IUCN Digest - 19 July 2022
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Message from the Director General
Dear Members, I am writing to you from Kigali, Rwanda, where yesterday we opened the first ever IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC). APAC is a landmark event, as it brings together African leaders and partners to build a better future for the continent’s protected and conserved areas. We heard from African leaders that it is time for Africa to sit in the driving seat. It is deeply inspiring to see the energy, commitment, and leadership from across Africa here at APAC. I am convinced that we will look back at this event as a great milestone in Africa’s conservation story. This message builds on my intervention at last week’s UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, where I stressed that nature conservation needs inclusivity at all levels, from states to non-state actors such as indigenous peoples, local communities, and businesses. I look forward to the outcomes of next few days in Rwanda. With 2,000 participants from more than 50 African countries, and with the crucial collaboration of IUCN Members such as the Government of Rwanda and the Africa Wildlife Foundation, I can already confidently say that the Africa Protected Areas Congress shows IUCN at its most powerful.
News
IUCN News pages First IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress opens in Kigali, Rwanda New Legal Protections for the Environment in relation to Armed Conflict IUCN side event at the 2nd Asia Parks Congress: Engaging local communities in protected and conserved areas Sustainable use re-affirmed as key to conservation by new UN report IUCN and Esri collaborate to promote Green List and biodiversity conservation through digital innovation Valuing, financing and mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions in China Nepal hosts inception workshop for GCF's Gandaki Basin Climate Resilient project HIST and IUCN sign MoU for collaboration on Space Technologies for natural World Heritage conservation The IUCN Green List: Sharing Experiences at the 2nd Asia Parks Congress
Events
IUCN Events 2022 IUCN WCPA International Ranger Awards, Online, Join via Zoom - YouTube Streaming, 20 July 2022, 16:00 - 18:00 GMT IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC), Kigali, Rwanda, 18-23 July 2022 Protecting Nature on Mediterranean islands, Malaga, Spain, 27 September, 2022 IUCN Leaders Forum, Jeju Province, South Korea, 13-15 October 2022 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) 3-9 February 2023 UNESCO 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, postponed until further notice. The publication of official documents, including IUCN recommendations, will be established by UNESCO in accordance with the Rules of Procedure at the appropriate time.
Resolutions and Recommendations
Resolutions and Recommendations are adopted every four years during the Members’ Assembly of the World Conservation Congress. They constitute a means through which IUCN Members set the organization’s general policy, influence conservation priorities and find support for moving commitments into action. Ultimately, these decisions pave the way for the work of the Union for the next inter-sessional period and support the achievement of IUCN’s mission. All IUCN Resolutions are available on the Resolutions and Recommendations Platform.
On the occasion of the IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC), in Kigali, we highlight the Resolutions below that support some of the central themes of the Congress:
Resolution 6.040 – Support for Forest Landscape Restoration in Africa recognizes that Africa has the largest opportunity for the restoration of mosaic forest landscapes in the world and calls on the Director General, governments, civil society, the private-sector and research institutions to continue supporting Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), through diverse actions, such as affirming national FLR commitments, or developing strategies to find alternatives to wood fuels.
Resolution 7.069 – Eliminate plastic pollution in protected areas, with priority on single-use plastic products urges State Members to take action by 2025 to prevent pollution of protected areas by single-use plastic products.
Resolution 7.073 – Ecological connectivity conservation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework: from local to international levels calls on Members to recognise the role of connectivity conservation in achieving the SDGs and various objectives and goals of biodiversity-related conventions and other MEAs, and recommends CBD Parties to include goals, targets and indicators on connectivity conservation in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
Resolution 7.076 – Building and strengthening wildlife economies in Eastern and Southern Africa recognizes that sustainable use of wild resources could be crucial in maintaining wildlife strongholds in the region and calls for a One Programme Initiative to evaluate the opportunities provided by wildlife-based land uses (WLBUs), and for State Members in the region to integrate WBLUs into national planning processes.
Resolution 7.125 – Setting area-based conservation targets based on evidence of what nature and people need to thrive highlights the idea that protecting at least half of the planet will be necessary to address the double crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and calls on IUCN to support the 30x30 target in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, underlining the importance of including IPLCs in protection and conservation activities.
Help us monitor the implementation of IUCN Resolutions by submitting an activity report on the Platform!
Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
IUCN's work on the Post-2020 global biodiversity framework First draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Post-2020 global biodiversity framework (issues brief)
BIODEV2030 - Inspiring national action
Mainstreaming biodiversity and learning on the road to CBD COP15 The IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) taking place in Kigali this week offers an opportunity for BIODEV2030 stakeholders from six African countries - Benin, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Uganda – to demonstrate their progress in mainstreaming biodiversity in priority business sectors. BIODEV2030 is working in a total of 16 countries, testing different approaches to mainstream biodiversity and catalyse voluntary commitments in key economic sectors. At a global level, BIODEV2030 is sharing its outcomes and lessons learned to inspire other countries to take similar action in support of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework being negotiated under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). For more information, visit the website.
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Science-based ecosystem restoration for the 2020s and beyond (publication) UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration website
Opportunities
Work @ IUCN Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund – call for proposals. Project developers and entrepreneurs in the Indo-Pacific region, Click here for more information and to check eligibility. Deadline: 7 September 2022 Call for solutions on Wildlife Health and Zoonotic Disease Risk Reduction Call for Solutions on Tourism Best Practices A Challenge to Reimagine Conservation in 2022 Currently running tenders
Online Learning and Webinars
2022 RedList trainer course - Become a certified RedList trainer WEBINAR: How to apply the IUCN Red List Criteria for National Red List assessments IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict Task Force Briefing Paper -