The 8th IUCN Asia Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) was held in Bangkok, Thailand, between 3 – 5 September 2024 under the theme ‘Reimagining Conservation in Asia: A Nature Positive Future‘. During the forum, representatives from states, government agencies, civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, and Commission members gathered in Bangkok to discuss the IUCN 20-year strategic vision for the Union and work program proposal for the 2026-2029 quadrennium and prepare for the 2025 World Conservation Congress. Additionally, the gathering included various side events and poster exhibitions, learning zone activities by IUCN Academy, and technical sessions dedicated to the exchange between IUCN Members and Commissions, as well as partners, experts, representatives from national and local governments, and the general public, around the most pressing environmental and development issues in the region. For this event, CEM South Asia Regional Chair, dr Deepu Sivadas, represented CEM at the session on ‘IUCN Commissions on Action’ and provided an overview of our priorities as well as engaging with members from Asia to strengthen and broaden the collaborations of work of RLE and NbS, among others, in the region.
The key takeaways from this forum were:
- Recognising the need for mainstreaming biodiversity in economic + financial sectors
- Move from theory to action – what works in local conditions/contexts
- A holistic approach to conservation that looks both at protecting biodiversity & the livelihoods of local communities
- Enhance collaboration with UN/international agencies, as well as regional and multilateral mechanisms, to enhance the enabling/scaling platform for IUCN.
- Bring in interest and capacity from the public and private sectors – need to elaborate business engagement strategy.
- IUCN can be more open to various stakeholders, including companies
- Establish a dedicated space for collaboration with Indigenous peoples – e.g. capacity development
- Scale up IUCN external engagement — reach out to and influence a wider community of stakeholders, bring more people into the IUCN tent.’
- Link conservation science with finance – IUCN to take a proactive role in catalysing sustainable finance in the conservation-development continuum
- Promote a learning, evaluative culture by documenting and reflecting on what has (not) worked and what could be done better.
- Increase focus on urban, mountain ecosystems, human-wildlife conflict
- Track and incorporate Members’ actions and contributions to the Vision and Programme results
- Harness the power of new technology in conservation action while mitigating potential risks
- Addressing food consumption and diet as drivers of biodiversity loss
- More collaboration with Commission experts as part of ‘One Union’
- Need to engage in dialogue with conservation partners rather than compete with them