The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has elected three councillors from Africa to serve on its council. They are the chief executive officers of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Yolan Friedmann of South Africa, Dr Hillary Masundire of Zimbabwe and Dr Brahim Haddane of Morocco.
The new council, which will serve for the next four years, was elected at the fourth World Conservation Congress (WCC) held in Barcelona. The three are expected to play a crucial role unifying the membership across Africa and mobilising members to become more active in ensuring African issues and concerns are well represented and appropriately addressed.
Friedmann has chaired the South African National Committee of the IUCN for five years and has been an active participant in the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission through activities such as producing the 2004 Red Data Book for mammals of South Africa. According to the EWT, Africa may be the continent most affected by climate change; it has some of the most important biodiversity and remaining intact ecosystems, but also the largest number of vulnerable people.
Never before has representation on the world stage been more important for Africa. The Barcelona WCC brought together more than 8 000 specialists from the conservation community, governments, NGOs, academia, the private sector as well as women and indigenous groups to discuss the most pressing conservation issues and to set the framework for the IUCN’s response over the next four years. The IUCN helps find pragmatic solutions to pressing environmental and developmental challenges by supporting scientific research, managing field projects worldwide and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policies, laws and best practice. – Roelof Bezuidenhout For more information visit www.iucn.org
