hope.

Valli Moosa Top Ten Priorities The World Conservation Union needs to:1. engage vigorously with new constituencies;2. approach the private sector as potential partners;3. recognize that ‘businessmen’ include fishermen,

farmers, weavers;4. integrate ‘conservation’ into ‘development’

for improving health and fighting poverty;5. create, target and communicate incentives

for sound, sustainable living;

6. collaborate with religious figures, sportspersonalities, political leaders;

7. strengthen membership: recruit new, retainand respond better to current members;

8. prioritize and support Commissions; integratetheir work into Secretariat activities;

9. mobilize members and funds to acceleratemultilateral agreements;

10. exploit our presence and exercise our voiceat the United Nations.

© IISD

L I N K I N GTI M E

. . .

using

the past

to shape

the future

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– that is, how we advance over time. Ever sinceit was founded in 1948, the World Conser-vation Union has both shaped and beenshaped by history.

Time links the Union as a river links the land. Iterodes here, builds up there. It constantlyinnovates and evolves in structure whilegrowing more forceful under gravity’s pull. Itanticipates, provokes and responds tounderlying tectonic shifts – felt locally orglobally – and meets each challenge head on.

2004 was a watershed year, both for thematurity and sophistication with which IUCNleveraged its position and for how the largerworld turned to the Union to respondeffectively to those rapidly shifting globalcurrents.

It felt the rising confidence in, and influenceof, the new leadership’s wisdom.

It strode closer to the epicenter of decision-making in international agreements thatranged from biodiversity to climate change totrade policy.

It convened the largest conservation assemblyin history and set forth a comprehensiveagenda for collaborative steps.

It responded to the worst natural disaster ofour time with empathy, vision, and swiftnessunder pressure.

IUCN is a unique alliance of three differentconstellations – Secretariat, Commissions andmembers. The first two depend on the third; itsnumbers give strength. Indeed, the Union’smost important dividends come through thediversity of our membership, which continuedto rise from 721 members ten years ago to 1,061today.

Even more revealing: most of our newmembers come from the South. In six years themembership grew 19% in Western Europe,while Africa and South and East Asia grew 25%.Despite the requirements of being a member –including dues that make up 10% of IUCN’stotal budget – members are eager to tap intothe aggregation of influence and knowledgethat comes from joining together.

Did such a rigorous input match reward?Venezuela’s leaders thought so, citing IUCN’sincreasing profile and capacity as value addedto their global integration as a reason behindrestoring its membership in full. The Union’s‘Big Tent’ also welcomed Iran, Angola, Gabon,Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome ePrincipe as new members who recognize thatpartnership carries privileges.

In preparation for the Congress, NationalCommittees met increasingly in 2004 todiscuss and in many cases to reach agreementon a common voice on elections of IUCN’sofficers or on motions of particular interest totheir country.

Regional Committee meetings have becomefavoured fora for members to discuss,contribute and agree on IUCN’s Programmeand on governance issues leading to a moretransparent and improved Union and in2004, three sub-regions (WESCANA, theMediterranean region and South-EasternEurope) met to add to the number of Regional,sub-Regional and inter-Regional Committeemeetings which took place between theAmman and the Bangkok Congresses.

One powerful draw for members has beenIUCN’s ‘magical multiplier effect’: every euroin membership dues leverages € 11 ofconservation funding. Does that ‘return oninvestment’ sound impressive? We aim toincrease it.

Membership Trends Over time – Outward,Onward and Upward

The first IUCN linkage is temporal

Channels in the Banc d’Arguin National Park of Mauritania © FIBA/Helio-van Ingen

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The Year 2004 in Review – IUCN in Action

OVEREXPOSURE EXTINCTIONS8 January – Climate change rivals habitat loss asthe worst threat to land animals and plants, sayIUCN experts. Their analysis suggests one millionspecies could be threatened by climate change.

TRAWLING TERROR10 February – IUCN warns against deep seabottom trawling on the grounds that thedestruction it wreaks – dragging chains and netsacross ocean floors while killing vulnerablecreatures – grossly outweighs economic benefits.

RECOVERING THE MISSING LINK16 February – IUCN co-produced a scientific actionplan to reverse the decline of chimps, which fellfrom 1 million to 150,000 due to habitat loss,trapping, disease and the bushmeat trade.

FLOOD FORTUNE, DELTA DIVIDENDS18 February – IUCN’s ten-year environmentalflows effort has begun to restore Mauritania’sDiawling Delta: bird counts up 17-fold, fish catchesup 113-fold.

JORDAN – JUST ADD WATER3 April – IUCN hosted a conservation forum tocoordinate the West and Central Asia and NorthAfrica region’s responses to water scarcity among24 nations, and then opened its new RegionalOffice in Amman, Jordan.

TRANSFRONTIER FOREST FUTURE8 April – IUCN brokers a landmark agreement toensure the species-rich, old-growth BialowiezaForest will be protected by park managers on bothsides of the Polish – Belarusian border.

SEEDS INTO SOAP13 May – IUCN brokers pioneering agreementbetween Unilever and two development andconservation groups to extract, for the first timeon a commercial scale, edible oil from seeds of theWest African Allanblackia tree.

GREEN MINDS MELD GLOBALLY7 June – Fourteen university leaders and IUCNlaunched the first global network to link highereducation with conservation scientists to expandand improve environmental decision making,management and performance.

JAWS… OF LIFE15 June – IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group warnedagainst the overexploitation of sharks, skates andrays that grow slowly, mature late and producefew young; while global catches rise, shark finsoup grows common and coastal habitat declines.

MEET THE NEW ‘BIG FIVE’30 June – At IUCN’s recommendation, UNESCOadded five new natural World Heritage sites:Ilulissat Icefjord (Denmark), the Wrangel IslandReserve (Russia), the Tropical Rainforest Heritageof Sumatra (Indonesia), the Cape Floral Region(South Africa) and the Pitons (Saint Lucia).

MOVING ‘MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON’5 July – At IUCN’s behest the rugged RwenzoriMountains National Park of Uganda graduated offUNESCO’s ‘danger list’ where it sat due to civilunrest, poaching and encroachment; but securityhas since improved.

TICK,TOCK…TICK, TOCK!! 6 July – The European Council of EnvironmentMinisters formally endorsed the IUCN-inspired‘Countdown 2010’ initiative to halt the loss ofspecies, ecosystems and biodiversity as a whole, insix years. Europe has 200,000 species, many ofthem endangered.

TURNING TANKER TRAGEDY INTO TRUSTJuly 15 – Pakistan’s coast, near Karachi sufferedfrom a major oil spill of 30,500 tonnes of lightcrude oil. IUCN worked with the EnvironmentMinistry to assess the impact on mangroves; itsreport led the State to entrust IUCN withrestoration.

EU EXPANDS, LEAVES RURAL FIELDS BEHIND22 July – IUCN warned that the expanding EUneglects fragmentation and disparities in ruralareas. The latter cover 90% of the EU, house halfits population and provide the bulk of biodiversityhabitat. It urged the EU to increase its ruralbudget proportionately.

LOSING NEMO?28 July – Never mind the fictional hero of theanimated blockbuster, IUCN warned that one ofthe real world’s most unusual marine creatures,the Spotted Handfish, found off the coast ofTasmania, may soon go extinct forever due toinvasive species, increased siltation, heavy metalpollutants and urban effluent.

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WET AND WEALTHY ESTATE29 July – An IUCN economic valuation of ThatLuang Marsh near Vientiane, Lao PDR shows thepresumed ‘worthless wasteland’ to in fact be a:‘job-factory’ for 16,000, ‘food market’ worth € 2million, € 52,000 ‘wastewater purification plant’and € 2.1 million ‘flood control device’.

PLUMMETING PACHYDERM 6 August – Global horn prices and civil unrest inDemocratic Republic of Congo meant Africa’s lastNorthern White Rhinos in Garamba WorldHeritage Site were slaughtered one per month,cutting the population in half and spurring IUCNto rally global support to stop it.

BACK FROM THE EDGE OF THE SEA23 August – Twelve complete specimens of a fishonce thought extinct since the age of dinosaurswere found by fishermen in shark nets offTanzania. Survival of the endangered ‘living fossil’Coelacanth delighted IUCN ecologists whointegrate data about its marine ecology.

OIL’S WEALTH & WHALES’ HEALTH26 August – IUCN convened an independentpanel to assess the impacts of oil and gasdevelopment on the critically endangeredWestern Gray Whale, off Sakhalin Island in theRussian Far East.

CONCRETE AND WIRE INTO GREEN BELT10 September – From Stetin in the Baltic to Triestein the Adriatic… IUCN is helping transform therusty Iron Curtain into an ecological corridor.

FISHERS OF MEN21 September – IUCN challenged Europe’s sportand recreational fishermen to unite against over-fishing, habitat destruction, pollution andmismanagement that are driving one third ofearth’s freshwater fish extinct.

MORE CARROTS, FEWER STICKS2 October – IUCN showed how CITES can betterbring about sustainable development andimproved livelihoods by providing positiveconservation incentives rather than regulatorysticks.

EXPERTS SAY: PULL THE PLUG8 October – 9 in 10 global experts and watermanagement professionals told IUCN thatenvironmental flows – strategic releases of waterto restore rivers downstream – are needed toresolve water scarcity; 7 in 10 require them evenin water scarce regions.

RUSSIAN KREMLIN BEARHUGS KYOTO22 October – IUCN welcomed the RussianFederation’s ‘bold’ ratification of the KyotoProtocol, which brings into force the onlyinternational agreement aimed at slowingclimate change.

NEW INDEX FINGERS CULPRITS26 October – IUCN partners unveiled a cuttingedge tool to measure trends in overall extinctionrisks, starting with the world’s 10,000 birdspecies. The Red List Index turns ‘snapshots’ into‘time-lapse’ to illustrate scientifically where, howand why species are declining.

COALITION OF THE WILLING 8 November – Angola followed Iran this week injoining IUCN as the 81st State member, buildingon a relationship that began with a nationalevaluation of natural resources in 1992.

MASS ASSEMBLY VS. MASS EXTINCTIONS17 November – IUCN convened almost 5,000delegates in the world’s largest conservationgathering, united in response to an increasingnumber of species facing extinction.

A RAINBOW UNION 24 November – IUCN’s 1,000 members chosetheir first African president, and approachedgender and geographic balance in elections ofofficers, Commission Chairs and RegionalCouncilors.

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION 17 December – After the Swiss Governmentagreed to support IUCN for another 4 years,Achim Steiner travelled to Copenhagen to signthe framework agreement with the DanishGovernment.

DESTROYED BUT NOT DEFEATED26 December – Asia was hit by a tsunami thatkilled 250,000 and drew both sympathy andpragmatic support in response from IUCNenvironmental and development experts.

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2004 may be remembered as the yearclimate change descended from the sky; theyear we irrefutably documented how carbonin the atmosphere is disrupting ecosystemsdown on earth, lowering productivity,worsening access to clean water, energy andfood and hitting the poor the hardest.

Yet it was also the year nations began at lastto respond to climate change as a unifiedcommunity, to build ecosystem ‘shockabsorbers’, and to prepare for collaborativeaction, with IUCN as a central catalyst.

In an unprecedented statement to theworld, IUCN and seven of the world’s largestconservation organizations raised climatechange to the top of their agenda as thesingle most serious threat to biodiversityand human development. It melts glaciersfrom Kilimanjaro to the South AmericanAndes, dries the Cape Floral Kingdom, anddrives 15_37% of species on land to the edgeof extinction.

IUCN Seizes the Moment against ClimateChange

IUCN’s marine ecosystem partnerships ledefforts not only to recognize and documentthe first tangible links between greenhousegas emissions and biodiversity – such ascoral bleaching in all of the world’s tropicaloceans – but also developed strategies tohelp reefs survive and resist impacts fromglobal climate change as temperatures risein the decades ahead.

Russia’s decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocolgenerated colossal new momentum. Russia,a State member of IUCN, put the Protocolinto effect and shifted the global terms ofdebate. To the Union, it marked a historicturning point in efforts to tackle climatechange as a community of nations. Earthnow has a binding global agreement. It mayjust be a beginning but the costs of inactionwould have been far higher to the in-creasingly vulnerable communities aroundthe world.

Furtwangler Glacier and Northern Icefield on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, in 1998 © Alastair Dobson

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Easy for some to say: “Reduce Emissions”.IUCN used its extensive network, globalinfluence and high visibility to ‘walk the talk’and show the world how to do exactly that.

It pioneered a campaign that aims tominimize the impact of at least 30% of itsmembers with regards to emissions frombusiness operations by 2008. Then it led byexample.

After a cutting-edge emissions audit of itsglobal operations, IUCN launched a web-based ‘Flight Emissions Calculator’ thatallows IUCN staff worldwide to track andreport emissions from air travel and movetoward carbon-neutral status. A five-monthpilot showed 20 units travelled 1 millionkilometers, emitting 134 tonnes of CO2,which was equivalent to 45 hectares ofnative pine forest storing carbon for a year.

The Environmental Law Programme ledIUCN’s energy-related work by linkinginternational law and the promotion ofrenewable energy, and helped the policyand forest programmes clarify how mul-tilateral emissions trading can be mosteffective.

Beyond warning of risks, IUCN began‘Coping with Change.’ It sought to createbiodiversity and poverty ‘shock absorbers’that range from restoring mangroves inBangladesh to afforestation in southernMexico. Case studies in Argentina, Chile, thePhilippines and Ghana were undertaken tosee how environmentally sound andsocially equitable afforestation andreforestation project activities under theKyoto Protocol’s Clean DevelopmentMechanism could be implemented.

Furtwangler Glacier and Northern Icefield on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, in 2003 © Alastair Dobson

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As 2004 began, self-described ‘skeptics’raised grave doubts. Was environmentalismalive? Could anyone tackle climate change?Did biodiversity matter? Was povertydirectly linked to ecosystems? Wereindividuals ready, willing or able to haltextinctions?

During nine days of debate in the largestdemocratic conservation assembly ever toconvene – the 3rd IUCN World ConservationCongress – the answer was a proud andirrefutable: YES.

Yes, earth’s natural resources were introuble. But yes, too, we could and wouldcollectively illuminate the path tosustainability, restoration and hope.

The 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congressattracted 4,889 people from all walks of lifeand from across the globe, including 1,000 ofthe world’s leading scientists, 200 businessrepresentatives, 40 Ministers of ForeignAffairs, Environment, Agriculture, Tourismand Fisheries as well as hundreds ofenvironmental activists, community andreligious leaders. The scope and magnitudeof this response surpassed everyone’sexpectations. Its positive consensus offereda clear focus for conservation in the yearsahead – ecosystem management, biodi-versity loss, poverty and livelihoods.

The Congress – Nine Days for New Confidenceand Focus

Changing of the GuardEvery Congress builds up to, and turns on,elections. Votes matter. They change theminds, the directions, the focus and thepriorities of IUCN. Elections give legitimacyand credibility and momentum to thecollective force of the Union. The Congressapproved new mandates for six expertCommissions, and elected three new chairs.

A Decisive Members’ Assembly The assembly voted on over 100 Resolutionsand Recommendations on critical conser-vation policies and actions. Decisionsensure that IUCN will, among other break-throughs:

• Establish the World Conservation LearningNetwork to build capacity of conservationand development professionals;

• Conserve critically endangered vulturespecies in South and Southeast Asia;

• Pursue activities for the conservation ofbiodiversity in the Aral Sea basin;

• Combat poverty in the context of IUCN’score conservation mission and values;

• Address the conservation and sustainablemanagement of the high seas;

• Call for a moratorium on the furtherrelease of genetically modified organisms;

• Work with indigenous peoples to manageand establish protected areas;

• Invite France, Italy and Switzerland toinscribe Mont Blanc on the UNESCO WorldHeritage List.

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A New Congress Convened By andFor the MembersBy 2004, IUCN had evolved into a sprawling,muscular, boisterous assembly. Membersset their agenda, took responsibility fororganizing events, and sponsored partic-ipatory workshops, conservation platforms,knowledge marketplace, contact groupsand future dialogues in which they createdspace for each other. The result? Three timesthe registration numbers compared toAmman. Vigorous debate at all levelsshowed what united the Union – ratherthan what divided it.

Gracious Hosts of Foreign VisitorsIUCN’s Asia office took the lead in invitingHer Majesty Queen Sirikit for the inau-guration, and integrated fully with theRoyal Thai Government in the organi-zational aspects. It also facilitated specialThai programmes during the event. In theprocess, it formed a close rapport with therelevant state agencies and other organi-zations, which proved invaluable in takingforward the Thailand programme.

Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan, Honorary President of BirdLife International, presents an IUCN gold medal to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand © IISD

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For four years, IUCN has been rethinking, re-energizing and repositioning itself inresponse to a rapidly changing world. Theelements of this new conservation worldcrystallized at the Congress into FourThemes that bridged the conservation anddevelopment divide and demonstrated therelevance of our knowledge to both peopleand nature.

1. Ecosystem Management:From ‘islands’ to ‘umbilical cords’IUCN drew upon decades of experience tohelp the conservation and developmentworld grasp a profound epiphany: Don’t justprotect beauty and diversity for nature’ssake, but also conserve whole life supportsystems for our survival.

Flowing rivers, diverse forests, fertile soils,wetlands and coral reefs depend uponpeople far less than we depend upon theirrichness and integrity. The goods andservices that ecosystems provide are nodoubt worth billions of dollars. Yet to theextent that we cannot exist three dayswithout them, they are priceless.

Crises opened opportunities. Workshopsfocused on solutions. Concern over foodquality led rural providers to seek andmarket organic production. Worries overwater quality drove cities to protect theupstream rural basins and aquifers theirinhabitants depend on.

Four Themes: Milestones in RestructuringGlobal Conservation Debate

Professor Mick Clout of the Species Survival Commission with a Kakapo, a Critically Endangered flightless parrot of New Zealand © Dr Jacqueline Beggs

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2. Health, Prosperity andConservation: ProfoundlyInterdependentThe Congress discussed binding tiesbetween health, poverty and conservation.These links were emphasized in the contextof the UN Millennium Development Goals,by members in poverty-related action, andby rapidly growing constituencies in IUCNwho represent indigenous communities.

The Congress overwhelmingly agreed thatIUCN must address poverty. But it differedover the extent of our focus and funds to doso. Newer members demanded that con-servation organizations must reduce it;‘classic’ biodiversity workers urged restraint;‘ending poverty’ was the World Bank’smandate, not IUCN’s mission.

A majority began to reconcile where andhow conservation and development couldbe mutually reinforcing. For example,villages desperate for fuel hack into green,healthy trees; deforestation hurts surround-ing biodiversity; and the loss of biodiversityin turn jeopardizes essential components oflivelihoods.

3. Biodiversity Loss and SpeciesExtinction: Reducing Risks The IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesshowed many of 15,589 species under threatof extinction. But that sobering figure onlygalvanized members. All seek approaches,options and priorities that improve the livesnot only of rare and declining species, butalso of abundant and prolific human speciesthat depend on biodiversity for life.

Seeking, they found. Society is starting toget enough information to design far moreeffective and durable conservation strate-gies. These environmental strategies informcommitments to reduce the rate ofbiodiversity loss by 2010 and guide the UNMillennium Development Goals.

Invasive species, loss of medicinals, waterscarcity and climate change made partic-ipants recognize biodiversity risks as threatsto human security. Responses involved:correcting market failures; strengtheningprotected areas; increasing transparencyand accountability of government deci-sions; putting a greater emphasis onadaptive management.

4. Markets, Business and theEnvironment: Maintaining NaturalCapitalThe words ‘economy’ and ‘ecology’ sharethe same Greek root for ‘habitat’. At theCongress they shared the same agenda, asIUCN pursued a multi-pronged approach:improve the social and environmentalperformance of markets and business;stimulate debate on the dominant modelof economic growth and consumerism;and harness global trade flows to workfor – instead of against – biodiversityconservation.

Natural resources are increasingly managedin the context of globalizing markets,beyond the influence of national or localgovernments. Conservation strategies mustchange to confront this new reality. Forexample, NGO certification schemes pro-mote best management practices in theagro-business sector, promote trade as anincentive for peace and stability, and reduceillegal trade.

More than 70 private sector events duringthe Forum attracted 200 delegates from arange of countries, companies and sectors.Compared with the Vth IUCN World ParksCongress, participants felt far greaterunderstanding and trust, with membersand businesses asking not whether toengage with each other, but how. Key issuesdiscussed:

• Corporate social responsibility - what doesit mean for biodiversity?

• Business and biodiversity partnerships -learning to collaborate more effectively

• Investment and capital markets - buildingtoolkits for sustainable finance

• Certification for sustainability - thepotential and limitations of eco-labelling

• International trade - strengtheningcoherence between trade and environmental regimes

• Ecosystems for sale - making markets workfor both nature and people

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On 26 December 2004, an earthquakemeasuring 9.3 on the Richter scale struckjust offshore northwest Sumatra.

The earthquake hurt Indonesia nearest theepicenter, but the resulting tsunamihammered nearly 5 million people, killed250,000, and spread economic andecological ruin across the Indian Ocean,from Thailand to India, even as far as thecoast of East Africa.

IUCN’s response was immediate andsustained. In Sri Lanka a project site wasannihilated, but teams there converted intoemergency humanitarian relief workers,providing fresh water and food to peoplealong the coast. Staff worldwide donatedover CHF 25,000 from their salaries to helpdamaged communities.

Tsunami Galvanizes IUCN into Action

Our Asia Regional Office in Bangkok carriedout rapid, mid- and long-term assessmentsfor rehabilitation strategies. It also set up afund for post-tsunami development work,and called for an early warning system ofseismic sensors, tide monitors, wavedetectors and alerts, as well as integratedcoastal zone management.

IUCN assessed the dimensions of thedamage and determined priorities forrecovery. It prepared papers to guidehabitat restoration that incorporatedlivelihoods into each plan. Our strategy wasto link natural and human needs asinterdependent. To that end, we begantaking the lead in long-term resourcerehabilitation in Sri Lanka and southernThailand.

Damaged fishing boat, Koh Phra Thong, Thailand after the 2004 tsunami © IUCN/Jeff McNeely

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The Union’s work dramatically illustratedhow healthy coral reefs and mangroveforests buffer impacts: wherever nature wasstill intact, the tidal wrath was absorbed;where forests and reefs had been crippledby careless development, the tsunamifinished them off. Correlation betweenhealthy ecosystems and reduced damagewas manifest from the coastlines ofThailand, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The tsunami tested the relevance of ourglobal programme. It revealed our ability torespond in a crisis to secure livelihoods andbiodiversity, distribute responsibility, reachout to shore up habitats in ways thatallowed natural and human communitiesto recover their functioning capacity assoon as possible.

In the longer term, IUCN is continuing towork with its various local, national, andinternational government and NGO mem-bers and partners to integrate natural andhuman economies in the ongoing recon-struction and recovery process.

“We must confront the pervasive fallacy thatan emphasis on nature conservationcompromises the fight to eradicate poverty.They are inextricably linked. Nowhere is thislesson more clear than in the Union’senvironmental recovery efforts in the wakeof the Asian tsunami. Restoring theeconomies of these devastated regionsdepends on the restoration of their naturalresources and the return of theirbiodiversity.”

Valli Moosa

Fishermen receive new fishing nets from IUCN partners in Sri Lanka to regain their livelihoods © IUCN/L P D Dayananda

L I N K I N GP L AC E S

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The second IUCN linkage is horizontal – thatis, connecting habitats and societies acrossearth’s geography. By statute, the WorldConservation Union is anchored in geopo-litical realities to help nations conserve ourwealth of biodiversity. Yet it knows thatnature’s own frontiers are at once moreintricate, more subtle and more profoundthan the artificial borders human societyhas constructed around itself.

A Western Gray whale, an Amazon river, anAsian crane, an Oceanic sea turtle, aCaribbean trade wind, a Middle Easternaquifer or a matriarchal herd of Africanelephant – these forces transcend anynotion of a single nation-state. Theyprecede the oldest human governments bymillennia.

The second IUCN linkage is horizontal So while IUCN works closely and pragmat-ically within well-defined states, economiesand institutions, we simultaneously reachfarther and further – toward recognition ofthe original contours and patterns ofbiomes and ecological diversity – striving toadapt our legitimate human needs to thefar wilder and more ancient demands ofcreation.

The Blue Mountains in Australia © IUCN/Jim Thorsell

The World Conservation Union has a built-inhealthy tension.

Each year, an ever-stronger headquartersdevolves more decision-making power andfund-raising authority to diverse regions.This ‘flatter’ Union offers broader scope forcustomized policy influence and entre-preneurship at regional, national and sub-national levels. But it brings a paradox.Horizontal devolution demands greatercoordination to ensure coherence andfocus; escalating centrifugal forces require astronger hub.

What’s more, while the world may feelsmaller, it has not grown any simpler. Assome nations fuse, others break off.Likewise, our regional programmes begquestions: “Where does WESCANA’sjurisdiction end and the Mediterraneanregion begin?” Or: “Who does a mangroveproject in Samoa turn to for support:Oceania, to our Marine Programme, to ourForests Programme or to our Wetlands andWater Resources Programme?”

William Jackson – Horizontal Linkages AcrossUncharted Territory

The answer – as shown in this report – is thatform follows function. The structure of ourwork grows organically from nature’sdemands. As we discover more about whathuman and natural communities need todevelop in harmony with each other, a clearstrategy emerges. We gather our local andinstitutional expertise and apply it toproblems arising from a region. Then, toresolve it, we reach out across invisible butoften divisive geographical boundaries.

The trick is to avoid overreach. For while weare pulled in every direction, we select ourfights with deliberation and care. We can notbe everything to everyone, nor workeverywhere at once.

That said, we continue to expand newgeographical linkages into ‘unchartedterritory’. Uncharted territory may be marine,dryland, mountain and tundra ecosystems. Itmay be the no-man’s-land between sovereignstates, the undefined communal land tenuresurrounding parks. It may be the turbulentinterface between biodiversity and trade.

It may even be an abandoned, old, de-militarized zone where a divisive Iron Curtaingives way to a potential green corridor withenough natural charisma to reunite an entirecontinent.

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William Jackson (right) © IUCN/Jean-Yves Pirot

When Europeans carved up Africa’s nationalborders they ignored river floodplains,mountain ranges, rain forests, huntinggrounds and wildlife migrations. To furtherconfuse matters, colonists artificiallysegregated human and natural worldswithin nations. Early conservation uprootedinhabitants from parks and sequesteredwildlife from the vast majority.

Like it or not, that heritage of colonialexclusion – to keep people out and animalsin – increasingly has been resisted aspolitically, and often ecologically, untenable.Here, the World Conservation Union hastaken on the role of peace broker.

It recognizes biodiversity as the continent’srichest asset, but an asset over which allAfricans must equitably share benefits,access and responsibility. Long-termsecurity for both people and wildlife oftenmeans we must decolonize interdependentcommunities.

By working with IUCN to expand conser-vation across national boundaries andpioneer community-based natural resourceuse, the African continent is lighting theway.

IUCN in Africa:Decolonizing Nature

Pan-African Integration

Decolonizing nature means engagingdiverse members in sovereign nations tocollaborate whenever doing so serves theinterest of all parties. Co-operation maytranslate into:

> Helping South Africa, Mozambique andZimbabwe tear down once-divisive politicalboundaries to open and engender theworld’s largest international park – theGreat Limpopo Transfrontier National Park.

> Shared monitoring and coordinatingcoastal fisheries along the Atlantic Oceanshores of Mauritania, Angola, Namibia,South Africa.

> Setting up mechanisms to share theresponsibilities and opportunities posed byhungry, thirsty elephant herds migratingacross seven nations – Zambia, Malawi,Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, Angola,Botswana – in one summer.

> Co-managing large dams, sharingaquifers, coordinating fisheries on lakes,and jointly managing river flows thattranscend borders of the most water scarcenations on earth: Volta, Orange, Okavango,Victoria, Niger, Pangani, Tanganyika,Zambezi and Senegal.

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Fishing boats along the coast between Nouakchott and the Banc d’ArguinNational Park in Mauritania © FIBA/Helio-van Ingen

> Strengthening civil society’s muscles ininternational and regional policy to tackleillegal logging, associated illicit trade, andcorruption in the forest sector. With half ofall members engaged in forestry, IUCN aimsto build their capacities through a bottom-up approach, starting in Ghana. One project,Allanblackia, focuses on non-timber forestproducts; others target forest fires.

> Reclaiming drylands with native peopleand forests. The semi-arid Shinyanga Regionused to be called the ‘Desert of Tanzania’.Not any more. Using local knowledge andcustomary law of the 2.22 million Sukumapeople brought success of forest landscaperestoration in a region covering 350,000hectares and 833 villages. The project hasrestored 152 species of tree, shrub andclimbers, and 145 birds and 13 mammalshave now been recorded in the dry season.Fourteen per cent of the medicines used by

the local community come from therestoration efforts. The total value of therestoration is € 10 per person per month, or€ 890 per household per year, in an areawhere average monthly consumption is€ 6.65.

IUCN expanded its Freshwater BiodiversityAssessment Programme across the conti-nent, so that water resource managers andenvironmental planners throughout Africacan integrate information on freshwaterbiodiversity within the developmentprocess. Existing data was hopelessly scat-tered and disorganized. But through ourcollation, networks, and training workshopsthe right information can now be syn-thesized to use Red List assessments orspecies distribution maps to guide everydaydecisions. At four sites, best practice appli-cations demonstrate how securing specieshelp safeguard livelihoods dependent onwetland resources.

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CES Village chief talks to children in Frank village, lower Shire in Malawi,

as part of the Zambezi Basin Project © Denis Mint

To conserve southern African wildlife, somewant state agencies to run the show. Otherswant communities to take the lead.IUCN proposes a third way. It requires athorough understanding of wildlife’scomplex demands, then adapting govern-ment and communal plans to these patternsand boundaries to maximize returns on therichness of nature.

By tracking migratory populations withdurable collars and radio telemetry, IUCNand its partners developed the SADC RhinoConservation Strategy. It helped survey,compile a database, raise awareness,transfer and bond-pair both black and whiterhino in field strategies to ensure theirsafety, diversity and viability.

Pachyderms attract high-paying touristsfrom overseas, but they also destroy crops.Toreduce poverty while boosting herds, IUCNcollaborated on non-harmful deterrentsacross Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. TheUnion also published studies exploring whyor whether African elephants are reallyendangered; disenfranchisement of peoplein transfrontier zones; and land use andtenure within protected parks.

Following food and water, elephants canmigrate from mountains to the sea. To helpthem, IUCN and South Africa’s Departmentof Environmental Affairs and Tourism jointlyplan strategic conservation – such as in theBlyde River Project – that connects protectedbiodiversity corridors.

Elephant and rhino need lots of space. Buttheir habitat is constricted by narrow, sector-specific mindsets. So IUCN scaled upmanagement plans to think big, andintegrate whole ecosystems such as theMakgadikgadi, Marromeu, Rufiji andOkavango Delta wetlands. Its southernAfrica office mobilized and engaged relevantstakeholders, who then prioritized projectsthrough a holistic approach.

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Southern Africa:Planning with Pachyderms

Elephants in Botswana © IUCN/Frederik Schutyser

Few populations rely more heavily on scarcenatural resources than people in the Sahel.Each day, farmers, nomadic herders andfishers from Senegal to Chad adapt to thepulse of nature. They take advantage of thesuccession of rains and floods thattransform the desert into lush and fertileplains. In West Africa, IUCN helpsbiodiversity absorb uncertainty and helpspeople reduce resource conflicts.

People in cities like Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso burn 0.7 kg of fuelwood per day, eating into natural forests. Atgovernment request, IUCN assessed andeducated large-scale forestry programmesabout impacts caused and benefits derivedby people on the ground. Its tools help theenergy department and communities shareinformation that harmonizes developmentand could spur negotiation on carbon creditsto offset greenhouse gas emissions.

A century ago the coast of Mauritania wasalmost empty. It now holds a third of thepopulation. Rich in biodiversity with twonational parks – Banc d’Arguin and Diawling– the coastal zone has been threatened byescalating fisheries, oil extraction, tourismand unregulated urban growth. IUCN andits partners defined the national CoastalManagement Master Plan involving resourceusers and civil society, who now embrace theprecautionary principle.

IUCN and its partners began a socioeco-nomic assessment of the 20 different treeand plant species that women and childrencollect and sell in cities. Our study showed

that, despite a colonial-era ban on their use,medicinal plants support a vital cornerstoneof human health and livelihoods. Theseresults spurred Senegal to amend theoutmoded law.

For fifteen years IUCN has been promotingan effective protected area network alongthe coast of Guinea Bissau: the largestmangrove forest park in West Africa(Cacheu); the largest marine turtle breedingground in the region (Joao Viera Island); andthe Biosphere Reserve of the BijagosArchipelago. Lengthy consultations withindigenous communities ensured theseprotected areas endure, and culminated in2004 with establishment of the nationalInstitute for Protected Areas.

Western Africa:Reversing the Erosion of Diversity

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Project staff hold turtle hatchlings in Guinea Bissau © IUCN/Jean-Christophe Vié

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The health of water reflects those who useit. When villages grow desperate withdemands, their river suffers. When fisher-men pull their nets in opposite directions,the catch yields of the lake declines. Yet thereverse may also apply. IUCN manages waterand nature in order to secure healthy people.

It took four years of education, analysis,planning, development, implementationand revision. But IUCN finally ensured thatfour Tanzanian villages now plan with therhythms of the Rufiji River floodplain. At alarger scale, its studies and technicalassistance ensured that Tanzania’s WildlifeDivision could designate the 596,908hectare Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine as aWetland of International Importance.

Through a decade of resource assessment,support and plans for Lake Naivasha, IUCNhelped Kenya set up, and then devolveauthority to, a coalition of rural organi-zations and government agencies. Thiscommunity-based approach tackled theimpact of invasive plants on the quality ofhabitat for migratory waterfowl.

Lake Tanganyika, shared by Burundi,Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania andZambia, suffers from resource conflicts,watershed degradation, unchecked pollu-tion, and rural underdevelopment. IUCN leda multi-partner consortium to harmonizemanagement of the Lake, with € 33 millionto turn theory into reality. It gives teeth to atrans-boundary Convention, Authority andSecretariat.

When tempers flared over Lake Victoria’sfisheries, IUCN stepped in to broker peace. Itfacilitated cross-border exchange visitsbetween fishing communities from Kenya,Tanzania and Uganda. It negotiatedMemoranda of Understanding among rivalcommunities. It planted seeds of tranquilitythrough follow-up work, plans andmonitoring visits.

The Pangani is Tanzania’s most waterstressed river. IUCN convened upstreamand downstream actors in the basin todiscuss collaboration, not competition.These dialogues helped forge government/community partnerships to manage waterand reduce conflicts. Now other river basinsthroughout the region are following suit.

East Africa:Providing Relief for Stress over Water

Eldad Tukahirwa, Alex Muhweezi and Florence Chege listen to members of parliament during a tour of Mount Elgonfacilitated by IUCN, East African Community, and East African Wildlife Society © IUCN/Edmund Barrow

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The media usually tell the story of anarchy,strife, poverty, disease and war. IUCN’sCentral African office tells a quieter story ofprogress beneath the surface:

> Hosting 357 participants in the productive5th Conference of Central African MoistForest Ecosystem or the Brazzaville Process;

> Building bridges between science and civilsociety in the NEPAD Environment Initiative;

> Launching ten micro-grant forest projectsthat helped reconcile biodiversity conservationand poverty reduction in six countries;

> Enlisting seven new members to reachthousands of potential collaborators;

> Finalizing a Code of Conduct for the ‘PeaceParks’ initiatives in the Great Lakes trans-frontier protected areas.

One story captures how IUCN draws on itspast, its global support structure and itsreputation for scientific impartiality. Itinvolves a dam.

When Cameroon took the decision toconstruct the Lom Pangar reservoir on theSanaga River in order to increase powergeneration of downstream hydropowerplants during the dry season, somesupported it and others opposed it. IUCNand the Government of Cameroon set outto document impacts and provide optionsfor long-term mitigation agreeable to allconcerned.

First, IUCN established and hosted anindependent panel of social and environ-mental experts in the necessary Environ-mental Impact Assessments for thereservoir. The panel has the mandate toscrutinise 25 or more reports produced bythe consulting firms in charge of environ-mental and social feasibility studies,request additional studies, and producerecommendations for government andprivate sector alike.

IUCN will help the panel to disseminatefindings rapidly, widely and transparently,using operational communication channelslike Radio Environment, newspapers, e-mailsand both local and global IUCN websites.Thanks to IUCN’s technical and operationalsupport, the panel is set to explore newways of reconciling human developmentand biodiversity conservation.

Central Africa:Hearts of Brightness

Struck by the worst – oil spills, civil unrest,earthquakes, mudslides, floods, droughtsand a tsunami – Asia bounces back withremarkable resilience.

IUCN has been working in the region toensure that Asia’s recovery andrehabilitation anticipates and minimizesany future disturbances.

IUCN in Asia:Restoration, Rehabilitation and Resilience

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The Union seeks to inform and share thecosts and benefits among a more diversenetwork of decision makers. And it col-laborates towards more equitable use ofresources, whether medicinal plants,fisheries or water itself.

Floating market in Thailand © IUCN/Jim Thorsell

Pan-Asian Integration

To catalyse conservation and developmentacross Asia, the World Conservation Unionworks with partners to find place-basedsolutions. Each collaboration of people,geography and ideas amounts to more thanthe sum of its parts. Such positive andtranscendent outcomes result from:

Adding Value: In Asia, IUCN aims to makeeconomic valuation an integral part ofwater management and developmentdecisions. The book VALUE presents field-tested approaches and methodologies tomake the tools of economic valuationwidely available and practically applicable.That Luang Marsh near Vientiane, Laos PDR,provides total benefits of € 3.6 million tothe 161,000 inhabitants, which is equivalentto a full livelihood for 16,000 people.Traditional wetland tanks in the Kala Oyariver basin of Sri Lanka generate livelihoodbenefits worth € 314 per householdannually in terms of food and water.

Adding Power: The poor need energy. IUCNhelps them find the most equitable andsustainable source. For 8,000 households inDir Kohistan, in the Northwest FrontierProvince of Pakistan, that meant learning to‘burn’ water instead of valuable deodarwood (Cedrus deodara). As the surroundingjungle shrank, IUCN led 70 villages to

harness micro-hydro power to generate2,000 KW, saving deodar wood whilepowering light bulbs… and the Internet.

Adding Outreach: During the WorldConservation Congress, IUCN signed aMemorandum of Understanding with theGovernment of India to launch the Indiaprogramme. This event was followed by ameeting with India members. Similar effortswere undertaken to launch programmesin China and Thailand. A notable milestoneis the MoU signed with the AsianDevelopment Bank, which will provideopportunities for partnerships for work inAsia.

Adding Enterprise: Official decision makerstoo often assume the only, or mostprofitable, use of the forests. In Sri Lanka,IUCN is helping autonomous village com-mittees generate income from alternativeenterprises by cultivating, processing andmarketing medicinal plants. In Nepal, IUCNhelped the poor secure land tenure rights of6,000 ha for this purpose. Another smallscale enterprise in Nepal builds capacity oflocal women to make and market picklesand squash for commercial trade, and isscaling the project nationwide.

Adding Stability: In Pakistan, IUCN turned aravaged mountain ecosystem and a tankertragedy into opportunities to plan andprevent. Several years of groundwork inover 200 meetings with 3,500 people cul-minated in a Northern Areas Strategy forSustainable Development. When thegrounded Tasman Spirit leaked 35,000tonnes of light crude oil into the channel offKarachi, IUCN worked with the Ministry ofEnvironment to assess and control damageon water resources and the impact onmangroves, culminating in a landmarkreport which drove a joint restoration plan.

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The Tasman Spirit off the coast of Karachi © UNEP/Stefan Micallef

For all the region’s diversity, water is whatholds the vastness of Asia together: people’sfierce demand for it, the rich power and lifeflowing within it, our shared use andmanagement of it. The Union seeks toharness this continental confluence ofpeople and waters.

IUCN and its partners started a regionalproject to conserve the natural resources inthe wetlands of the Mekong River. It scopedexisting frameworks in Mekong ripariancountries to implement the StrategicPriorities of the IUCN-sponsored WorldCommission on Dams. The coalition also putspecial emphasis on community access to,and use of, an incomparable Ramsar site inCambodia south of Khone Falls. Our assess-ment showed that surrounding villagesdepend intimately on Stung Treng wetlandsfor their fish, water supply and transport, allworth € 2,350 per household per year, orhalf to three quarters of their food securityand income.

IUCN’s assessments of biodiversity, waterresources and livelihoods had profoundeffects throughout Sri Lanka. They inspiredRamsar to fund a natural resourcemanagement plan in the Anaiwilundawawetlands. Terrestrial and inter-tidalbiodiversity assessments proved invaluablein tracking post-tsunami biodiversitychanges in the island’s southern region.State water agencies used economicvaluation studies to prioritize small tank(water bodies) rehabilitation in the NorthCentral Province.

Eastern Nepal’s common flash floodsthreaten river-banks and agricultural land.In response, IUCN established community-based stream management by and for thepoor, which checks soil erosion, reducesdamage to houses and losses of animals,and generates profits. The income from saleof special grasses in their previously floodedland was enough to encourage residents toinstall spurs and curtail grazing by animals.

Bangladesh is keen to restore its degradedwetlands, hill tracts, haors and floodplains.IUCN found opportunities to reversedecline. Through its extensive research andcommunity fieldwork, IUCN fueled therehabilitation of swamp forest and riparianvegetations; conserved turtle, fish andindigenous and medicinal plants; securedlocal seed banks and promoted alternateenergy like solar or biogas.

Asia Regional Programme:Continental Confluence

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In April, the West and Central Asia and NorthAfrica (WESCANA) region opened asecretariat office in Amman, Jordan. Thebase will unite voices from a wide coalitionof scientists, experts, NGOs and govern-ments. This loose and diverse alliance hasmanaged to cooperate effectively on waterand other resource management issues.With a high profile platform, the alliancegains geographical traction.

“This vast region stretching from Morocco toKazakhstan, with its extraordinary diversity ofcultures, languages, ecosystems and gover-nance, emphasizes and challenges IUCN as aconvener – building bridges between statesand civil society, promoting synergiesbetween countries sharing biodiversity orresource management challenges, and ensur-ing effective linkages around shared valuesbetween all the three components of theUnion.”

Regional Director Odeh Al Jayyousi

After technical support and strategiccollaboration from IUCN, Qatar signed andratified the Biodiversity Convention,coordinating its environment programmethrough the Supreme Council and concludedits National Biodiversity Strategy and ActionPlan.

IUCN provided similar technical support toYemen to conclude its NBSAP in 2004 andalso introduced an innovative processlinking policy levels and local decisionmakers for biodiversity conservation anddevelopment on Socotra Island – the‘Treasure Island of Yemen’.

IUCN continued its decade-long collaborationwith Saudi Arabia’s conservation sector andbuilt new partnerships in the region. Afterextensive negotiations, Iran became a Statemember of IUCN and attended the Congresson that basis. In Egypt, a new programme ofsupport to reform and development of theprotected area system was finalized and theCentral Asia programme was consolidatedthrough a portfolio of priority initiativesidentified by members.

A foundation was laid for a long-term IUCNprogramme for one of the region’s mostcritical and potentially divisive resources –water. A meeting in April brought togetherexpertise and information from some 170participants from 15 countries and developedan initiative to build regional networks,support policy reforms in fresh waterresource management, and pilot practicalsolutions through demonstration sites.

WESCANA:From Many Pieces Towards Integrated Peace

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Hazim El Nasser, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Jordan, signsthe agreement for the WESCANA Regional Office in Amman © IUCN

Past efforts to integrate the WesternHemisphere turned on political doctrines,economic models or trade negotiations likethe Free Trade Area of the Americas orMercoSur-CAN. Last year even saw theofficial creation of a South American Union.

Yet long before these man-made constructs,the region was united by the richness of lifethat thrived here and nowhere else on earth.

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IUCN in the Americas:Securing a Natural Foundation

IUCN respects and works closely with thesemodern governance institutions. But it alsoknows that any long-term integration ofhuman development must first require thebroadest and most secure foundationbetween nature conservation and povertyreduction.

That means all parties must find new waysto conserve the beauty, integrity anddiversity of the Americas’ natural resourcesthey share.

Jr. Epipedobates tricolor on red Passion Flower (Ecuador, South America) © NHPA/James Carmichael

Pan-American Integration

Throughout the Americas, IUCN linkedpeople, places, waters and ideas. The casesbelow represent only a fraction of projectswhere the World Conservation Union:

> Strengthened the region’s EnvironmentalImpact Assessment Agreement by givingtechnical assistance to the governments, byincluding public participation, and by harmo-nizing and modernizing the transboundaryEIA system throughout Central America. Byimproving this system, IUCN better informs:free trade agreements and wider privateinvestment like the Modernization andTransformation Plan for Central America andthe Plan Puebla Panama.

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> Catalysed a collaborative venture betweenEcuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Ricathat is helping develop a new MarineCorridor between the Galapagos, Gorgona,Malpelo, Coiba and the Cocos Islands. It alsoreviewed criteria for Marine World HeritageSites and nominations of St. Kilda andHawar Islands.

> Helped lead the White Water 2 Blue WaterInitiative for the Wider Caribbean. Theinitiative brought together several IUCNregional offices in the hemisphere to promoteintegrated management of watersheds andmarine ecosystems in the region.

> Completed round one of the TagubarGuanabara Bay environmental remediationproject. This culminated in the constructionof de-pollution equipment to be used in thetest area off Rio de Janeiro. IUCN’s MarineProgramme began sediment analysis,prepared a Decision Support System, andundertook a mid-term evaluation of theproject.

> Accompanied and supported the eightcountries of the Amazon Cooperation TreatyOrganization to such an extent that it hasbecome an indispensable full partner inwriting and implementing a large-scalesustainable development strategy.

> Linked equity with water governancethrough two demonstration projects in theBarra de Santiago-El Imposible (El Salvador)and Tacana (Mexico-Guatemala) riverbasins. Both watersheds integrate platformsthat include governmental agencies,technical institutions, IUCN NGO membersand water users. The Tacana River Basinproject enlisted municipalities in themanagement structure, with scope forinternational management and legal reviews.

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> Helped build a Regional Strategy for theHigh Andean Wetlands on three fronts. Itorganized a workshop with Ramsar in Quitoto define elements, guidelines and a workplan. Through a partnership with govern-ments and other Ramsar associated organi-zations, it helped draft an elaboratestrategy structure, presented this draft inthe 3rd Pan-American Regional meeting inMexico and planned approval next year.

> Through the ALIANZAS programme,working consortia in three trans-boundaryareas El Salvador-Guatemala, Nicaragua-Costa Rica, and Costa Rica-Panama estab-lished structures, mechanisms and knowl-edge to improve the self-management ofthe natural resources of each area. Theprogramme is funded by the Kingdom ofNorway, but the consortia of civil societyand local governments is also developinglong-term self-financing mechanisms foreconomic sustainability when donor fundsrun out.

> Compiled information about priority-shared, or trans-boundary Ramsar sites tolaunch the implementation of the CentralAmerican Policy on Wise Use of Wetlandsand take a first step toward compliance.

Representatives of member organizations from Costa Rica and Nicaragua at their first coordinationmeeting for the Alianzas Programme in June, 2004 © IUCN/Gabriela Hernández

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Mesoamerica, land of contrasts, continues toteeter between extraordinary naturalwealth on one hand and deep deficiencies ineconomies on the other. IUCN explores andfinds innovative ways to leverage ecologicalcapital into social equity.

One way is to more accurately value naturalresources. Economic Valuation of the Térraba-Sierpe Wetland generates precise infor-mation about direct and indirect socioeco-nomic use of the wetland resources. It alsoincludes new financial and structuralincentives as tools to improve ecosystemmanagement by local peoples, who in turnbenefit from participation.

Several IUCN projects help local populationsdo well by doing good. Lachuá incorporatestheir productive and commercial activitiesinto the Program of Forest Incentives of theNational Institute of Forests of Guatemala.The Tacana pilot project includes commu-nities in the integrated management of thewater resources to develop options foradditional income.

Mesoamerica:Rediscovering its True Richness

The Union systemized more than 60experiences in Central America to definehow best to improve co-management ofprotected areas through local experienceand participatory management, and 75 casestudies demonstrate the difference of agender-based approach to conservation andsustainable development.

IUCN advised the Central AmericanCommission on Environment andDevelopment on regional strategies andapproaches to forest, protected areas andgender-based management, and environ-mental impact assessments. It also devel-oped a policy and strategy to engage theprivate sector for the internalization ofenvironmental costs in business processes.

Fisherman in the Térraba-Sierpe © Luis Diego Marín

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Home to six out of 17 ‘Megadiverse’countries (the endemic species-richColombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela,Bolivia), it is no surprise that a diversetapestry of environmental organizationsalso weave through the region.

IUCN plays a keystone role in systematizingtheir knowledge, elaborating tools, con-vening stakeholders, and catalysing theirdialogues. It links governments and civilsociety to fuse ecosystem management andsocial equity.

Under the Gran Ruta Inca initiative, theUnion galvanized funds, communicationsand human resources toward restorationprojects throughout the Andes mountainsand cloud forest ecosystems. Outreachtapped into a deep heritage of cultural andspiritual values.

IUCN stepped up conservation in theTambopata Inambari watershed (Amazonheadwaters) through: biodiversity inven-tories; selection of plants with economicpotential; a broad agenda of environmentaleducation and outreach. We evaluatedconservation potential of productivesystems from biophysical, social, agronomicand institutional standpoints. And IUCNadvanced a decision support system toimplement the ecosystem approach.

IUCN launched the Conservation and SocialEquity Clearinghouse in Spanish andPortuguese, to clarify and communicate – inboth directions – vital information to itscontinental membership. The clearinghouseprovides: electronic forums, access to onlinedocuments on social equity andconservation, an electronic magazine, andinformation on funding opportunities,training events, scholarships and prizes.

IUCN convened the first regional meetingto analyse, discuss and promote the lessonsfrom 82 habitat corridors throughout SouthAmerica. Corridor managers from differentgovernmental and non-governmentalorganizations shared experiences on differ-ent types and current approaches todevelop these corridors, and advanced theclear potential and relevance of applyingthe Ecosystem Approach to corridormanagement.

South America:Linking Andes to Oceans

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In North America, IUCN has been primarily arepresentative and policy office thatsupports the global programme andreaches out to the Union’s constituency. Itlinks valuable policy and economicknowledge and information about andfrom various contributors and partners. Butthe region is also diversifying the Union’ssupport base beyond its main donors. TheUS Office also coordinates and manages allof IUCN’s liaison functions with specialobserver status to the United Nations.Finally, it is also helping the Union meet thehigh targets it has set for itself.

The Canada office is compiling a systematicglobal guide to sustainable harvesting ofmedicinal and aromatic plants in the wild.

It is helping China to build capacity tomanage nature reserves and to inform theChinese people about the value of natureconservation.

The US office has identified patterns ofhuman dependency upon ecosystem services,and is finding incentives and policy influenceto secure those services in the face ofglobal climate change and aggressive tradeliberalization.

IUCN’s US and Global Marine Programmeslaunched a new informal network called the‘DC Marine Community’, which provides anongoing information exchange for marineconservation experts and institutionsacross the range of bodies located in theUnited States.

Reversing a negative historic trend, IUCNensured that the World Bank’s new policyon development lending will, for the firsttime, seek to safeguard the world’s forestsby protecting the environment, indigenouspeoples’ rights, and project-affectedcommunities.

North America:Feeding the International Flame

China-Canada Study Tour at the Landon Bay Barbara Heck Foundation,Thousand Islands, Ontario, Canada, August 2004 © IUCN/Chucri Sayegh

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Many saw the Mediterranean as a widebarrier between Europe, the Middle Eastand North Africa; IUCN is turning it into anecological force that unites 17 countries.

IUCN in Europe and CIS:From No-Man’s-Lands to Havens of Life

History created a Cold War wall to keepcommunism and capitalism apart. Nowdismantled, IUCN is transforming thatlifeless, sterile gap into a living, breathingcorridor of conservation and renewal.

Bison herd in Bialowieza Primeval Forest © J. Walencik

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Pan-European Integration

The European Union is the most powerfulengine driving integration in the region.

But in order to build a tighter community ofpeople, Europe must also first strengthengeographical links to the far broadercommunity of nature.

IUCN is securing a solid resource foundationof wild biodiversity so that the continent’shuman and cultural diversity can truly, andsustainably, thrive.

To better map, conserve and use theMediterranean, IUCN is charting a coursebeneath the waves. It has found that 26.6%of all Mediterranean marine fauna areendemic, due to adaptations in a complexof high salinity, relatively warm waters, cold-seeps, submarine canyons and seamounts.Its understanding will help address theeconomic trend to move from shallow-water to deep-water fisheries.

The relatively complex legal status of theMediterranean Sea makes the current marinebiodiversity conservation and managementsystem uncoordinated, inadequate andineffective.Three IUCN programmes began toset governance back in order. The initiativebegan dialogue between key sectors andactors; made recommendations by experts;produced case studies and relevant doc-uments; and described future challenges.

IUCN convened ground-breaking work-shops with key nations on High Seas MarineProtected Areas. Its authoritative briefingson science and policy elevated IUCN as thekey source of expertise on high seasgovernance and fisheries issues. Our workled New Zealand and Norway, amongothers, to promote urgent banning ofbottom trawling to protect high seasbiodiversity.

IUCN holds the secretariat for the EuropeanGreen Belt initiative which established anecological network running the entirelength of the former Iron Curtain. Thecorridor secures Europe’s human andnatural communities and dovetails withtrans-boundary Natura 2000 and theEmerald Network of protected areas. Europehas plenty of conservation laws, butstruggles to halt the decline of biodiversity;it hopes the Green Belt will givemomentum, integrity and substance tointernational conventions.

To promote financial tools for organicagriculture, IUCN and its partners publishedThe best of Natura 2000 in Central Europewith pictures and descriptions of sites withproven high natural value, tourism, diverselandscape and local culture.

After two years of collaboration, the WorldConservation Union, Moscow-based NGOsand the Russian Federal Forest Agencyformally established the Forest PublicCouncil to advise the Russian Ministry ofNatural Resources on different forest issues.As a result, the new version of the ForestCode of the Russian Federation nowincludes public participation and obligatorypublic hearings on planned use.

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The Republic of Srpska (BIH) consideredbuilding the Buk Bijela Hydroelectric damin Southeast Europe. An IUCN/UNESCOmission evaluated conservation in thespectacular area. It showed exactly how adam would affect the ecosystem of Taracanyon and Durmitor National Park WorldHeritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. By2005, the Republic of Montenegro haddecided against it.

Elsewhere in Europe and theCommonwealth of Independent States,the World Conservation Union:

> Coordinated the Secretariat ofCountdown 2010, an initiative that engagesthe IUCN membership, partners in thebusiness world, and local, regional andnational governments to achieve thedeclared goal of European Heads of State ‘To halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010’.IUCN, through its Species SurvivalCommission Red List Programme, plans toundertake a Pan European biodiversityassessment which will help monitorprogress towards the 2010 target.

> Held the First International Non-TimberForest Products Fair and Forum in Moscowwith its partners, welcoming smallbusinesses from distant Altai, Kamchatka,Sakhalin and Magadan to reach broadermarkets and share their lessons andconcerns.

> Tightened its relationship with theEuropean Commission, the executive bodyof the EU, and the European Parliamentthrough its Intergroup on SustainableDevelopment. Hardly known three yearsago in the two institutions, IUCN is nowfully recognized as the most prominentinternational organization for the sustain-able use of natural resources.

> Strengthened partnerships for forestconservation and management in Russia byadapting the WWF Rapid Assessment ofProtected Areas methodology for theRussian context. Building on this, the projectteam evaluated management effectivenessof 155 protected areas, including 70% ofRussian protected areas at the federal level.

Regional Office for Europe:Countdown 2010

Ancient Rome conquered by force landssurrounding what it proudly called ‘our sea’.Modern IUCN conserves the Mediterraneanregion through voluntary, willing partner-ships.

On land and under water, the region’s highlevels of species endemism mark it as one ofthe world’s biodiversity havens. But knowl-edge of this richness is conflicting, and datadispersed. There was no recognized baselineto assess which species are in fact trulythreatened by what or by whom. Until now.

The World Conservation Union clarifiedregional Red Lists for over 700 species ofreptiles, amphibians, sharks and freshwaterfish. It demonstrated not only the will-ingness of the scientific community tocollaborate, but the degree to whichenvironmentalists consider a regional RedList the most essential tool to guide andassess nature conservation priorities.

IUCN and its partners undertook the firststeps to develop the Mediterranean’sImportant Plant Areas programme that:hosts some 25,000 plant species; providesspecific plant data (Red Lists) that galvanizeother existing national, regional and globalconservation; shares mapped data; setsstandards; links science and policy; guidesrelevant national legislation; and structuresfuture assessments, compensation ordecision making.

North Africa has one of the oldest, richestand most diverse cultural traditionsassociated with the use of medicinal plants,which often underlie primary health careneeds. Yet despite their cultural andeconomic importance, many medicinal andaromatic plants are endangered. So is theindigenous knowledge behind their use,cultivation and distribution. IUCN ensuresthat both are conserved, respected, valuedand promoted.

Mediterranean:Breakthroughs in Co-Management

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CES The Mediterranean Shame-faced crab (Calappa granulate) © José Antonio Moya

L I N K I N GP E O P L E

. . .

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The third IUCN linkage is vertical – that is,connecting people working at the local levelwith those who work at the global level.Forging human connections is more art thanscience. It takes savvy planning, boldexecution and relentless follow-through. Yetfor these reasons strategic ‘matchmaking’has become the World Conservation Union’soldest and, arguably, most valuable asset.

Our political art draws in partners who arenot members; intergovernmental bodieswho are not state members; experts who arenot members of Commissions; donors whoare seeking a more interactive relationshipwith IUCN; and the hundreds of youngprofessionals who have flowed throughIUCN as interns, volunteers, and limited termproject staff. Yet we engage our coreconstituency above all.

The third IUCN linkage is vertical

What does that constituency structure looklike? Scientists Watson and Crick illustratedhow they unlocked ‘the secret of life’ byconstructing the ‘double helix’ - linkingstrands of genetic DNA.

Likewise, the World Conservation Union maybe unlocking the ‘secret of sustaining life’through consensus-driven collaboration.Its own ‘triple helix’ binds members,Commissions and Secretariat together in anupward spiraling ladder of vertical linkages.

From its inception IUCN sought ways tostrengthen that structure. Some days thisprocess feels as exciting as fusing atoms.Other times it’s as difficult as herding cats.Combinations and outcomes take place inquiet moments, undetected, and may beimpossible to quantify.

Yet each new combination does somehowadd up to a qualitative and lasting value thatis immeasurable but essential. Thatpotential, that excitement, is what keepsIUCN’s triple helix dynamic. In seven keyareas, investments in our unique networksof vertical linkages have begun to yieldlasting results.

Fish market in Côte d’Ivoire © Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Altitude

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We live in an age of specialization. Just lookat IUCN’s members and staff. Ourresearchers, partners, NGOs, businessaffiliates, scientists, religious leaders, donors,employees, publishers, volunteers andcommissioners define the best meaning of‘leaders’. They carve out unique geographicand institutional niches. They maximizeresources. They ‘own’ issues. They dominateagendas. They hold Nobel prizes. They showothers the way to a better future.

Yet none feel ‘lonely at the top’, becauseeach has the wisdom and humility torecognize that life has no real ‘top.’ Nomatter how respected they are, IUCNspecialists remain part of a functioningwhole. Our members are not a collection ofstatic objects but a dynamic communion ofsubjects to each other. They depend on alarger interdependent entity – full of theirdirection and purpose – to express ourcollective aspirations.

Achim Steiner – The Evolution of Synergy

Other growing institutions can becomeossified by specialty, prisoners to brand. Theylock themselves in by compartmental-ization, by silo-thinking, by sound-proofoffice cubicles. Yet IUCN specialists avoidthat by reaching over, tunneling under orbreaking through walls that preventdevelopment from becoming durable andequitable.

In response to changing conditions, weevolve.

We evolve as the planet finally ‘discovers’what the conservation community hasknown for long: women form a majority ofour population and deserve equal say; aglobal economy offers both huge risks andrewards; an unstable climate is both causeand consequence of activities on earth;ecosystem management demands povertyreduction, and vice-versa; invasive alienspose threats worse than science-fictionwriters could imagine; rivers are infinitelymore complex than Rome’s mostsophisticated aqueducts; migratory wildliferequires cooperation across even hostileborders; UN conventions on paper requireconcerted action on the ground.

For me, IUCN’s ability to evolve responsively– to forge local to global synergies – is themost magical aspect of our existence. Butmagic can never be taken for granted. That iswhy we constantly take a hard, close, criticallook at ourselves, even if the reflection issometimes less than flattering. Our goal isnot beauty. It is to effectively carry out ourmembers’ demand for a just world thatvalues and conserves nature. To that end wehave begun to unclog our arteries, fuse ourwires, recalibrate our targets, measure ourprogress, rethink our tactics and forgeinfluential new alliances.

We will redouble our efforts as often asnecessary. Why? We have no choice. Just asthere is no real ‘top’ in our network, ourconservation work has no finite ‘end’.

The richness of evolution cannot just cometo a stop in the wild. To ensure it won’t,neither can we.

© IUCN

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In 2003, the world discovered it hadprotected 12% of the earth’s surface forconservation. Some called it one of theshining achievements of the last century. Wecalled it a good start.

Our World Commission on Protected Areasrecognized, soberly, how spatial targetsalone have done and will do little to ensuresurvival of diverse ecosystems. So the Unionengaged members worldwide to rethinkstrategically how, with whom and whereIUCN could more effectively expandecosystem conservation’s purpose, partnersand portfolio.

How: IUCN led the selective shift beyond asimplistic quantitative target from ‘bigger’to ‘better’. That meant a tight focus on bestapproaches, assessing ecosystems mostworthy of conservation. Ironically, the resultmay favor smaller acreage of protected areasthat are almost embarrassingly rich inendemic species.

With whom: IUCN also showed howincentives could turn those viewed as ‘partof the problem’ into ‘part of the solution’.Electric fences and concertina wire dodefend nature from casual poachers. Yet atop-down ‘fortress parks’ approach too oftenmade bitter enemies of potential allies. IUCNmembers catalyse a more participatory andinclusive approach. It engages communitiesas stakeholders who may live outside the

I. Effective Management and Restorationof Ecosystems

boundaries of a protected hub, yet withinthe ecosystem on which a park or reservedepends. Locals who share costs ofmanagement or restoration – through gamescouts, crafts, tourism, communication,administration, reduced use of resources –also partake in the benefits.

Where: Most of us worry about threats wherewe live. Yet doing so skews us todisproportionately conserve forests, wetlands,rivers and savanna. We unconsciously neglectthe harsher but often more diverse placeswhere most of us don’t live, such as marine,mountain, tundra and dryland ecosystems.Through a diversification of protected areasIUCN is balancing the portfolio of priorities.

Exemplifying these three progressivedirections, IUCN concluded a project inSamoa that built the capacity of 21 villagesin two districts to plan, co-manage, andinfluence national policy for community-based marine protected areas. The WorldBank evaluated our approach as embracing‘best practice.’ It will be replicated in otherPacific Islands. It expanded our presence inOceania. And it demonstrated to govern-ments the ‘value added’ of our verticallinkages.

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One universal menace illustrates theeffectiveness of IUCN’s ‘how, with whomand where’ strategic response: Invasive AlienSpecies. In some biomes invasives overtookhabitat loss as the main threat to biodi-versity.This new enemy demanded fresh andaggressive tactics.

People quickly grasp that it is both easierand cheaper to keep out invasives than toeradicate them once they take root andspread. But this ‘ounce of prevention’requires vertical integration from localnurseries to global governance of trans-oceanic shipping. IUCN and its partners inthe Global Invasive Species Program playedthat decisive role of catalyst for cooperationas we:

Natural Nightmares - Global Invasive Species

> Engaged the insurance industry, on thegrounds that insurers will bear the‘externalized’ cost of invasives if no one elseclaims responsibility;

> Targeted invasives as part of WorldHeritage Site protections;

> Recommend input to the World TradeOrganization to reduce the impacts of tradeon the spread of species;

> Backed the profitable use of native speciesfor biological control, aquaculture andhorticulture;

> Circulated information on 100 species ofinvasives amongst Vietnamese commu-nities and farmers, vigilant against anyintroduced species;

> Built capacity across East Africa tominimize the impacts of invasives andsupported the invasives strategy of theEnvironment Action Plan of the NewPartnership for Africa’s Development.

Biological control of water hyacinth: weevils cause leaf scars © IUCN/Geoffrey Howard

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IUCN moved from promoting its long-recognized ‘know why’ to getting traction inapplication of its cutting edge ‘know how’.Drawing on a half century of experience, itturned six conventions into six highlights ofpragmatic conservation.

In Kuala Lumpur, IUCN joined the 7thConference of Parties to the Convention onBiological Diversity in adopting the mostambitious Work Programme on protectedareas in history. It set out to translate intoaction the World Parks Congress accord andJohannesburg Summit commitments,especially the target to reduce the rate ofbiodiversity loss by 2010. In the process, itdrew on its work on indicators, threatenedspecies and protected areas, and focused onthe adoption of principles on sustainableuse and the negotiation of a regime onaccess and benefit sharing. The Commissionon Ecosystem Management helped con-vince the parties to the Convention toendorse the ‘ecosystem approach’, forsustainable use that puts local com-munities at the centre of decisions.Finally, the Commission on Environmental,

II. Key Institutions, agreements, processesand policies

Economic and Social Policy helped addressissues of equity and participation bycreating political momentum and providingtools for implementation.

At the same time, IUCN supported the firstmeeting of the Cartagena Protocol onBiosafety which set an initial framework forthe implementation of this instrument,with decisions on capacity-building,information-sharing, labelling, compliance,liability and redress, and transfers ofgenetically modified organisms betweenparties and non-parties to the protocol.

At the 12th Session of the UN Commissionon Sustainable Development, IUCN’s Waterand Wetlands Programme, CorporateStrategies Group, Policy, Biodiversity andInternational Agreements unit and the USMultilateral Office hosted workshops andbrought consensus on policy statements onwater, sanitation and human settlements.Collaboration also included a workshopwith the International Center for Trade andSustainable Development and the Environ-mental Law Programme on GATS, WaterServices and Policy Options.

© IUCN/Nicola Bartelone

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In Nairobi, Kenya at the InternationalConference on Ecoagriculture, IUCN helped210 of the world’s leading innovators todefine ‘ecoagriculture’ and find ways toimprove rural livelihoods, sustain agriculturalproduction and conserve biodiversity. TheConference opened an important door formulti-stakeholder dialogue and cooperation,and resulted in detailed technical reports,policy recommendations and the estab-lishment of a new partnership to promotesustainable forms of agriculture.

At the Convention on International Trade inEndangered Species, IUCN advocated theuse of incentives as much as deterrentsto save declining species. CITES Partiesapproved trophy hunting quotas for leopard,cheetah and black rhino to provide revenueto support the conservation of the species.Consideration of local livelihoods and localeconomies was also central to decisions onconservation of other commercially impor-tant species such as Ramin, Hoodia andSturgeon.

Through its Programme on Protected Areasand the World Commission on ProtectedAreas, IUCN evaluated 24 potentialproperties for listing under the WorldHeritage Convention and examined thestate of conservation of 44 existing WorldHeritage properties, to leverage a numberof key conservation victories:

> Panama legally established the CoibaNational Park and extended it by more thanhalf with a Special Zone of MarineProtection.

> The Rwenzori Mountains National Parkmoved back into safety.

> South Africa launched ambitious andinnovative plans to conserve the endemicplant-rich Cape Peninsula.

> Russia enhanced protection of WrangelIsland, the first World Heritage property inthe Arctic.

To put the Convention on a solid strategicfoundation, IUCN also played a key role in:reviewing the Operational Guidelines;analysing the World Heritage List for criticalgaps; and preparing a global framework forcapacity development on the ground.

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III. Incentives and Finance“How can peoples’ attitudes and behaviour bechanged drastically? One way, I believe, isthrough incentives for environmentallysound, sustainable living. The Union haspowerful tools of persuasion in the form ofeconomic, political, legal and ethicalincentives.”

Valli Moosa

For decades, IUCN conserved a bird, wasp,orchid or soft coral species for its beauty andfrom our moral responsibility. Yet today theUnion is harnessing an equally powerfulincentive to keep habitats whole: economics.

There is consensus that trade policy mattersnot only to the broader goal of sustainabledevelopment, but also to biodiversityobjectives. But doubts remain when itcomes to how trade policy influences workrelated to the conservation of biodiversity,the sustainable use of natural resources, andthe development of sustainable livelihoods.The work of IUCN on trade and biodiversityhas scoped out several of the incentives thatcould turn trade into a powerful tool forconservation, and vice-versa.

Wildlife makes us all much richer,aesthetically and financially. Grain-eatingcrows can be a pest to farmers, butsongbirds in agricultural nations producebillions of dollars in free pest controlservices. Dazzling coral reefs freely generatebillions more in commercial and recreationalfishing. One out of three tasty bites we eatcome courtesy of the free but vitalpollination of food by bat, fly, moth, hornet,beetle, butterfly and bee species.

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) on Composite inflorescence © NHPA/N.A. Callow

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Off Sakhalin Island, survival of the WesternGray Whales was worth enough forconservationists, governments, and multi-national companies to support IUCN inmobilizing the Union’s capacity across all itscomponents for an Independent ScientificReview to address the dilemma of offshoredevelopment and biodiversity conservation.

People who use metals mined from theground also depend on fish and water fromhealthy watersheds. The Union sought toaddress the linkages between the local andglobal economies of mining throughdialogue with the International Council onMining and Metals, and by providing it withtechnical assistance with support from theWorking Group on Extractive Industries andBiodiversity.

The result? Showing this helps us ensureintact living trees, worth far more than theirtimber or potential conversion to farm orpasture. Ignoring it led others to cut orfragment forests. Fragmentation reducedavian diversity and increased pesticide use.The Union’s networks in Africa engage theprivate sector and show how indigenousbirds provide billions of dollars worth ofnatural crop pest control, jobs in tourism,and tax revenues from wildlife watchingequipment.

Skeptics criticised the idea of putting a pricetag on something in nature that peoplecannot or will not actually purchase. But theUnion countered that all humans evolved tomake rational choices based on recognizedand relative worth.

So IUCN made the clear and explicitvaluation of natural goods and services intoa fundamental tool. It is a powerful incentivethat decision makers require every hour, atevery level. By unveiling nature’s hiddencosts and benefits, the Union helped societyharmonize our human and wild economies.It created conditions that put price tags onthe priceless.

Western Gray Whale and the Molikpaq Platform off Sakhalin Island, Russia © Dave Weller

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Land and water form the basis of all humanwealth. A fenced-off savanna or dammed-up river severs more than biodiversity; itinterrupts a community’s access to the‘natural fat’ produced by diverse resources.

What’s more, a recent IUCN study indicatedthat only about 30 countries (less than 16%of Convention on Biodiversity ContractingParties) have developed policies, legislativeor administrative measures that ensureaccess and benefit sharing activities. In2004, IUCN expanded legal rights, dialogueand conservation knowledge to empowerthese disenfranchised peoples.

IV. Equitable Sharing of Costs and Benefits

IUCN led a global Task Force thatdemonstrated how intimately the first sixUN Millennium Development Goals relate toand depend on the seventh: ‘EnvironmentalSustainability.’ It proposed healthy fisheriesso children can attend school instead ofworking in the city. It fought to stabilizestreams so that women can gather waternear home without trekking hours to a well.It promoted conservation of forests toprovide a village with firewood, mulch,medicines and building materials.

And the Union fought to ensure thatpermanent access to and sharing of suchresources are not privileges permitted by afew from above, but rather inalienablerights to be recognized by all from within.By upholding rights, IUCN ensured thatsocieties cared for and secured healthyecosystems.

Gender Advisor Lorena Aguilar ‘Plants a Tree for Peace’ to celebrate Nobel Peace laureate

Wangari Maathai’s efforts for gender equality and the environment © FIRE journalists

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Water’s Rights versus Our Rightto WaterOne human right felt self-evident: depriveaccess to water and you deny life itself. Yetrights demand reason, not feeling. To setpriorities and clarify values in 2004 theIUCN Environmental Law Centre andCommission on Environmental Law exploredthe human rights-environmental nexusthrough workshops, flyers and publicationsof substance. Through debate among itsnetwork of legal experts came consensus:by protecting an explicit human right towater society de facto extended implicitrights for the resource, because this legalinstrument let people negotiate watershares, use it efficiently and conserve itscomplex benefits. In contrast, abstract rightsof water did not always invariably extend tosociety because people lacked intrinsicchecks and balances on their demand.

Nesting Equity within CommunitiesIUCN ensured that human rights to resourcesexist in practice, not just on paper. Throughits global network, Commissions, andvertical linkages, the Union informedcommunities of their rights to accessbenefits of and obligations to sharednatural capital. For example, in South Africa,the Union piloted the establishment of a‘fair trade mark’ to more equitably root thelucrative tourism industry. In Mozambique,the Union negotiated Memoranda ofUnderstanding between itself and theMinistry of Tourism, the Government andcommunities, and communities and privateSafari operators. Each collaboration ensuredwide, transparent distribution of benefitsfrom top to bottom, whether from huntingor hospitality.

Focus on Gender Makesthe DifferenceIn addition to expanding resource accessrights to communities, IUCN’s Commissionon Environmental, Economic and SocialPolicy ensured more equitable sharing ofresources within those same communities.

Men and women approach biodiversitydifferently, with distinct needs. In UttarPradesh, for example, men use forests forfodder, fuel and mulch for agriculture;women seek forests’ household appli-cations: medicines, tonics, cleansers, fiber,food and tools. Without equal rights,exclusively male decisions may distortresource use and knock nature off balance.

IUCN has been working in establishing theimportant connections in relation to thepromotion of gender equity, conservationand sustainable development initiatives.Improved land tenure for women supportsbiodiversity, because secure female accessleads to greater habitat protection of veldproducts that might have been lost.

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IUCN strategically measured what we valuein 2004. In so doing, it gave content anddefinition to what others took for granted.By assessing species, we shaped social andeconomic values as well.

Amphibians in TroubleThey are very sensitive to changes in waterquality. They link land and water eco-systems. They offer night music and vibrantcolor. Yet, by 2004, at least a third of earth’samphibians were going extinct.

Over three years IUCN’s Species SurvivalCommission – with ConservationInternational and NatureServe – convened500 scientists from 60 nations to analysethe distribution and status of all 5,743known frogs and toads, salamanders, andcaecilians. We found 1,856 (32%) are in gravedanger.

The Global Amphibian Assessment broughtan important problem to public attentionthrough sober science rather thanuninformed alarm. And while it was notalways crystal clear why some species wentextinct, it illuminated current negativehuman impacts and the focused researchrequired to discover other unknown causes.

V. Assessment of Biodiversity and RelatedSocial and Economic Factors

The IUCN Red List of ThreatenedSpecies and IndexEvery year the Red List grows longer. Why?Where? What do we do about it?

Without a way to track and measurechanges in the rise or fall in biodiversity,none could tell if, or how, we can halt therate of loss by 2010 as required.

Now we can.

IUCN’s Red List Consortium with BirdLife,Conservation International and NatureServedeveloped an Index based on informationon the status of all species in a large,representative group of organisms world-wide. Over four sessions, between 1988 and2004, it measured trends in overallextinction risks, starting with birds. AnotherIndex tracked trends with amphibians.

The resulting collaboration did more thanquantify risks for 10,000 bird species. Itconfirmed specific reasons behind rapiddeterioration in status: Deforestation ofIndonesian lowlands was wiping out SouthEast Asia’s birds. Long-line fishing depletedpopulations of albatross and petrel.

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Knowledge is the only treasure you can giveentirely without running short of it, says anold African proverb. Our Union trades inknowledge – traditional and modern; localand global; experiential and experimental –but how should we share its treasures?There are more ways to package and deliverwisdom than there are people to receive it.For five decades, IUCN drove to getinformation out to broad audiences, fast.We loaded elite decision makers withscientific studies. The system worked.

Yet our audience diversified, membershipdemocratized, demands grew complex andcompetitive. In 2004, so too did ouroutreach.

People make difficult decisions at thebottom as often as at the top of thepyramid. So we tailored our messages tothose working in fields, forests and fisheriesas much as those walking the corridors ofpower. The World Commission on ProtectedAreas targeted the young to prepare themfor influence and impact.

Our goal evolved from merely protectingnature to improving livelihoods throughconservation of biodiversity. To reflect thatevolution, IUCN leveraged our conservation‘research and development’ through cuttingedge ‘marketing’. It more selectively targetedits knowledge. It spoke new languages –from PowerPoint to sign to Farsi. It grewmore demand-driven, viewing constituentsas customers with – literally and figuratively– specific needs.

VI. Information Management andCommunication Systems

The Conservation CommonsThe Conservation Commons is a newparadigm for sharing of biodiversity data,information, knowledge and technology tohelp conserve biodiversity. Organizationsworldwide are formally endorsing thePrinciples of the Conservation Commons –open access, mutual benefit and clear rightsand responsibilities – and are collaboratingin new ways to build interactive systemsand effectively share conservationinformation.

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E is forEnvironmental,Electronic,EducationIn response to demand for environmentalexpertise, IUCN’s Commission on Educationand Communication established the WorldConservation Learning Network, a globalpartnership that links 500 universities withconservation organizations to:

• Provide professionals with short practicalenvironmental courses;

• Multiply access to IUCN knowledgethrough web-based learning;

• Engage people in all sectors and in allregions to undertake continuingeducation, for instance how watermanagers can maintain ecosystem servicesby implementing environmental flows.

Watch Out Hollywood“Lights! Camera! Action!” may speak louderthan words, especially in regions of highilliteracy, or whose inhabitants speakseveral dozen different languages.

In recognition of the growing importance offilm as a means of communication, IUCNestablished a film unit in southern Africa.The Unit will deal with most elements offilm production and distribution, andestablish guidelines for filming with animpact.

Beyond airing films in rural communities,producers are working with regional airlinesto show short films on board to deepenpassengers’ awareness of the complexity ofconservation and development issues onthe continent.

Live demonstration of the prototype Species Information Service at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress © IUCN

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Who cares what IUCN has to say? Moreevery day, according to our website’strackers. In 2001, virtual viewers weresparse, scattered and inattentive: only102,000 people made 200,000 visits, andread one million pages.

Since then we have seen a 1000% increase;up 130% over 2003, and with a 30_40%growth in unique, returning and lingeringvisitors.

The Virtual Green Web Spreads OutIn 2004, just under a million people made2.2 million virtual visits, and read 7 millionpages. Top 10 Keywords, in order:conservation, extinction, species, world,areas, animals, management, Africa,protected, water.

Visitor uses a laptop on the peaks of Yosemite National Park, United States © Lonely Planet/Corey Rich

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IUCN has published over 400 publicationsover the past four years in collaborationwith the Union’s members, donors andpartners. Last year over 140 titles associatedwith IUCN were published worldwide, manyresulting directly from the Vth IUCN WorldParks Congress in 2003.

The publications are distributed widely inprint and electronically. But a creativetension exists over how best to make whatwe publish free, focused and effective.

Over the last three years, publishing as anindustry has changed considerably, as havethe approaches to knowledge managementand dissemination of this knowledge. IUCNis on the cutting edge of ‘open access’publishing through its policy of free use ofpublished material for educational pur-poses. Now the discussion on this haswidened to include all publishers, not justthose in development. Electronic publishingtechnology has improved significantly andsupports the cost-effective, targeted,demand-driven and immediate distributionof literature. IUCN has reviewed thesedevelopments and in 2005 will issueupdated policies and guidelines for theUnion.

IUCN’s Prolific Pen IS Its Political Sword

Six Most Influential Recent PublicationsIUCN publications are important ways forsharing the Union’s knowledge andexpertise. Most have narrow audiences.Some resonate deep and wide. Of these, sixstand out in particular.

Launched at the 3rd IUCN World ConservationCongress, the 2004 IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species: A global speciesassessment is the most comprehensiveevaluation ever of the status of the world’sbiodiversity.

Indigenous and Local Communities andProtected Areas explores protected areaapproaches and models that see con-servation as compatible with humancommunities.

How much is an Ecosystem worth? explainshow economic valuation of ecosystemservices can answer key policy questions.

Can Protected Areas contribute to PovertyReduction? presents a balanced perspectiveon how protected areas relate to poverty,both positively and negatively.

The Environmental Law Centre publicationWater as a Human Right? examines thecompeting arguments and challenges inrelation to a right to water.

Education and Sustainability tells stories ofpeople who work with communities andorganizations to motivate them to create amore sustainable future.

Cover of Water as a human right?: Kyrgyz boys drink water from a well in the village of Kyzyl-Oy © Reuters

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Evolution is a continuous process of testing,review and refinement. So is focusing thework of IUCN.

To that end, in 2004, the Union absorbed acomprehensive external review of its work.The review recommended: strengtheningvertical links within and between the sixCommissions; increasing the participation ofmembers; and further innovating inter-disciplinary work and collaboration.

VII. Effective, Efficient and AccountableGovernance and Management

The results of a meta-evaluation of 70project and programme evaluations foundthat projects were not adequatelyconnected to a policy framework, and thatknowledge management and learningstrategy frameworks were not in place tosynthesise, share and disseminate bestpractice. IUCN needed to improve commu-nications, feedback systems, opportunitiesfor dialogue and lessons learned frommonitoring and evaluation work.

The World Conservation Union is tackling itsown ecological footprint and corporateresponsibility. It has joined the GlobalReporting Initiative (GRI) – which developssustainability reporting guidelines – and hasstarted collecting data on current practicesfrom paper use to carbon dioxide emissions.This will lead to the implementation of bestenvironmental and social practices in all ofour operations.

Image from a NASA “Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle” of a coffee-growing region © NASA

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IUCN Policy ReviewEvery institution can find ways to growmore coherent, consistent, effective andaccountable. IUCN is no exception.

Recognizing this potential, IUCN reviewedexisting policy represented in the 788Resolutions and Recommendations adoptedby the General Assemblies and the WorldConservation Congresses since its creationin 1948. How could policies be streamlined?

A resulting review of existing IUCN policysummarised existing policy on selectedissues; identified gaps and inconsistencies;developed a motion on precedence that wassubmitted by Council and approved by theCongress. The exercise also raised aware-ness of thematic programmes on existingpolicy in their areas of work.

Commissions ReviewWith each other, we intuitively connectdevelopment with environmental health.But do we convince others of this criticallinkage? Not as clearly as we need to.

The IUCN Council peer-reviewed this area tostrengthen our ability to address livelihood-poverty-conservation issues. It examinedwork done at project, programme and policylevel within the various Commissions andSecretariat. It identified how to improve theimpact and influence of our work on theenvironment-poverty interface. It under-took a landscape analysis of the state ofglobal knowledge in this area. And itidentified the expertise we need to enhanceIUCN’s outreach on the poverty-conservationlinks.

Policy Influence ReviewAre we making a difference? Yes. But not inthe way we imagine.

IUCN remains a leader through its ability toconvene,mobilize and empower organizationsacross the globe for conservation anddevelopment based on Union-driven, state-of-the-art knowledge and science. A Review ofIUCN’s Influence on Policy found that half theSecretariat and Commission programmesregard influencing policy as the majorcomponent of their work; a third of us spendall our time on it. But many inside and outsideIUCN are mixed about policy directions,priorities, methods and expectations. Thereview is now leading to policy actions that aremore focused and have more impact.

The Council (2001_

2004) deserves our deepest appreciation, in particular for their

efforts to improve the governance of the Union © IUCN

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How does our information translate intoinfluence? With practice. To cross ourthreshold between knowledge and wisdom,a review found sobering, but helpfulinsights.

We too often sought to win debate with noclear grasp of either our opponent or ouraudience. We operated on dated assump-tions. We used outmoded vehicles. Wepublished scientific knowledge for anundefined readership. We drew on the localexperience of our left hand but did notconnect those lessons with the potential ofour right.

Knowledge Management Review

That is changing, fast. In 2004 IUCN:

• leveraged the Internet as a means toan end, not merely a ‘data depository’;

• hired a full-time advisor to shape a fullynetworked and highly effective Union;

• transformed traditional linear knowledge –from research to publication to delivery –into symbiotic processes that engagethe target every step of the way;

• worked with partners like the US NationalAeronautics and Space Administrationto manage information;

• upgraded technical capacity in andincreasing use of the Intranet; identifiedwho can effect change and buildingrelationships with them to do so;put products and services online, thenimproving navigation so the right peoplecan easily find and use them;

• strengthened current relationships asurgently as seeking new constituencies.

As part of our change managementstrategy, IUCN embarked on a determinedeffort to increase the use and influence ofits knowledge. Strategic Reviews andstudies have underscored the Union’simpressive capacities, yet pointed outuntapped potential.

Our goal goes beyond mere accuracy. TheUnion seeks a clarity in conservationknowledge that is dispassionate, trans-parent, muscular and precise.

Through peer review our knowledge grewsharper, more durable; it now resonateswith greater impact as we enter the2005_2008 intersessional period invigor-ated and refreshed.

63Charting the Course Ahead:Where Commissions are Taking the Union

If IUCN members provide fuel, and theSecretariat builds momentum through itsglobal horsepower, the six Commissionshelp chart the Union’s pioneering course.

Like a pilot, each Commission engages theUnion through responsive signals andconstant feedback. Hardwired to thousandsof specialists in each field who volunteertheir time, findings and expertise, the sixCommissions calibrate the pulse and needsof conservation on the ground. So whilesteering according to the approvedProgramme, Commissions can and do makeslight adjustments in speed or direction asneed arises.

The 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congressmade directions and pace both visible andexplicit. Without dissent, every Commissionsought to work closer with each other, withmembers and with the Union at large. Therehas been some progress towards integration,but not enough to satisfy demand.

Linking Commission programmes together– such as the ‘marine’ and ‘water rights’alliances between Commissions on environ-mental law, social policy, ecosystemmanagement and protected areas – paidhealthy dividends over the last year. As didstrategic Commission partnerships with, forexample, the Society for EcologicalRestoration International and the Societyfor Conservation Biology.

Still, we need more of such outreach efforts,given the Union’s capacity. Commissionsrecognize that such synergies can mobilizeresources, close gaps, avoid duplication andgrasp opportunities that spontaneouslyappear en route.

In 2004, the Commissions were gratified tosee years of work on paper gain traction andrespect in policy. The Convention onBiological Diversity now recognizes andsometimes follows the advice of the WorldCommission on Protected Areas. TheCommission on Ecosystem Managementhas long voiced lonely advocacy for the‘ecosystem approach’, and last year saw itgo mainstream globally in policy and inpractice following the December tsunami.And the Species Survival Commission sawhow its tools and products have influenceddecisions by multinational corporations,within state governments and amongglobal decision makers. Other new direc-tions only began last year, but revealchanges to come.

64Others deploy old tools in fresh fields. TheCommission on Environmental, Economicand Social Policy injected the principlesof biodiversity conservation into unfamiliarbut vital sectors of economic policy,market dynamics, corporate responsibilityand poverty eradication. Likewise, theCommission on Environmental Law beganwelding its message into the larger butclosely related context of human rights,health and trade issues. The Commission onEcosystem Management extended itsapproach toward addressing new issuessuch as management of Large MarineEcosystems, the impact of large urbansystems within natural landscapes, and thevaluation of ecosystem goods and services.And the World Commission on ProtectedAreas expanded its existing work to includeclimate change impacts, the spread ofinvasive species and – on a brighter note –the energy and ambitions of the nextgeneration of conservationists.

Some employ cutting edge tools to meettraditional mandates. To leverage knowledgelinks between field research, technology,universities and cyberspace, the Commissionon Education and Communication launchedthe World Conservation Learning Network.The Species Survival Commission has takenthe Red List to the next level, with an Indexthat synthesized geographical and historicalelements into a sobering – yet influential –revelation about biodiversity trends.

From left to right

Commission on Ecosystem ManagementHillary MasundireBotswana

Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social PolicyTaghi FarvarIran

Commission on Education and CommunicationDenise HamúBrazil

Commission on Environmental LawSheila AbedParaguay

Species Survival CommissionHolly DublinUSA

World Commission on Protected AreasNikita LopoukhineCanada

65None of these represents a break with thepast, but rather an ability to learn from thepresent. As shown in this report, theCommissions conduct frequent reviews – callit the Union’s internal ‘research anddevelopment’ – of its mission and operations.Commissions never stop recalibrating. Theyare constantly comparing abstract maps andvisible reality as it pilots the most effectiveand efficient course of action.

Only through endless refinement can theykeep the Union at the avant-garde ofconservation experience and policy.

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The IUCN Council 2005_2008Elected by over 1,000 member organizations to lead the conservation movement

Valli Moosa South Africa . Sven Sandström Sweden . Pierre Hunkeler Switzerland . Aroha Te Pareake Mead New Zealand . Abdul MuyeedChowdhury Bangladesh . Hillary Masundire Botswana . Taghi Farvar Iran . Denise Hamú Brazil . Sheila Abed Paraguay . Holly Dublin USA .Nikita Lopoukhine Canada . Russell A. Mittermeier USA . Nobutoshi Akao Japan . Han Xingguo China . Monthip Sriratana TabucanonThailand . Talal Al-Azimi Kuwait . Ali Darwish Lebanon . Javed Jabbar Pakistan . Lionel Gibson Fiji

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Amina Abdalla Kenya . Amadou Tidiane Ba Senegal . Zohir Sekkal Algeria . Juan Marco Álvarez El Salvador . Cláudio Maretti Brazil . SilviaSánchez Peru . Lynn Holowesko Bahamas . Huguette Labelle Canada . Christine Milne Australia . Diana Shand New Zealand . Kalev SeppEstonia . Alexey V. Yablokov Russia . Marija Zupancic-Vicar Slovenia . Purificació Canals Spain . Alistair Gammell United Kingdom .Manfred Niekisch Germany

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2004Contributionsby Donor Category1 68% Governments2 11% Multilaterals3 10% Members4 4% Other5 4% NGOs6 2% Corporations7 2% Foundations

12

3

45 6 7

2004Distribution of TotalContributions from our Partners1 20% Netherlands2 12% Other3 11% Multilaterals4 10% Members5 9% Italy6 8% Sweden7 6% Switzerland8 5% Denmark9 4% Other Governments10 4% Norway11 4% Canada12 3% United States of America13 2% United Kingdom14 2% Germany

1

2

3

45

6

7

8

910

1112 13 14

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Our work is made possible through thecontinuous, long-term generosity andconfidence of a diversifying coalition ofpartners: governments, bilateral developmentassistance agencies, multilateral and inter-governmental institutions, internationalconventions and non-governmental organ-izations, foundations, corporations andindividuals.

Despite the sluggish global economy,investment in IUCN’s work increased. TheUnion in turn leveraged these fundsthrough careful strategic reinvestments.Allocations and expenditures reflectdevelopment and conservation priorities in2004, including substantial increases in theMediterranean and WESCANA offices, itsMarine and Business and Biodiversityprogrammes, and the Communicationsbudget.

A large expenditure was the 3rd IUCN WorldConservation Congress in Bangkok. Theinvestment does not reflect the resourcesdevoted by every programme and office,especially the Asia Regional Office and theSpecies Programme. Yet, this investmentpales in comparison to the decisiveadvances it brought to the conservationmovement’s voice, power, knowledge andgovernance.

A secure foundation for strategic investments

2004 Distribution of Expenditure1 64% Regional Component Programmes2 23% Global Programmes & Commissions 3 7% Corporate Strategies4 4% Support Services5 2% Director General's Office

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34 5

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DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2004 RESTRICTED CORE FUNDS PROJECT FUNDS TOTAL 2004

GOVERNMENTSCANADA 1'331 3'198 4'529 DENMARK 4'134 794 4'928GERMANY 4 2'110 2'114 ITALY - 9'954 9'954 IRELAND - 984 984 JAPAN 2 466 468 NETHERLANDS 3'776 17'508 21'284 NORWAY 1'655 2'484 4'139 SPAIN - 789 789 SWEDEN 5'062 3'425 8'487 SWITZERLAND 3'100 2'788 5'888 SOUTH AFRICA - 464 464 UNITED KINGDOM 23 2'246 2'269 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1'373 1'997 3'370

TOTAL OTHER 41 1'512 1'552 TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GOVERNMENTS 20'500 50'721 71'221

MULTILATERAL DONORSUNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 13 4'792 4'805 EUROPEAN UNION 4 1'083 1'087 WORLD BANK 2 1'322 1'324 CITES 3 753 756 UNESCO - WORLD HERITAGE 5 740 745 UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME 250 832 1'083 UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION - 189 189 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK 1 334 335 INTL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT - 306 306 INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION - - - OTHERS 28 438 466

TOTAL MULTILATERAL DONORS 306 10'790 11'096

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL 22 849 871 WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE 386 340 726 RAMSAR CONVENTION BUREAU 460 - 460 HIVOS - 389 389 IUCN COMMITTEE NETHERLANDS - 338 338 IUCN COMMITTEE JAPAN - 55 55 INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER FOUNDATION - 208 208 OTHER NGOS 203 876 1'079

TOTAL NGOS 1'071 3'054 4'125

FOUNDATIONSFONDATION INTERNATIONALE DU BANC D'ARGUIN 3 524 527 FORD FOUNDATION - 390 390 TOTAL FOUNDATION - 257 257 MACARTHUR FOUNDATION - 108 108 OTHER FOUNDATIONS 79 909 988

TOTAL FOUNDATIONS 82 2'188 2'271

CORPORATIONS 5 1'787 1'791 INDIVIDUALS 131 199 331 OTHER DONORS 2'113 1'908 4'022 MEMBERSHIP DUES 9'973 - 9'973

34'182 70'647 104'829

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IUCN TOTAL EXPENDITURE IN 2004 CHF THOUSANDS

DIRECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE & SPECIAL PROJECTS 1'546 INTERNAL AUDIT 211

SUB TOTAL DGO 1'757

US MULTILATERAL OFFICE 2'334 ASIA 17'349 CENTRAL AFRICA 2'791 WEST AFRICA 8'429 CANADA 865 EASTERN AFRICA 6'442 CENTRAL AMERICA 4'331 EUROPE AND CIS 3'259 SOUTHERN AFRICA 10'264 MEDITERRANEAN 2'123 SOUTH AMERICA 2'559 UNITED KINGDOM 1'806 WEST/CENTRAL ASIA & NORTH AFRICA 914

SUB TOTAL REGIONAL COMPONENTS 63'465

GLOBAL PROGRAMME 1'631 SPECIES 2'310 PROTECTED AREAS 3'169 SOCIO-ECONOMICS & GENDER 1'062 BUSINESS & BIODIVERSITY 1'016 FOREST CONSERVATION 1'515 WETLANDS & WATER 1'467 ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT 750 MARINE 2'223 POLICY, BIODIVERSITY & INTL AGREEMENTS 778 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 2'581 CHIEF SCIENTIST 671 OTHER INCL CONGRESS 2'930

SUB TOTAL GLOBAL & THEMATIC UNITS 22'102

CORPORATE STRATEGIES 1'278 EDUCATION & COMMUNICATION 2'158 MEMBERSHIP & GOVERNANCE 1'260 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT GROUP 1'261 PUBLICATIONS 296 MONITORING & EVALUATION 874

SUB TOTAL CORPORATE STRATEGIES 7'127

CEC 95 CEESP 160 CEL 50 CEM 136 SSC 255 WCPA 225

SUB TOTAL COMMISSIONS 921

FINANCE 1'766 HUMAN RESOURCES 966 ADMINISTRATION 1'539

SUB TOTAL SUPPORT SERVICES 4'271

OVERALL TOTAL EXPENDITURE 99'643

Three words characterize the progress in theimplementation of the IUCN Programmeover 2001–2004: confidence, focus andresults. These three traits have no order orhierarchy. They have grown together andintertwined, just as a rainforest emergesfrom a bustling array of trees, plants andanimals.

The Union has regained confidence in itselfand of others. The turn-around we haveachieved by formulating one single,integrated programme of work has con-firmed our fundamental belief in the Union.This belief is reflected and confirmed by thegrowing numbers of members, the refoundtrust and generosity of our donors, and thepartnerships we have forged with newconstituencies.

The new Programme has given us muchgreater focus. It asks us to engage with newconstituencies and target our interventionsin the complexities of interconnectedmarkets, societies and ecosystems. It haschallenged us to more effectively link thepractice and reality of the field with theguiding principles of national, regional andinternational policy. And finally, we areincreasingly able to deliver practical resultsby focusing on the fundamental connectionbetween conservation and livelihoods.

The IUCN Programme 2001–2004 Confidence, Focus, Results

The Union is delivering knowledge onconservation issues, ranging from advancesin traditional tools such as the IUCN Red Listof Threatened Species, to new tools such asenvironmental valuation and payment forecosystem services, or capacity buildingthrough the World Conservation LearningNetwork.

We are empowering people to manage theirresources more equitably and sustainably, forinstance through our work in twelve riverbasins under the Water and Nature Initiative,on medicinal plans and non-timber forestproducts, or on practical measures for climatechange mitigation.

The Union’s ability to improve governancewas particularly clear at the World Summiton Sustainable Development and the Vth

IUCN World Parks Congress, but our impactranges from promoting an internationalregime for our high seas to the involvementof indigenous peoples in the management ofa particular protected area.

This does not mean that our job is done. Thereviews of our work show that we need toimprove the way we manage knowledge,deliver policy and engage with members andCommissions. It is a job we are eager to do inthe years ahead, and it is one we are betterequipped to do thanks to the confidence andfocus of the Union.

Between 2001 and 2004, the ‘rainforest’ ofthe Union regenerated itself and becamehealthier than ever. Now, the Programme for2005–2008 is set to deliver tastier fruits – agrowing and stronger global Union thatunifies the conservation movement for theconservation of our natural wealth, and theequitable social and economic sharing of itsdividends.

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Temporate rainforest near Haast in Fiordland National Park,

New Zealand © IUCN/Jim Thorsell