Motion 048

Nature crime poses significant threats to biodiversity, local communities and Indigenous Peoples, and ecosystems including World Heritage sites. Addressing these crimes requires urgent and coordinated global action. Combating nature crime aligns with the IUCN Programme and has been the focus of prior Resolutions, including those adopted at the 2021 World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Marseille. Building on this foundation, IUCN has demonstrated its commitment to addressing nature crime and exploring pathways to mobilize its Members, Commissions, and partners around this issue. A motion is required to provide IUCN with a clear operational mandate to implement the 2026-2029 Programme of Work, which includes a dedicated workstream on nature crime. This approach ensures broad mobilization of IUCN’s constituency and a coordinated effort to address gaps and opportunities identified in previous resolutions. In particular, this motion directs the DG and Council to convene a Task Force to develop an IUCN Strategy on Nature Crime, which will focus efforts and actions on this critical work.
The primary resource need is human capacity, specifically a staff focal point (senior IUCN global program manager) to lead the implementation of this motion. The financial impact depends on whether this role can be assigned to existing staff or requires the recruitment of additional personnel. This should be part of the core budget 2026-2029 of IUCN, and not dependent on external funding.