Species extinction… climate change… increasing pollution. There’s no denying our planet is in crisis. So how do we avert ecosystem collapse and secure the health and well-being of all life on Earth? Held every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) is a global parliament that brings together thousands of conservation leaders to reach consensus on saving the environment and harnessing nature to solve pressing challenges.
This diverse group of experts and decision-makers, including representatives from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC), gathered in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the 8th IUCN World Conservation Congress in October 2025. Over the course of the Congress, nearly 10,000 participants from more than 189 countries represented governments, civil society, Indigenous peoples, business, and academia.
The Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) was represented in Abu Dhabi by Gary Tabor, Aaron Laur, and Gabriel Oppler who all contributed their unique and combined skillsets. As a National Non-governmental Member of IUCN since 2016, CLLC has been fortunate to have the leadership of Founder and CEO Gary Tabor also serving as Chair of the Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group under the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). This has increased opportunities for CLLC to work with a broad community of experts and institutions to foster the mainstreaming of ecological connectivity conservation through science, policy, and on-the-ground implementation around the world.
CLLC’s role at the World Conservation Congress
In Abu Dhabi, CLLC actively promoted connectivity and combatting habitat fragmentation as a more comprehensive strategy to save biodiversity, increase resilience to climate change, and benefit people. Preparing for and attending this WCC provided an opportunity for CLLC to collaborate even more closely with long-time partners and friends, get acquainted with new colleagues and topics, and engage more deeply in efforts spanning IUCN.
Especially important to advancing connectivity conservation, CLLC led the drafting, co-sponsor coordination, submission, and negotiation of the adopted Motion 127 “Recognising and reporting ecological corridors”. Now an official policy Resolution, it calls on all of IUCN to strengthen global coordination and reporting on the specific location and management of corridors.
In tandem, the 2021 Resolution 071 “Wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure,” also led by CLLC, remains in effect. A growing number of efforts are implementing this first-ever IUCN policy addressing the environmental impacts of linear transport infrastructure (LTI) and CLLC will continue to engage with existing and new partners to amplify and apply solutions for avoiding and mitigating this fragmenting force.
Overall, these Resolutions now form part of IUCN’s official policy commitments and actions over the next four years until the 9th WCC.
What happened at the World Conservation Congress?
Over the course of the week, participants sought to arrest the ongoing decline of nature through a wide variety of activities. In addition to a Forum and Exhibition with events showcasing research and innovation, the IUCN Members’ Assembly—IUCN’s highest decision-making body—elected the Union’s leadership for the next four years and adopted 140+ policy motions. It also approved the Abu Dhabi Call to Action and IUCN’s 20-year Strategic Vision and 2026-2029 Programme focused on halting and reversing the compounding crises facing the planet. Additionally, the WCC emphasized the important role that youth leaders play in conservation.
With just five years left until the 2030 deadline for countries to meet commitments under several international agreements—including the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—this WCC aimed to drive immediate and bold actions across all lands and waters.
Sharing Solutions and Celebrating Milestones
Many WCC attendees spent time visiting, presenting, and participating at more than 1,000 thematic Forum Events and Exhibition Pavilions. During these events they engaged in discussions about leading science, policy, practice, and innovation focused on themes such as scaling up resilient conservation action and transitioning to nature-positive economies and societies.
Contributing toward the overall WCC theme “Powering transformative conservation”, CLLC and partners organized and participated in a diversity of these events. Some highlights included:
- Launch of the newest Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Ecological Connectivity and Land Restoration. With contributions from CLLC staff members, the Report introduces the guiding principle of ‘Connect to restore; Restore to connect’ for large-scale landscape conservation.
- Presentation of the now fully operational Global Partnership on Ecological Connectivity (GPEC) bringing organizations together from around the world to strengthen collective and coherent action across landscapes and seascapes.
- A Youth Summit kicked-off a series of events over the course of the Congress focused on gathering and increasing contributions from young people around the world. CLLC’s Gabriel Oppler served on IUCN’s Youth Advisory Committee throughout the last four years and supported events at a dedicated Pavilion highlighting career opportunities in conservation leadership for young professionals.
Providing Hope for the Future
For CLLC, this gathering brought back memories of all the people that have devoted their time, expertise, and passion to IUCN over its nearly 80 years of existence.
In Abu Dhabi, the Union came together to take stock of accomplishments, setbacks, and priorities, while setting out ambitious plans to address international to local issues through scaled-up action and transformative change.
Before the close of the WCC, IUCN Members approved the Abu Dhabi Call to Action, concluding that:
From Abu Dhabi, we reaffirm our collective commitment to defending life on Earth. We are the voice of nature and we stand united – One Nature, One Humanity, One Future – a global movement of individuals, communities, organisations, and nations determined to turn the tide for a just, resilient and nature-positive world. Together and united in action, we will move from promises and commitments to action.
Yes, together we can – and together, we will!
CLLC commends IUCN for its ongoing leadership and inspiration and will remain persistent in its pursuit of a world where nature and people thrive across connected, resilient landscapes and seascapes.
Photos: All photos by CLLC unless otherwise indicated
