Islamabad, 06 November 2019 (GNP):
Asia is home to extraordinary biodiversity-with five of its countries considered to be among the world’s 17 mega-diverse and eight of the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots found in the region. Nature is at the heart of Asian culture and is also a source of livelihood for millions of people in the region. Unfortunately, these resources are increasingly at risk as rapid socioeconomic and urban growth puts increasing strain on the ecosystems that sustain them. The last few years have seen an increased frequency in natural disasters, marine plastics progressively creeping into our food chain, local jobs that depend on healthy ecosystems being threatened.
It is in this context that IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Ministry of Climate Change, are organizing the 7th IUCN Asia Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) from 6-8 November 2019, Islamabad Serena Hotel, Pakistan. The theme of this year is Greening Asia for Nature and People. The Asia Regional Conservation Forum, organized every four years by IUCN, is one of Asia’s most important regional conservation events.
The forum has brought together approximately 500 representatives of governments, NGOs and the business sector from across Asia. The representatives are discussing how they can work together to deal with Asia’s pressing environmental issues, share best practices, and make decisions on joint programs of action to improve how societies manage our natural environment for human, social and economic development.
In addition to membership decisions, panel discussions will bring together diverse perspectives from leading thinkers, grassroots organizations, decision-makers and industry leaders. Through the discussions, IUCN Members will have an opportunity to help set the context for the organization’s next program, with outcomes from the Regional Forum feeding into the next IUCN World Conservation Congress-the world’s leading platform for creating change for conservation and sustainable development which will take place from June 11-19, 2020 in Marseille, France. (GNP)