Shaping a sustainablefuture for Europe

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iucn in europe

IUCN’s European region covers the European continent, Russia, Central Asia and includes the overseas entities of European Union countries. Representing one third of the global membership, this is IUCN’s largest programmatic region.

The region ranges from the permanently frozen polar areas of Siberia to the tropical islands of the EU overseas entities. Land use changes and the impact on ecosystems vary significantly within the vast European region. In many areas the environment has been largely altered due to the lengthy historic presence of humans whose impact has intensified with the industrial revolution.

With the ever increasing human pressure on the Earth’s natural capital, critical changes in biodiversity have been witnessed in recent decades.

Although many countries in the region have developed legislative measures to cope with the growing biodiversity decline, the implementation of these measures is still lacking in some areas. Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia face even greater challenges when it comes to environmental policy development and enforcement, due to recent political changes and their economic situation.

The impact of the European region stretches far beyond its geographical limits. The development cooperation and trade programmes and policies of many European countries, in particular within the European Union, place a direct impact on the management of natural resources, ecosystems and biodiversity in developing countries worldwide.

Our Mission“Influence, encourage and assist societies in Europe to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.”

Continental Europe’s biodiversity85 amphibian species151 reptile species260 mammal species488 bird species

546 freshwater fish species1,100 marine fish species20-25,000 vascular plant speciesover 100,000 invertebrate species

Did you know? Europe overseas has more endemic animal and plant species than are found on the whole of continental Europe.

IUCN is a democratic membership-based organization. Its Members form the highest decision-making body. The IUCN Global Programme is adopted by Members at the World Conservation Congress every four years.IUCN Europe serves 370 Members (data from August 2011). Like in other IUCN regions,

IUCN constituency is very diversified including government agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations, as well as affiliate Members. European Members define IUCN’s mandate and priorities for the region. The Regional Office for Europe in Switzerland, along with offices in Belgium, Georgia and Serbia, cover 55 countries.

IUCN worldwide

A large environmental network

In 17 countries in Europe IUCN Members are organized in National Committees. The aim of these Committees is to facilitate cooperation among Members and between Members and the IUCN Secretariat. They play an important role in coordinating the efforts of the IUCN constituency at the national level. In each country where they have been established, Committees represent an important interlocutor for nature policies and issues.

The six IUCN Commissions unite thousands of expert volunteers from a range of disciplines. They assess the state of the world’s natural resources and provide the Union with sound know-how and policy advice on conservation issues. Experts cooperate with the IUCN Secretariat and Members at different levels: collaborating on project proposals and implementation, attending meetings on behalf of or with the IUCN Secretariat, providing expert advice and knowledge on relevant issues.

National Committees Expert groups

1,000+ Members in 160 countries11,000+ expert volunteers1,000+ staff in 60 countries

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What we do

Europe is a crucial region for IUCN. Home to the European Union (EU) – the world’s largest development aid donor – the region’s influence goes beyond its territorial boundaries. Over the years, the EU has been recognized for its leadership role in international environmental and climate governance.

The IUCN European Programme provides the framework for IUCN’s action in Europe. It covers the diverse and vast terrestrial and marine European region, including its overseas entities. It strives to shape a sustainable future by helping alleviate biodiversity decline and maintaining and restoring ecosystem integrity in Europe. Our goals, in line with IUCN Global Programme 2009-2012, are translated into five priority areas:

• Conserving biodiversity• Changing the climate forecast• Naturally energizing the future• Managing ecosystems for human well-being• Greening the world economy

Taking into account the specificity, needs and strengths of the European region, IUCN Secretariat’s work in Europe currently focuses on three areas: Biodiversity, Human Well-being and Green Economy. These goals are pursued through a combination of geographically-based and thematic-based activities and policy influencing.

IUCN in Europe has a special role in bringing together a wide range of actors and providing platforms for them to discuss and act on the most pressing issues of our time. Our aim is to connect IUCN Members and their National Committees with other actors in the environmental community and beyond to shape a better future for biodiversity and human beings.

IUCN’s work in Europe is founded on three main pillars:

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Knowledge Action Network

Reliable and timely information on the status of biodiversity and the health of our environment is fundamental when taking environment-related decisions. IUCN provides governments, the private sector, multilateral agencies responsible for natural resource use, and environmental treaties with access to state-of-the-art information and trends on biodiversity. IUCN derives its value as a trusted source of knowledge from its expert groups, its Members, and its Secretariat.

An example of this work in Europe is the European Red List. It is a review of the conservation status of European species according to IUCN regional Red Listing guidelines. It identifies those species that are threatened with extinction at the pan-European and EU levels so that appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve their status. Red List training is also provided to help governments with their national assessments.

Knowledge

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IUCN is active in hundreds of conservation projects all over the world from the local level to those involving several countries – all aimed at the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources. In Europe, we promote and support conservation actions of our Members throughout the region by communicating their work and providing them with access to a large network of experts.

IUCN is actively engaged on the ground in Eastern Europe with the ENPI FLEG Program (Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in European Neighbourhood countries) in partnership with the European Commission, the

World Bank and WWF. We promote sustainable forest management practices and governance by exercising direct influence on forest management, legislation and its enforcement in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and the Ukraine.

In South-Eastern Europe we work on transboundary protected areas management in the Dinaric mountains. The Environment for Europe project supports the decisions agreed in the “Big Win for the Dinaric Arc” – an agreement to protect the rich natural heritage of the Dinaric Arc by building an effective network of protected areas.

Action

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Our primary role is to connect and engage in policy dialogues with European institutions, governments, civil society, NGOs, science and the business communities to improve conservation policy and action. Our work with local and regional authorities and business highlights the pioneering role of IUCN in attracting new audiences to biodiversity conservation in Europe.

The EU Business and Biodiversity Platform is one example of how IUCN uses its convening power to advance nature conservation. Funded by the European Commission, the project aims at supporting the business sector in integrating

biodiversity into their operations by promoting and rewarding best practices.

IUCN advises national and EU policy makers on the importance of integrating nature in sectoral policies. Two important platforms for exchange in this respect are the European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development and the European Habitats Forum. Biodiversity and climate change in Europe overseas is another area where IUCN uses its large network to bring together stakeholders and influence policies affecting the environment.

Network

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inteRnational union foR conseRvation of natuRe

REgional officE foR EuRopERue Mauverney 281196, gland, Switzerland+41 22 999 0000 europe@iucn.org

caucaSuS coopERation cEntREnature House, Didi Digomi tbilisi 0131, georgia+995 32 259 50 83/84/85caucasus@iucn.org

EuRopEan union REpRESEntativE officE Boulevard louis Schmidt 641040 Brussels, Belgium+32 2 739 03 13europe@iucn.org

pRogRaMME officE foRSoutH-EaStERn EuRopE Dr. ivana Ribara 9111070 novi Beograd, Serbia+381 11 2272 411see@iucn.org

www.iucn.org/europe

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printed on fSc paper in august 2011