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Yonge Nawe Environmental Action Group has returned from attending the 3rd World Conservation Congress (WCC) of the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN), World Conservation Union, which was hosted by Thailand. The Congress is constituted by members and is the highest decision making body of IUCN. It convenes every four years to review progress reports, adopt action plans for the next four years and, elect Commissioners and a President for the union. Yonge Nawe was represented by Khosi Mthethwa and Thuli Makama. Yonge Nawe has been a member of the IUCN since 1996 and, this was the second Congress at which the organization has participated.

The theme for the WCC was "People and Nature" only one world! The essence of this theme was to further confirm the important role of nature in sustaining humanity and the importance of using conservation for harmonising the interconnection. The worlds natural resources like water, land, energy, etc are not infinite and for these to continue to fulfill the needs of humanity there needs to be conscious efforts at conserving these by practicing sound principles of sustainable development. 

This WCC was split into two sessions starting with the World Conservation Forum from 18th to 20th and, the Members Business Forum from 21st to 25th November. The conservation forum had over six hundred workshops running parallel to each other and hosted by different organizations who are players in conservation, nature and or development. Its main aim was to address the world’s most pressing sustainable development challenges by presenting comprehensive assessments of the state of biodiversity on our planet. The forum themes were as follows:

• Biodiversity loss and species extinction: managing risk in a changing world
• Ecosystems management: bridging sustainability and productivity
• Health, poverty and conservation: responding to the challenge of human wellbeing
• Markets, business and the environment: strengthening corporate social responsibility, law and policy.

It was encouraging for YN to see the areas of focus for the Union in the next four years emphasizing the need for conservation to be for enhancing life and not furthering business and profits. In this spirit, wording of resolutions was sensitive to not fostering and or supporting the privatization of nature. The highlight for YN was when the congress resolved to call for a moratorium on genetically modified organisms. Also, the need for communities to manage, have access and ownership of natural resources was emphasized through a number of resolutions. The impact of good governance on the state of biodiversity was also highlighted. The congress acknowledged the need for healthy ecosystems to ensure healthy people. Most of the resolutions passed by the congress talk directly to challenges faced by developing countries and Swaziland specifically. 

Swaziland has three members to the Union; Yonge Nawe, Swaziland Environment Authority (represented by the Director and, the Honorable Minister for Tourism Environment and Communication) and, Swaziland National Trust Commission (not represented at the WCC). Membership to this world class conservation union is open to all organization whose objectives are in line with the ideals of sustainable development. Once admitted, members are eligible to capacity building initiatives as well as the chance to decide what goes into the world conservation agenda.

 On another note, Yonge Nawe has been admitted to the prestigious family of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) at the Biannual General Meeting (BGM) of the federation held in Zagreb, Croatia in October 2004. This means Yonge Nawe can now use the name "Friends of the Earth Swaziland". This means all Yonge Nawe campaigns and issues are now flagged globally and highlighted by the FoEI members in over seventy countries worldwide. This ensures access to wider international platforms and solidarity by all members globally.

Members are also offered support in building capacity to sustain initiatives and get national issues onto the broader international agenda. There can only be one full member in a country and any other interested organizations are admitted as affiliates. The application and selection process is stringent and takes two years.

FoEI has already pledged solidarity and included YN’s current campaigns in its international campaigns.  This acceptance is important for a small country like ours whose pressing issues get overshadowed and struggle to feature in international agendas. National environmental challenges need international acknowledgement to be resolved because environmental resources like water, air, wildlife to name a few know no boundaries and thus problems in one territory are easily transferred to another. 

It is important to think globally and act nationally and YN has by joining hands with international federations positioned herself to do just that.

ENDS