India to Play a key Role in the IUCN World Conservation Congress at Korea

NEW DELHI, August 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

India is set to play a key role at the forthcoming World Conservation Congress (WCC) in September 2012, informs IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. Scheduled to be held in the island of Jeju, Republic of Korea from 6-15 September 2012, this event is an assembly of nearly 8000 delegates from across the world including leaders from government, the public sector, conservation biologists, non-governmental organizations, business, UN agencies and social organizations will discuss, debate and decide solutions for the world's most pressing environment and development issues, focusing on the most critical issues on the global conservation agenda. Eminent Indians such as Prof MS Swaminathan, the father of the green revolution in India, and Dr. Ashok Khosla, IUCN President, will lead some key agendas at the world's leading summit representing all aspects of conservation.

Termed as "nature's big one", the WCC is strategically scheduled between the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly known as Rio+20  and the 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 11). The WCC 2012 will link outcomes from Rio+20 on global interventions on conservation in diverse directions of research, policy and programme. In turn, this could influence deliberations at the CBD COP 11, being hosted by India at Hyderabad from 8-15 October 2012.

India's agenda for the WCC, 15 days away, was unveiled at a curtain-raiser that IUCN India organised in Delhi on 21 July 2012. Prof Swaminathan, Dr. Khosla, Mr. BMS Rathore, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ms. Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, India Country Representative, IUCN, detailed the role and expectations for India in the context of Jeju. The event was attended by IUCN Members, government representatives, media and civil society. 

The WCC is looked upon as the birthplace of ground-breaking environment and conservation related conventions, scientific discoveries and global initiatives through critical agreements that are shaping our future. India will be well represented at this event with the participation of twenty-four out of the twenty-nine IUCN Members in the country. Prof Swaminathan, who was also IUCN President between 1984 and 1990, has for long been a mainstay in global dialogue on critical ecological issues of our times, such as food security. He will lead discussions on food security at the Global Leaders' Dialogue, one of the key components of the Congress. Dr. Ashok Khosla, IUCN President since 2008, will advocate a framework as well as an agenda for conservation that is globally championed by youth. Indian institutions, such as Wildlife Institute of India, Gujarat Ecological Society and the Central Zoo Authority are showcasing success stories on conservation in India for the world to take note, and replicate wherever feasible.

Speaking on the WCC, Ms. Ghosh said, "IUCN India Members will showcase and deliberate diverse narratives on sustainable conservation, including interventions, tested and implemented on the ground. This in turn, will enrich the subsequent, forthcoming CBD COP 11. The deliberations at the WCC will focus on how critical it is becoming for policy makers to continually invest in nature, in the protection, management and appropriate governance of natural resources. This alone will ensure the resilience of nature, and the communities who manage these natural resources, and through state and local action this will begin to turn around and reduce the vulnerability of people. India has been a state member of IUCN since 1969. We have some wonderful examples of sound strategies for conservation being implemented through government and non-government stakeholders. In partnership with our 29 members, over 500 individual scientists and experts across six IUCN Commissions, and the Secretariat, and supported with government "buy in" at state and local levels, the IUCN constituency in India can play a significant role in bringing science to inform implementation at the grassroots, and policy formulation in the boardroom, in other words, at all levels to inform conservation and community well-being."

About IUCN

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, is the world's largest and oldest conservation organisation. Established in 1948, it is a union of more than 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

IUCN in India has the status of an autonomous, international and non-profit organization through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Government of India, which became a State Member of IUCN in 1969 through the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

About the World Conservation Congress

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, organised every four years, is the world's leading summit on the environment and the only global event that represents all aspects of conservation, acting as an assembly of Members of IUCN, a unique Global Environment Parliament of sovereign governments and NGOs.

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