November 29 marks the Day of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which was founded in 1948 on the initiative of UNESCO. This Day is a holiday for all environmental organizations.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world’s largest independent international non-profit organization, headquartered in Gland (Switzerland). The Union unites 82 states (including the Russian Federation represented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), 111 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations and about 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries. IUCN has observer status at the UN General Assembly and maintains close working relationships with many intergovernmental organizations and programs, especially UNESCO, FAO, UNDP and UNEP.

The IUCN’s activities range from the conservation of endangered species, protected areas and ecosystem management to environmental legislation and social policy. IUCN strives to ensure that decision-making in environmental activities is based on a strictly scientific basis, using the latest scientific developments. The organization publishes an international Red Book. The IUCN International Red List is a periodically updated global catalog of animal species, subspecies and populations, distributed according to category sheets of extinction threat, indicating the main criteria for assessing their status.

Additional information:

• Official website of IUCN