IUCN...WHO?

By: TG magazine youth journalist, Melissa D`Souza
Auburn Air youth journalist, Scott Hyland

With all the work the IUCN is doing within the four walls of the congress hall, how much of it really reaches the general public? According to Salahuddin Imam, a representative from the Wildlife and Nature conservation society of Bangladesh, very little is being received outside of Canada and even Canadian media is receiving little coverage concerning this conference. So why is this and who is responsible? Imam is certain that it is the fault of the IUCN. He feels that IUCN has failed to impact the world and as important as this conference is to the environmental movement, it has not been properly distributed to not only the world media but the world as a whole.

It is strongly felt that its no good to just talk about the problem, you have to make sure that you make others aware of the problems and the possible remedies for those problems. The media are the ones who take this information and distribute it to the rest of the world, but, there are six hundred journalists sitting in Toronto who are completely unaware that this conference is taking place. The IUCN is a major environmental organization, yet it is relatively unknown. The IUCN has three thousand members world wide, yet no one outside of environmental circles has any idea who the IUCN is. Furthermore, the IUCN, originally called the International Union for the Conservation of Nature is now The World Conservation Union, so shouldn't the initials have been changed as well?

The IUCN is an important factor in the survival of our environment, but it is so unknown it is hard to create public interest for additional support and awareness. It has been in existence since 1948 but the only way for it to survive into the next century is to make others, especially youth, aware and informed.

Back to home page...