IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

IUCN works to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by harnessing knowledge, developing standards and tools, convening scientists and policy-makers and influencing policy from global to local levels. It is filling the knowledge gap on the status of biodiversity and improving our understanding of the pressures that lead to biodiversity loss. This allows policy-makers to make informed decisions based on the latest scientific knowledge.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species captures the latest information on the status of biodiversity and threats to it, including unsustainable wildlife trade. It also gathers information on how species support livelihoods and how biodiversity conservation can help tackle climate change.

This knowledge allows IUCN to influence a range of international conventions, including CITES – the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, plan for conservation action on land and at sea and advise on how species can be used sustainably.

IUCN uses Red List data to develop indicators that are useful to policy makers at all levels, including at the international level as a measure of progress in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal on sustainable development.

IUCN has developed the global standards by which protected areas are classified, planned and managed, based on extensive experience all over the world. IUCN works with the World Heritage Convention which serves to preserve the world’s most important natural and cultural spaces, in showcasing innovative approaches for protected areas work. IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas is the world’s leading network for protected area professionals. But most biodiversity exists outside protected areas, so IUCN emphasizes the importance of creating networks of protected areas connected by corridors, buffer zones and other land and sea uses through the ecosystem-based approach - the integrated sustainable management of land, water and living resources.