World Comes Together to Save Species in First-Ever World Species Congress
For Immediate Release - June 12, 2024
Globe-spanning 24 hour event of hope and strategy to recover species saves 30,000 tonnes of carbon and over $20 million USD, with pledges made for more than 3,750 species
Beginning at 10am on May 15th in Aotearoa New Zealand and spanning 24 hours, over 10,000 conservation experts and practitioners from 203 countries and territories met to commit to the acceleration of species recovery during the first-ever World Species Congress.
With 200 speakers representing 68 countries presenting across 165 different sessions, the programme was inspiring and shared messages of urgency, success, and hope. The 24 hours flew by as 30-minute panels and in-depth discussions were punctuated by field visits, species success stories, interviews, and documentary style clips, all expertly narrated, moderated, and hosted by eight storytellers. The agenda included conversations on financing biodiversity, technological innovations, and behaviour change; downlisting species like the Iberian lynx, mountain gorilla, grey-crowned crane, and saiga; actions for species aligned with the Global Species Action Plan; tools like the Global Tree Portal; and inspiring ways to accelerate impact and achieve big goals in conservation strategy. Attendees included government officials, conservation practitioners, species impact personnel, and storytellers, creating a vast network of people sharing their expertise, successes, failures, and commitments to the future and driving momentum towards the goals set out in the Biodiversity Plan.
"With gratitude, optimism is sustainable. These incredible success stories, innovative strategies, and compelling conversations are something we can all be inspired by and learn from. There is a critical role for each of us to accelerate the pace of reversing Red List trends and amplifying our successes when we recover species. Our global coalition is committed to reversing declines and recovering species and the Congress showed us it's possible when we all work together." - Michael Clifford, Reverse the Red Strategy Director
This event was a marker in conservation sparking discussions, with over 56,800 engagements across social media and 80 pieces of media coverage, and more importantly, over 13,000 direct actions to accelerate conservation efforts. Some of those imperative actions are the over 3,750 species pledges that have been made since the pledge launched, helping Reverse the Red map species with dedicated, strategic efforts aimed at recovery. A publicly available map and dataset will be available soon. Pledges made during the World Species Congress include the following, with more coming in daily:
Twycross Zoo, committing to reversing declines of 15 threatened species by 2023
Bristol Zoological Society, committing to reversing declines of 97 species
At the New Zealand satellite event hosted by Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo, 30 conservation organisations from across Aotearoa pledged to protect 50 different species from population decline
Botanic Garden Conservation International committing to assessments of 2,000 tree species, recovery plans for 200, and actions for 20
The IUCN Species Survival Commission’s antelope specialist group committed to assessments of 95 species
“Through its global reach and unprecedented participation this World Species Congress brought together the world's conservationists to celebrate the incredible work already being done and serves to motivate us all towards achieving more species recovery.” - says David Field, WAZA Vice President and co-chair of the Reverse the Red Executive Committee
In a true testament to the dedication to accessibility and sustainability, live captions were provided in 11 languages while presenters spoke in native or most comfortable languages. This virtual event reallocated $23.4 million USD that would have been used for travel and registration fees back into the critical programmatic and mission-driven work of organisations with delegates to the Congress, as registration was subsidised by generous sponsors. This sustainable virtual event prevented 30,000 tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere as an additional cost of travel and a possible 2,000 kg of food waste from being discarded after meals.
National and regional conversations took place across 96 satellite events, engaging tens of thousands more in direct, relevant discussions with local networks of experts. Some organisations hosted watch parties with staff, others convened partners for coalition-forming activities, and still others created programmes to engage thousands of visitors in their specific conservation efforts. Government representatives from 16 countries spoke to the global Congress audience, but many more attended national satellite events, directly engaging with the network of partners in their respective countries working to reduce extinction risk and recover species. Satellite events included:
The beginning of a Mesoamerican Alliance for the Conservation of Freshwater Species
A meeting of Spanish Scientific Societies, Iberian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and other partners at the IUCN Mediterranean office to discuss and update of the IUCN Red List in Spain and in the future creation of a Spanish National Red List
Watch parties at universities
Art exhibits, nature walks, and painting sessions
And many more
The goals and targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Biodiversity Plan are big and with just over five years to achieve the first targets, the urgency is only increasing. But attendees of the World Species Congress came away from their time reminded that saving species is possible. And they came away gaining insights, tools, strategies and frameworks to accelerate their efforts, as well as connected to the more than 10,000 other conservation experts dedicated to the same goal. The first-ever World Species Congress was a pivotal moment in conservation: an attestation of what we can do together to save species.
The World Species Congress was be presented thanks to:
Headline Partners: Disney Conservation Fund, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, and WAZA Contributing Members
Gold Sponsors: Colossal Biosciences and Wilhelma Zoologisch-Botanischer Garten
Silver Sponsors: Kölner Zoo, Re:wild and the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, and Zoo Leipzig
Production and Graphics by e2k events x entertainment and 3Monkeys Creative Consulting
Logo Design and Contributions by Peppermint Narwhal
And with thanks to all Reverse the Red Executive Committee Member Organisations:
Botanic Gardens Conservation International, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, IUCN Species Survival Commission, Re:wild, and World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
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Contact:
Megan Joyce | communications@reversethered.org
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About Reverse the Red
Reverse the Red is a global movement co-chaired by IUCN SSC and WAZA that ignites strategic cooperation and action to ensure the survival of wild species and ecosystems and reverse the negative trend of biodiversity loss. Through a strategic initiative, Reverse the Red brings together a diverse coalition of leading scientists, advocates, and partners committed to using a data-driven and science-based approach to assess, plan, and act for species conservation. Reverse the Red provides the tools and expertise to empower governments, partners and local communities to set and reach species conservation targets and celebrates and amplifies successful achievements for species.
About the World Species Congress
In 2008, at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, IUCN Members adopted Resolution 4.019 calling for a World Species Congress to fill the need for a science-based, interdisciplinary, inclusive gathering to highlight the status of species and chart the future course of species conservation. Reverse the Red’s convening of a World Species Congress was a forum for collaboration to drive conservation action forward, as we work together to meet expectations of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), or Biodiversity Plan, signed on 19 December 2022.
Recordings are available to everyone registered for the Congress on the Congress website, and registration will remain open for a few more weeks.