The **Wildlife Conservation Society** (WCS) has announced its **conservation agenda** and priority **action** lines to be defended at the next World Conservation Congress of the **IUCN**, scheduled from October 9 to 15, 2025 in **Abu Dhabi**, United Arab Emirates.
A robust delegation of its **scientists** and **policy experts** will travel to promote crucial conservation issues, including **crimes** against **nature**, the “One **Health**” approach, international wildlife **trade**, synthetic biology, and the need for strengthened global **environmental cooperation**.
A highlight on the **WCS**’s agenda is its strong support for the re-election of Madhu Rao for the presidency of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). Rao, running unopposed, has decades of leadership in promoting protected and conserved areas worldwide, a key effort for achieving the **30×30** goal.
For WCS, the continuity of its leadership is an essential element in the conservation agenda to **halt biodiversity loss** and address the **climate crisis**.
The key conservation agenda that WCS will promote at the IUCN this fall includes:
– **Crimes Against Nature:** WCS, as a co-author of a fundamental motion and participant in events on the subject, will use the congress as a platform to demand stronger measures against species trafficking, illegal fishing, deforestation, and illicit timber trade, among other crimes affecting the environment. This issue is a centerpiece of the quadrennial program and 20-year strategic vision of the IUCN, and WCS will participate in at least three forums dedicated to it.
– **One Health:** Members of the IUCN are expected to adopt a key motion promoted by WCS formalizing the recognition of the interconnected health of people, animals, and ecosystems. This motion seeks to consolidate the “One Health” initiative as a pillar of the next quadrennial program of the IUCN. WCS experts will collaborate with global partners to discuss the best ways to advance this integrative approach.
– **International Pet Trade:** WCS leads a motion aimed at addressing the unsustainable and often illegal international pet trade, considered a rapidly growing threat to wildlife. The issue will be discussed at the congress and presented at an official event. The organization will push for firm commitments to reduce this harmful trade of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians captured in their habitat and will work to ensure that all trade is legal, sustainable, beneficial to local communities, and does not pose risks of pathogen spread. This debate will take place a few weeks before CITES CoP20 in Uzbekistan.
– **Multilateralism:** In a global context of institutional retreat, WCS will make a strong call to renew commitment to environmental multilateralism. The organization will emphasize that conservation challenges — including biodiversity loss, resource overexploitation, climate change, and illegal trade — require global solutions and collaboration, not isolation.
– **Synthetic Biology:** The organization supports the synthetic biology policy proposed by the IUCN, developed after years of collaboration and led at WCS by Dr. Elizabeth Bennett. The policy is described as practical, science-based, and flexible. Despite anticipated controversy, WCS urges delegates to adopt a policy based on rigorous scientific and ethical standards.
**Dr. Susan Lieberman**, WCS Vice President of International Policy and current elected member of the IUCN Council, stated: “The IUCN Congress is a crucial moment to drive transformative **actions** in favor of **nature**. From closing legal gaps in the **wildlife trade** to integrating One Health into global **conservation strategies**, WCS is proud to lead and support motions that reflect real, science-based solutions to the **biodiversity crisis**.”
To support these initiatives, the WCS team in **Abu Dhabi** will be composed of a diverse group of specialists. The **delegation** will represent a wide range of expertise from its **global programs** (covering international policies, species, marine ecosystems, markets, rights and communities, and science) and will include **conservation leaders** from its field offices in Africa, Brazil, Central America, Cuba, Europe, and other regions.
