Healthy ecosystems and sound environmental management can go a long way in protecting people from disasters. But this fact is not yet widely appreciated among the many parties responsible for reducing the risk of disasters and responding to them once they happen.

The first book to profile all species of primates, with illustrations of every species and insights into their role in nature and value to humans, has been launched today by Lynx Edicions in association with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Conservation International (CI).

A new global standard in assessing environmental risk, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, has been trialled on 20 ecosystems spanning six continents and three oceans.

IUCN signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday with the Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux ( ATIBT) – a key player in the tropical timber industry specialized in sustainable forestry, local processing of timber and forest certification schemes.

European Union countries should step up their conservation efforts and fully implement the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 to prevent species from going extinct, according to a recent analysis of the European Red List coordinated by IUCN.  

At least 12% of groupers – globally-important food fish species that live on coral and rocky reefs – face extinction, putting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people around the world at risk, finds a report published today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission’s (IUCN SSC) Grouper and Wrasse Specialist Group.

The rapid expansion of cities is putting nature and the resources it provides at risk. Yet nature can help urban planners to make cities more sustainable and reduce costs, while improving the well-being of their citizens. 

For IUCN, whose core business is saving biodiversity, there is some very welcome news that awareness of biodiversity is growing worldwide.

Five seemingly ordinary people who have done extraordinary work for their communities and forests are being recognized as 'Forest Heroes' at a special 'Forests for People' ceremony taking place today in Istanbul. The awards are being presented as 197 member States meet at the 10th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF).

An insightful lecture by Sir David Attenborough at the UK's University of Cambridge Senate House marked the launch this week of the Cambridge Conservation Campus. The campus will become the hub for the world’s largest conservation cluster, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) of which IUCN is a member.

Efforts to restore marine ecosystems that store vast amounts of carbon have received a boost with the launch of a new website that provides the latest blue carbon science and policy.

More than 1.6 billion people around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods, not just for food but also for fuel, livestock grazing and for medicine.

Each year World Water Day (WWD) is celebrated on the 22nd of March, and has become one of the key dates on the UN calendar. The day marks a special focus on global water issues, with this year in particular global attention on water cooperation.

After a successful World Conservation Congress held in Jeju, Republic of Korea in 2012, IUCN is looking ahead to the next Congress in 2016, and has launched the search for a host country. Please note that the schedule for the process of selecting the Host Country has been modified.

A historic vote to improve the sustainability of the international trade of eight species of sharks and rays that are listed as threatened on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is among the key decisions taken at the CITES wildlife trade summit closing today in Bangkok.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other world leading conservation organisations have joined together to fight for the survival of the Endangered Grauer’s Gorilla, also known as the Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri).

To mark International Women’s Day, IUCN is celebrating the progress made in recognising the role of women in national and regional climate change agendas.

Bangkok, 6 March 2013— Populations of elephants in Africa continue to be under severe threat as the illegal trade in ivory grows - with double the numbers of elephants killed and triple the amounts of ivory seized over the last decade.

Bangkok, Thailand, 28 February 2013 – Poaching, illegal trade and other important issues facing wildlife today will be discussed at the 16th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), taking place from 3 to 14 March 2013, in Bangkok, Thailand. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, calls for urgent measures to halt illegal wildlife trade which is pushing many species to the brink of extinction.

Gland, Switzerland, 28 February 2013 – Audi, BMW Group, Hydro and Rexam join the IUCN-led Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, to develop a global standard for aluminium sustainability by the end of 2014.