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The City of Cape Town’s Council approved the proposal for the City to become a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at its meeting yesterday. Council’s approval is the first step towards officially applying for membership with the IUCN. The membership will provide the municipality with an international network to promote the City’s conservation efforts and keep abreast of technical, professional and international nature conservation trends. Specific benefits of this membership includes city-to-city collaboration; access to environmental, nature conservation and biodiversity expertise, as well as potential funding to facilitate the implementation of certain environmental management projects. Read more below:

‘The IUCN is regarded as the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. Our Environmental Management Department views membership as a key tool that will assist in our future planning as this network will open up a host of knowledge sharing opportunities for the City and will provide us with access to crucial data that could assist with our local conservation strategies. Once we are a member, we will have access to a well-established global network of government actors at all levels, which provides access to internationally recognised tools for the implementation of a number of environmental, nature conservation, and biodiversity initiatives,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

IUCN membership benefits cities in a variety of ways. For instance, the IUCN and its members assist with co-creating urban environmental solutions to address complex urban nature conservation and biodiversity challenges. Once a member, this could assist with protecting Cape Town's world-renowned biodiversity. 

Members also have access to innovative content, practical guidelines and standards and technical support available from the IUCN and its partners. 

Some of the guidelines include the:

IUCN Urban Nature Index which helps cities understand their impact on nature, sets science-based targets for improvement, and monitors progress 

IUCN Urban Protected Areas which consist of profiles and best practice guidelines with detailed case studies to help urban protected area managers address the challenges and opportunities associated with urbanisation

The IUCN was founded in 1948 with its headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. The union prides itself on being a membership union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It connects the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1 400 members in almost 170 countries, and 18 000 commission experts.

The IUCN's work focuses on the following themes: 

• Biodiversity

• Business, finance and economics

• Climate change

• Freshwater and water security

• Governance, law and rights

• Nature-based solutions

• Ocean and coasts; and 

• Protected areas and land use 

Issued by The City of Cape Town