Young people can play an active role in protecting and improving the environment. They can change their lifestyle and how it affects the environment. They can make their homes, schools and youth organizations more environmentally friendly by adopting environmentally friendly practices, recycling of different materials as well as preserving resources such as water and electricity. Engaging youth in environmental protection not only creates direct impact on changing youth behaviors and attitudes, but possibly influence their parents, relatives and families.

SGP privileges the participation of children and young people as the bearers of future commitments and efforts for the global environment and sustainable development. SGP projects with environmental education and raising awareness components almost always involve schoolchildren. Children and youth actively participate in campaigns to protect species and local habitats, tree planting, creating home and community gardens, and renewable energy initiatives that provide solar power for studying – and television watching – among others.

The virtual IUCN One Nature, One Future Global Youth Summit took place April 5-16, 2021. The Summit strengthened connections between young leaders and their existing global networks, encouraged interdisciplinary learning, provided a space for broader storytelling on conservation, and added momentum to growing youth movements for nature and climate.

During this unique time of history, virtual spaces open the opportunity for greater inclusivity. Youth from around the world were invited to participate in youth-led capacity-building workshops, networking events, and contribute to an outcome document to be delivered to IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in 2021.

Young people are the engine of change. To realize the world we want, it is critical to engage and empower the voice of youth.

Recognized and supported by the CBD Secretariat, the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) represents the voice of global youth in the negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), raises awareness among young people of the values of biodiversity, and connects individuals and youth organizations in order to build a global coalition to halt the loss of biodiversity.

On 20 December 2013 at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), March 3 was declared United Nations World Wildlife Day (WWD). This day holds significance as the day that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1973. The UNGA Resolution designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar. UN World Wildlife Day has now become the global annual event dedicated to wildlife.

People everywhere rely on wildlife and biodiversity-based resources to meet our needs – from food, to fuel, medicines, housing, and clothing. For us to enjoy the benefits and the beauty that nature brings us and our planet, people have been working together to make sure ecosystems are able to thrive and plant and animal species are able to exist for future generations. So, let’s celebrate wildlife and the important conservation work being done around the world!

The ICCA Consortium grew out of the movement promoting equity in conservation in the decades around the turn of the Millennium. It was officially established in Switzerland in 2010 as an International Association under the Swiss Civil Code. It is a membership-based civil society organisation supported by an international semi-volunteer Secretariat based in twenty-two countries. Below, you can find out about its origins, mission, vision, governance and strategy.

The aim of this document is to examine thoroughly all the issues and general principles surrounding the application of indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, and to outline some key steps to enhance use of this information in Red List assessments. The document builds on and draws from discussions over at least the last decade between the IUCN CEESP-SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group and the IUCN SSC Red List Committee, including earlier unpublished draft guidance, and complements this with insights gained from the development of the IPBES ILK Approach. The draft document was subject to two rounds of consultation, each lasting two months, within IUCN and among Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC) networks.

Climate Change Gender Action Plans (ccGAPs) build on a country’s national development and climate change policy or strategy, and identify gender-specific issues in each priority sector. The participatory, multi-stakeholder methodology includes creating action plans to enhance mitigation and resilience for women and men throughout the country.

Having developed the world’s first gender-responsive national strategies and roadmaps on climate change, IUCN has published its CGAP methodology and approach, containing GAPs from around the world, detailed case studies, roadmaps and more. As the title suggests, implementation of international agreements in individual countries is an art, not a science. There are diverse factors and challenges at play, including political will, adequate finance, and complex governance arrangements. The art of implementation is a journey toward the realisation of important ideas, a bridging of the gap between our aspirations and our achievements, and a continuous learning curve.

The IUCN SSC Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) is a partnership platform with the mission of halting species extinctions in Southeast Asia. In 2021 we launched the ASAP Women in Conservation Leadership Programme.

Whilst the inclusion, active participation, and voice of women is linked with improved conservation outcomes, women in conservation often face gender related work place challenges. Gender bias and harassment can negatively impact confidence, erode an individual’s ability to reach their full potential, and block or hinder career advancement and entry into senior positions. We believe that tackling these challenges and empowering women conservationists in this region is critical for long-term, sustainable and successful conservation of ASAP species.

Through the ASAP Women in Conservation Leadership Programme, we are providing opportunities for shared learning and knowledge with targeted training to strengthen leadership skills. The ASAP programme provides opportunities for experienced and aspiring women conservation managers and leaders. Enhanced leadership qualities can help shift organisational mindsets and question traditional hierarchical structures, and ultimately leads to more effective work and greater impact on the ground.

The programme brings together participants from across the region, and is providing opportunities for structured learning alongside peer-to-peer learning and networking, providing a support mechanism beyond the leadership programme. We also work with each individual to help champion and support their work.

At their twelfth meeting held in October 2014, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) welcomed the 2015-2020 Gender Plan of Action prepared by the Secretariat. The plan updates the 2008 Gender Plan of Action under the Convention, to align with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. This plan includes possible actions for Parties to undertake in implementing the Convention, as well as a framework of actions for the Secretariat to integrate gender into its work. Parties are requested to report on actions undertaken to implement the Gender Plan of Action.

Four Strategic Objectives are key for integrating gender in the implementation of the Convention:

• Integrate a gender perspective
• Promote gender equality
• Demonstrate the benefits of integrating gender
• Increase the effectiveness of implementation efforts

Gender considerations are relevant to the achievement of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in multi-faceted ways. Pervasive inequalities shape policies, plans, actions, values, and attitudes related to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity resources, and can be an influential factor in decision-making around access and the sharing of benefits derived. The 2015-2020 Gender Plan of Action provides a mandate to address gender considerations, emphasizing the importance of compiling knowledge and building capacity to identify the impact of conservation and sustainable use policies and programs on relations between men and women and to reduce gender inequalities.

This Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Manual is designed as a tool for project practitioners (herein referred as project managers) for a broad range of projects and programmes (hereinafter to be referred to as projects) of any development organization, by providing information about the right to FPIC and how it can be implemented in six steps.

FPIC is a principle protected by international human rights standards that state, ‘all peoples have the right to self-determination’ and – linked to the right to self-determination – ‘all peoples have the right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’. Backing FPIC are the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Labour Organization Convention 169, which are the most powerful and comprehensive international instruments that recognize the plights of Indigenous Peoples and defend their rights.