IUCN

The World Conservation Union IUCN

The World Conservation Union is an association of government and nongovernmental organisations and was founded in 1948. Its members, from some 140 countries include 80 States, 114 government agencies and 800-plus NGOs.

More than 10,000 internationally-recognised scientists and experts from more than 180 countries volunteer their services to its six global commissions. Its 1,000 staff members in offices around the world are working on some 500 projects.

For more than 50 years this 'Green Web' of partnerships has generated environmental conventions, global standards, scientific knowledge and innovative leadership.

IUCN is the only environmental organisation accorded the status of Permanent Observer to the United Nations General Assembly, providing IUCN with access to many meetings closed to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Its associated commissions, such as the Species Survival Commission, the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the Environmental Law Commission, provide IUCN with access to a network of over 10,000 experts. IUCN is perceived as a focal point of knowledge and expertise, a respected and frequently cited source of information and reference.

IUCN's Global Marine Programme has access to global institutions and governments, has the ability to bring good science to bear on discussions, has a high level of credibility and has policy and legal expertise to provide governments with the facts and progressive options that have provided the basis for much of the ongoing discussions on deep sea biodiversity, particularly seamounts.

IUCN is working with leading deep sea scientists from around the world to increase knowledge on these little-studied ecosystems and to use that knowledge to put in place effective conservation and management measures as appropriate. The WCPA High Seas Marine Protected Areas Task Force, with its broad-based membership, has become a recognised source of expertise on high and deep seas protection.