THE IUCN & THE CITES: THE CONSERVATION OF NATURE

A selfie with The Grandma

Hi friends! I'm Peke, a Geochelone Centrochelys Sulcata. I'm a tortoise which I have been living with The Grandma during 6 years and now I'm living in the CRARC in Masquefa, Anoia with my partners.

While I was living with The Grandma, I was a happy tortoise. We played baseball together, we walked hours and hours, I ate lots of vegetables and I had comfortable showers in the terrace. It was a happy life but I grew up a lot and when I was six years old it was time to move to Masquefa where I'm living now with my friends, a fantastic community of sulcatas. The Grandma often visits to me and we remember old times together.

More information: CRARC

I want to talk about the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN),  an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources that has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations. 

Some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several international conventions on nature conservation and biodiversity. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

My new home in the CRARC, Masquefa

The origins of IUCN were in 1947 when the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen, Switzerland. 

The IUCN was established on 5 October 1948, in Fontainebleau, France. 

The initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley.

The objectives of the new Union were to encourage international cooperation in the protection of nature, to promote national and international action and to compile, analyse and distribute information. At the time of its founding IUPN was the only international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation.

More information: IUCN

When we talk about IUCN we must pay attention to three facts:

• Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972). IUCN provides technical evaluations and monitoring.

• CITES- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1974) IUCN is a signatory party and the CITES secretariat was originally lodged with IUCN.

• Ramsar Convention – Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (1975). The secretariat is still administered from IUCN's headquarters.

The most important of these three facts is the CITES because thanks to it, I'm protected and different associations and people are working very hard every day to keep alive not only my species but thousands and thousands around the planet, which are still in danger sadly.

I offer to you a list of them. Take a look and join to us in this legitimate battle against the ilegal traffic of animals and the ilegal hunting.

More information: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved. 

Richard Rogers