IUCN Brings Together Top Expertise in Nature Conservation to Hawaii
The sixth IUCN World Conservation Congress opens today in Hawaii. The largest nature conservation gathering in the world, the IUCN WCC will gather over 8000 delegates: specialists and decision makers from about 160 countries, the private sector, NGOs and the UN.
The congress theme is Planet at the crossroads. The state and conservation of the marine areas will be one of the major discussion themes, with special emphasis on how to prevent the littering of marine areas in the future. The President of the United States Barack Obama will attend the IUCN WCC. The presidential proclamation will expand the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument to create the world's largest protected marine area off the coast of Hawaii.
IUCN WCC participants from Finland include IUCN National Committee members from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Society for Nature and Environment (Natur och Miljö), as well as specialists, giving presentations on the Finnish top expertise, from the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE and Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland.
Finnish expertise will be presented at 18 events during the Forum open for all from 2 to 5 September. Finnish nature conservation expertise is highly appreciated worldwide. The Finnish presentations include the nature education work of Natur och Miljö, the work of the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE in creating criteria for the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, the expertise of Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland in marine spatial planning, visitor surveys in and economic and health benefits of protected areas.
IUCN Members Assembly will bring together member organisations to elect a new Council and President and to approve the budget and the Global Programme 2017–2020. The new Global Programme will promote valuing and conserving nature, effective and equitable governance of nature’s use and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges, such as climate change, food security and social and economic development.
The Members Assembly will discuss and vote on 14 Motions. The other 85 Motions were already discussed and voted on online before the congress, for the first time in IUCN history. The Motions are the tool for IUCN member organisations to highlight important global environment issues and the responsibility of each and every one towards the environment. The Motions stress the urgency of efficiently implement agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and the Aichi Targets 2011–2020 of the CBD.
Ms Marina von Weissenberg, Ministerial Adviser from the Ministry of the Environment, will end her eight-year term as one of the Regional Councillors for West Europe. She has been also one of the IUCN Vice Presidents since 2013.
IUCN is the oldest and largest global environmental organisation. It is a union of state and NGO members, with nearly 1300 member organizations from about 160 countries. IUCN’s volunteer expert network covers over 16,000 scientists and experts. The sixth IUCN World Conservation Congress will close on 10 September 2016.
Finnish IUCN member organisations include the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, the Finnish Society for Nature and Environment (Natur och Miljö), WWF Finland, BirdLife Finland, the Finnish Wildlife Agency, and the Finnish Government, represented by the Ministry of the Environment. The latest IUCN member in Finland is the Helsinki Zoo (Korkeasaari), accepted as IUCN member on 17 August 2016. The IUCN volunteer expert network includes about 70 Finns that are IUCN Commission members.
More information:
- IUCN WCC hashtag: #IUCNCongress
- IUCN WCC website: www.iucnworldconservationcongress.org
- IUCN website: www.iucn.org
Lisätietoa:
- Marina von Weissenberg, IUCN Vice President, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 50 307 0806 (Hawaii, time zone UTC−10:00)
- Matti Nummelin, IUCN National Committee of Finland Chair, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 40 503 8442
(Hawaii, time zone UTC−10:00) - Liisa Nikula, IUCN National Committee of Finland Secretary, Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland, tel. +358 40 528 8467 (Finland)