Connectivity Conservation at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille

The postponed 2020 IUCN World Conservation Congress welcomed both in-person and virtual participants to Marseille (France) from 3-11 September 2021. The Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group and partners were active in multiple ways during the Congress to assist setting the international conservation agenda for the coming decade. Highlights of CCSG participation were as follows:

• Co-organizing a Forum event titled ‘Corridors and Crossings: Mainstreaming ecological connectivity into existing and planned infrastructure’ with discussions focused on solutions to protect ecosystems and wildlife populations, while delivering the benefits of roads, railways, and other infrastructure. Speakers included:
  • Kate Newman, Vice President of Sustainable Infrastructure and Public Sector Initiatives at WWF United States, introducing the problems that infrastructure poses to ecosystems and how to better build with nature;
  • Gary Tabor, CCSG Chair and President of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, highlighting the threats of infrastructure and solutions for protecting ecological connectivity;
  • Yannick Autret, Research expert for transport, energy, and environment at the French Ministry of Ecological Transition, speaking to efforts to mainstream ecological connectivity into existing and planned infrastructure in France and throughout Europe;
  • Jodi Hilty, CCSG Deputy Chair and President and Chief Scientist at the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative, emphasizing the applications of the IUCN “Guidelines for Conserving Connectivity through Ecological Networks and Corridors”;
  • Gabriel Oppler,  Conservation Associate at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, delivering main messages and next steps for the forthcoming IUCN Technical Report “Maximizing Ecological Connectivity in the Development of Roads, Railways, and Canals”;
  • Sandeep Tiwari, Program Manager for the IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, providing insights into mitigating impacts of railways on elephants in India; and
  • Ancuta Fedorca, Researcher at the Carpathian Wildlife Foundation (Fundatia Carpati), underscoring the research and mitigation measures necessary to avoid fragmenting brown bear populations when developing roads in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania.

• As part of the growing Infrastructure and Nature Coalition, contributing to additional Forum events such as:
  • Transport4nature launch – Acting in Favor of Biodiversity: CEO Commitments for a New Era in Transport and Energy Infrastructure;
  • Transport4Nature – Integrating Biodiversity into Transport Infrastructure Corporate Development Strategies and Operations;
  • Equity, Ecosystems and Scarcity – the Global Sand Crisis and Infrastructure;
  • BISON : a Strategic European Project to Mainstream Infrastructure and Biodiversity;
  • Blowing Up the Barriers: Delivering Sustainable Infrastructure in a Rapidly Changing World;
  • Addressing Biodiversity Risk in Infrastructure Investments; and
  • Nature-Positive infrastructure—the Wave of the Future

Further developments during the IUCN Members’ Assembly included decisions determining the leadership and policies for the next four years of the Union’s operations, including elections of the new IUCN President, 28 Regional Councilors, and Chairs of the six IUCN Commissions. This also involved election of Dr. Madhu Rao as the new Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and adoption of the related 2021-2024 Mandate that directly addresses CCSG’s efforts as follows: The WCPA will support and highlight the importance of developing ecological networks for conservation focussing on protected and conserved areas, and ecological corridors, and mainstreaming connectivity as part of conservation efforts in sustainably managed land and seas.

Among the 109 official policy decisions adopted by the Assembly, resolutions on ecological connectivity and wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure provide strong direction for the work of CCSG. Additionally, a resolution was adopted on area-based conservation targets encouraging the inclusion of “areas important for ecological connectivity, including migratory species” to achieve the conservation of at least 30% of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments by 2030.

Members also adopted the next IUCN Programme titled “Nature 2030: Union in Action” and the Marseille Manifesto committing the Union to “Countering the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; halting the biodiversity crisis by committing to a transformative, effective, and ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework; and confronting the risks and impacts of the climate emergency.” Other events during the Congress included a diversity of participants convening for the Indigenous Peoples’ Summit, the Global Youth Summit, the CEO Summit and the Local Action Summit.