Miller, Kenton R.

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GUEST EDITORIALIUCN-The World Conservation UnionThe International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is the world's largestand most experienced conservation alliance. Founded in 1948*, IUCN is devoted to the protection andsustainable use of Earth's living natural resources.The Union brings together the concerns, interests, and dedicated skills, of appropriate scientists, resourcemanagers, lawyers, and other professionals, from all parts of the world, to focus upon the challenge ofmaintaining and using properly the planet's renewable natural resources. It provides a mechanism fordialogue among intergovernmental, governmental, and nongovernmental, groups, while also bridging theperspectives of North, South, East, and West. Its policies, proposals, and positions, are innovative inidentifying problems and causes of, and solutions for, conservation; moreover these solutions, being basedupon scientific perspectives, are independent of influence from special political or other interests.IUCN is governed democratically by its General Assembly, which consists of its voting governmental andnongovernmental members that currently total 557 from 116 countries. The Assembly selects IUCN'sPresident and Council, and approves both its programme and budget. The Council in turn selects Vice-Presidents from among its ranks, and elects the Director-General. Statutes, established and approved by theAssembly, provide the governing instrument for the organization.The mission of IUCN is 'to promote the optimal relationship between the human population and thenatural world, by effectively coordinating the conservation activities of its international network, and byattracting financial and other support for this mission.'How IUCN WorksThe headquarters Secretariat is maintained in Gland, near Geneva, Switzerland, and collaborates with aseries of networks consisting of professional scientists, resource managers, administrators, lawyers, academ-ics, and committed citizen conservationists. These networks are organized in the form of 6 standing com-missions, respectively on ecology; education; environmental planning; law, policy, and administration;national parks and protected areas; and species survival. Additional networks include that of the new andrapidly-growing community of Botanic Gardens. These dedicated bodies provide the best technical adviceavailable, and do so on a voluntary basis.The commissions analyse major problems in conservation and development. In addition, ad hoc task-forcesand advisory groups deal with particular issues, such as Antarctica, the Sahel, population, and conservation ofplants.The secretariat and the networks set out courses of action and provide policy advice on such themes as theconservation of tropical forests, wetlands, plants, marine and coastal areas, and Sahel rehabilitation. Work isdirected towards developing standards, definitions, directories, concepts, and manuals—all designed to assistthe member organizations and allied professions in carrying out their work.The IUCN Environmental Law Centre (ELC), situated in Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany, and theIUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre (CMC), in Kew and Cambridge, England, monitor the status andtrends in wild plant and animal life, and in related law, policy, and trade. This requires the systematicgathering of information and its careful evaluation by qualified specialists.ELC and CMC are integrated with the headquarters team to inform and report on the status and trends innatural resources—including law, policy, and trade. In the light also of contributions from the expert net-works, solutions to key problems are suggested and promoted. Examples include policy guidance to gov-ernments and NGOs on the decisions to be addressed by the CITESf Conference of the parties concerned,reports to the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Berne Conventionft, and reports to the UnitedNations and interested bodies world-wide on the state of the global protected areas system**. As an example ofthe new trend in facilities and services, the US National Park Service in Washington DC now has an on-linecomputer link with CMC which provides protected-area information to IUCN's constituency in that part ofthe world.Finally, IUCN acts as and where appropriate. This covers a wide gamut of activities including, for example,carefully prepared representation at key international events such as the UNEP Governing Council meetings* As the International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUPN)—see the late Professor Jean G. Baer's 'Apercu historique de laProtection de la Nature', published in the initial issue of our former Journal, Biological Conservation (Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 7-11,1968).-Ed.t Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, of which the Secretariat is located at 6 Rue duMaupas, 1009 Lausanne, Switzerland.—Ed.ft Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, 'The Berne Convention'. —Ed.** See, for example, the United Nations List of National Parks and Protected Areas, compiled and published periodically by IUCN.—Ed.287Environmental Conservation, Vol. 13, No. 4, Winter 1986—© 1986 The Foundation for Environmental Conservation—Printed in Switzerland.https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037689290003530XDownloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 13:46:20, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at288 Environmental Conservationand those of the Convention on Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources, drafting and promotingnational and international legislation, scientifically-based positions on whaling or various developmentissues, training or demonstration projects, and exploration and testing of pioneering and innovative devel-opments where possible in situ.Particularly noteworthy is the work of the Conservation for Development Centre (CDC) at Gland, whichcollaborates with development aid agencies and banks to design and implement field projects that inculcateconservation into the development process. Among other activities, CDC works with local governments toprepare national conservation strategies which ensure that development is conservation-oriented. Thisin-the-field enterprise is expected to surpass 14 million Swiss francs in value of work in cooperation withdeveloping countries in 1987.PartnershipsIUCN's regular constituency of governmental and nongovernmental organizations is complemented by aset of special relations with important global, regional, and local, institutions. For example, IUCN preparedthe World Conservation Strategy with the advice, cooperation, and financial assistance, of UNEP and WWF,and with the endorsement of FAO and UNESCO, while WWF and IUCN work closely together in thedevelopment and implementation of the conservation campaigns to conserve tropical forests, wetlands, andthreatened plants. Also, IUCN collaborates with UNEP in implementing components of the Regional SeasProgramme^ of that organization.IUCN provides the Secretariat for the International Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar), with strongtechnical support from the International Waterfowl Research Bureau (IWRB). CITES receives scientific andtechnical information and advice from IUCN on trade, resource management assessment, and law and policyissues pertaining to endangered species. Similar cooperation is being developed with the Migratory SpeciesConvention secretariat. UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee depend upon IUCN for analysis, fieldinspection, and presentation of nominations for natural sites to be included on the World Heritage list andreceive financial and technical assistance.IUCN's work programme also includes collaboration in the Biosphere Reserve Action Plan of UNESCO.The Bali Action Plan for the world's protected areas was developed at the close of the Third World NationalParks Congress and was based upon the cooperation and sponsorship of a wide variety of IUCN's traditionalpartners.In addition to the above global activities, IUCN is widely involved in many collaborative projects at thenational level. For example, the governments of Oman and Saudi Arabia contract IUCN to assist them inplanning for conservation and development of their coastal and marine areas.Besides other UN and bilateral aid agencies, partners include the International Institute for Environmentand Development (IIED) on marine activities; the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP) on birdspecies,; the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and UNFPA$> on population; the WorldResources Institute (WRI), World Bank, and FAO, on tropical forest action; and the Tropical AgriculturalResearch and Training Center (CATIE), Costa Rica, on wildland management. The Governments of Kenya,Senegal, and Zimbabwe, provide full diplomatic status to IUCN's regional offices in Africa, whence theUnion's project work and contacts with local organizations are kept efficient and 'close to the ground'.Switzerland, the host country to the IUCN Secretariat, expanded its commitment to the Union in a varietyof ways during 1986—including the establishment of a special fiscal status for the Secretariat which providesconsiderable savings on our operations at Headquarters.In addition to support provided by WWF, bilateral agencies, and other mentioned organizations, several ofIUCN's most recent initiatives have received grants from the Mellon, Noyes, and Jones, Foundations, andfrom the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.The First 40 YearsIn 1988, IUCN will mark its 40th anniversary year, but already, among the Union's many accomplish-ments, several stand out. The World Conservation Strategy constitutes the framework for conservation anddevelopment world-wide. The World Charter for Nature was adopted unanimously by the United Nationsand sets the stage for the role of nations on behalf of their citizens, born and yet unborn, with respect to thesustainable use of living natural resources.CITES, the World Heritage Convention, the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO, andthe International Convention on Wetlands, were all launched successfully with major collaboration fromIUCN. The first three congresses on national parks have stimulated interest in, and helped with the reali-zation of, the now practically global network of protected areas. Our 'Red Data Books' serve as the standard§ Now renamed the 'Oceans and Coastal Areas Programme' and having its Activity Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. —Ed.§§ UNFPA = United Nations Fund for Population Activities.https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037689290003530XDownloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 13:46:20, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available atMiller: Guest Editorial: IUCN— The World Conservation Union 289works on endangered species. Manuals for training managers of protected areas are used in courses through-out the tropics. National Conservation Strategies have shown governments a practical way to build conser-vation into the development process.Peoples from all corners of the globe have joined in common interest to develop and secure an environmentwhich is ecologically well managed. With those people on all continents, IUCN has cooperated to create newinstitutions, train managers, conserve species, set aside national parks, prepare plans and strategies, analyseecological problems, and define and implement solutions.Looking to the FutureThe next 40 years will begin with special efforts to develop IUCN further as 'the Union' of members andprofessionals. Coming decades will bring expanding demands upon conservation and also new and excitingopportunities for the Union to serve its world community. This will require that the alliance have access to thebest science, close ties with its constituency, good mechanisms for information-flow, strong partnerships withkey collaborators, and adequate means to study and promote solutions to problems and to take action whererequired. It will also require a steady stream of funds to ensure that the Union can work on a scale which iscommensurate with these challenges.As a Union, IUCN will work to strengthen its ties with its members in practical ways. The special workingrelationship with WWF will be strengthened to ensure mutual support in areas of common interest. Part-nerships with UNEP, development aid agencies, and other existing associates, will be maintained, and newrelationships will be established. The constituency of IUCN must grow, and so efforts will be made to bringinto the Union additional governments, agencies, and international and national NGOs. Ties with industry,corporations, and world leaders, will be enhanced to help IUCN to achieve its objectives by succeeding in itsprogrammes.The agenda of IUCN will continue to concentrate upon living natural resources, but with growing attentiongiven to the social, economic, and cultural, contexts for conservation and development. Population, econ-omics, ecodevelopment, and conservation biology, are some of the areas of expanding interest. Well-established efforts in tropical forest, wetlands, plant, marine, and coastal, aspects of conservation, as well asnational conservation strategies, will be continued. Moreover recent initiatives to promote East-West tiesthrough conservation strategies in Europe will be expanded, as will be the exploration of peace and Natureconservation, and new practical concepts for national security.The World Conservation Strategy will be revised as a result of the 1986 Conference in Ottawa,* whichexamined progress on implementation of the Strategy and stressed those areas which will require specialattention in the decade to come. This revision will be based upon a partnership expanded to include theoriginal group plus WRI, WHO, UNFPA, industry, and others which form part of the widening context forconservation and development.Major conservation for development activities will be launched in collaboration with members and partnerorganizations in the Sahel, the Andes, and the Himalaya. These and other new and creative initiatives ofIUCN's President M.S. Swaminathan will be pursued at expanded levels—based in considerable degree onthe growing support that is coming from development aid agencies in Canada, Denmark, Finland, France,Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and we hope soon elsewhere.The next General Assembly of IUCN is to be held in February 1988 in San Jose, Costa Rica, when membersof the Union will debate a long-term plan for the development and orientation of the organization, so settingthe stage for its work in the coming decades. Several other major world events are being planned for thecoming years, including a conference on species and the conservation of biodiversity, and the 1992 FourthWorld National Parks Congress.The World Conservation Trust—IUCN's endowment—will be developed to build the capital necessary toensure for the Union a steady stream of income to cover its operating costs, including the servicing of itscommissions and networks, and of its Secretariat and centres. These funds will be raised from corporations,individuals, governmental grants, and foundations. IUCN's fund-raising will be further expanded to developsponsorship for technical and scientific work. For IUCN is committed to live up to the expectations held by somany for sensitive and professional coordination, unbiased advice, technical support, and assertive action,towards achieving its most noble mission of the global protection and sustainable use of the Earth's livingnatural resources. KENTON R. MILLER, Director-General of IUCNWorld Conservation CentreAvenue du Mont-Blanc1196 Gland, Switzerland.* See the account heading the Conferences & Meetings section of this issue, on page 369, by Dr M. Taghi Farvar, IUCN's SeniorAdviser on Sustainable Development. —Ed.https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037689290003530XDownloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. 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IUCN—The World Conservation Union

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