The IUCN is the biggest nature and environmental conservation organisation in the world and marked its 60th anniversary during the congress in Spain. The union has more than a thousand members, including international and non-government organisations and countries.
All of the world’s global conservation agreements have been implemented under the leadership of the IUCN: the Rio de Janeiro convention on biological diversity; the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES); the Ramsar convention on wetlands; and the UNESCO world heritage convention. One thing the union is well known for is its production and annual updating of red books. The latest studies carried out for these books have shown that a quarter of the world’s mammals are on the verge of extinction.
“The IUCN is the face of world conservation,” said Kadri Alasi, Chief Specialist with the Nature Conservation Department of the Ministry of the Environment. “It determines the key problem areas and works with scientists and specialists to develop measures to resolve them. It’s a great mark of recognition to Estonia that one of our countrymen has been elected to the management of such an important organisation.”
Kalev Sepp is a professor of landscape management and nature conservation at the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences. He has been involved in the work of the research committee on the organisation of ecosystem conservation at the IUCN – of which he has also acted as a regional deputy chairman – since 2002. He also sits on the IUCN membership committee and is a scientific adviser to the green network programme.
The IUCN convenes a world congress on conservation every four years, and the congress held in Barcelona was the union’s fourth. Discussions focussed on such topics as the protection of marine life, climate change, the effects of using biofuels, conservation areas and the work done with local residents for the good of the environment.
Representatives of the Ministry of the Environment attended the congress for the first time as part of Estonia’s national delegation. “It was particularly important for us to obtain an overview of the way such a large organisation works,” Alasi explained. “It will allow us, in future, to make the most of all of the possibilities the IUCN presents for the benefit of the environment in Estonia. All of the topics that were debated were useful and taught us a lot – the discussions on the current state of whaling, for example, since Estonia will soon be signing up to the whaling convention.”
The congress in Barcelona was attended by more than 8000 people from 179 countries. More than 800 events were held as part of the scientific forum. A total of 144 documents were debated during the plenary session, many of them providing countries and organisations with recommendations on directions to take in making conservation-related decisions. India’s Ashok Khosla, who is also the president of the Rome Club, was elected head of the union for the next four years. Kalev Sepp’s official title will be Member of the Supervisory Board and Regional Adviser for Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia.
Estonia has been a member of the IUCN since 2007. The Estonian Fund for Nature is also a member of the IUCN.
For further information please contact: Kalev Sepp (16.10.2008) |
