Stor naturkongres lukker med opfordring om at omfavne naturen

Den store World Conservation Congress arrangeret af IUCN med danske Inger Andersen i spidsen er forbi, og næste topmøde bliver først i 2020. Samlingen vedtog en lang række beslutninger, heriblandt et initiativ om at knytte mennesker bedre til naturen. 
Thomas Jazrawi

Thomas Jazrawi

18. september 2016

Læsetid: 4 min

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) store verdenskongres er nu slut, og den næste bliver først i 2020. Dermed har træffet i Honolulu på Hawaii sat retningen for naturbevarelse i de næste mange år. 

Det konkrete udkomme af topmødet er de såkaldte “Hawaii Commitments”, som kan hentes her: 

https://portals.iucn.org/congress/hawaii-commitments 

Den verdensomspændende organisation er måske bedst kendt for at udgive den såkaldte rødliste over truede dyre- og plantearter, verdens mest omfattende værktøj til at danne sig et overblik over arternes tilstand. 

Organisationen har haft en dansker i spidsen siden 2014, og er blevet støttet af Danmark i en årrække. Venstre-regeringen valgte alligevel sidste år at sløjfe den danske støtte til organisationen. 

Nogle af de allersidste beslutninger ved det ti dage lange topmøde var et initiativ, der sakl knytte mennesker bedre til naturen og et reservat for hvaler. 

Her er det nye #NatureForAll beskrevet i en pressemeddelelse af IUCN: 

Naturen er for alle

#NatureForAll is IUCN’s new global movement founded on a simple idea: the more people experience, connect with, and share their love for nature, the more support there will be for its conservation in the future.

The IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) and World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) conceived of and implemented the movement.

Just as numerous organisations collaborate to examine species health, #NatureForAll applies the same IUCN model to communication and engagement.

More than 110 partners have already agreed to join forces to share best practices and tools to connect people to nature.

Parks Canada CEO Daniel Watson was an early supporter of the movement. 

“Inspiring people to experience and connect with nature is a key priority for Parks Canada. Parks Canada is committed to maintaining and restoring ecological integrity in our protected areas, and providing Canadians with meaningful opportunities to discover and enjoy them. That includes ensuring that the #NatureForAll initiative continues to move forward,” he said.

Oldest and largest global environmental organization

Created in 1948, IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, with more than 1,300 government agencies, NGOs larger and small, scientific and academic institutional members, and close to 15,000 Commission Members.

The week-long launch included:

·         A high-level opening ceremony with Alison Sudol toasting that set the tone for a call to action to an overflowing audience;

·         A pavilion that hosted nearly 50 events, including performances, series of workshops and professional development sessions that provided a space for participants to reflect on content, share experiences, identify opportunities, build the network, and collectively develop strategies to better connect people to nature;

·         The launch of an awe-inspiring new video delivered to the IUCN Assembly at the World Conservation Congress.

“From Alison Sudol to dancers to inquisitive children to media moguls, #NatureForAll offered a vibrant energy with the strong reminder that people are part of nature,” stated CEC Chair Nancy Colleton.  “It's a reminder of how important it is to reconnect people to nature – no matter the method.”

Cultural biodiversity week

Connections forged among youth leaders at a #NatureForAll Congress event have already led to the Cultural Biodiversity Week in Kpele Tsiko, Togo.

As stated by Dode Houehounha, a WCPA young professional with the IUCN West and Central Africa Programme: 

“we already planned our first #NatureForAll event: to convene 200 youth from Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana to discuss conservation of sacred sites, food security, intergenerational partnerships and connecting youth leaders with nature. This will make it part of a global, inclusive initiative that works with many partners, both from the north and the south.”

Houehounha and his colleagues are already demonstrating the power of this movement.

Nyt hvalreservat i Sydatlanten

Hvalreservatet bliver glædeligt modtaget af Born Free Foundation ifølge dennne pressemeddelelse fra Born Free Foundation: 

In a motion submitted to the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has called for the establishment of a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The motion was co-sponsored by the Born Free Foundation, major NGOs and responsible countries that share environmental concerns for our ocean environments. The establishment of the sanctuary will now be proposed by the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Gabon, South Africa and Uruguay at the International Whaling Commission (IWC)’s 66th meeting in October 2016 in Slovenia. 

Previous efforts failed

Several previous efforts to establish the sanctuary at the IWC have failed, most recently in 2014 by just four votes. The proposal will need to be supported by 75% of IWC Parties.

Born Free Foundation’s Associate Director, Mark Jones, who represented Born Free at the World Conservation Congress, said: 

“Born Free is proud to have co-sponsored this important proposal. The establishment of this safe haven for whales and other cetaceans in the South Atlantic is long overdue, and the support of the IUCN should go a long way to ensuring it gets the necessary votes at the IWC.”

The proposed sanctuary, which extends from the East coasts of Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina across to Western Africa and would abut the 50 million square mile Southern Ocean Sanctuary established in 1994, would create a huge whale protection area.

It would link more than 30 existing Marine Protected Areas that harbour at least 19 species of whales and dolphins, several of which are subject to commercial exploitation by coastal and international whaling operations.

Banning of commercial takes

All commercial take of great whales within the sanctuary would be banned, and efforts to address other threats to cetaceans, such as ship strikes, fisheries bycatch, pollution and marine debris, underwater noise, and oil and gas developments, would be coordinated across the area.

Jones added: 

“The commercial killing of whales and other cetaceans is unbelievably cruel, opposed by the vast majority of the public across the world, and has no place in the modern world. IWC Parties should take note of the IUCN’s call, and do all they can to support the efforts of the South American and Central and Southern African countries that have come together in this joint effort to protect their fragile marine resources.”