This page collects IUCN resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the relationship between nature and human health.
IUCN responses to COVID-19
Nature-based recovery initiative
By capitalizing on the Union’s strengths, IUCN advocates for nature-based recovery investments .
IUCN Statement on COVID-19
Also available in French and Spanish.
Questions and answers: COVID-19 and nature conservation
IUCN Congress – new dates
Research
COVID-19 fallout undermining nature conservation efforts - The pandemic has significantly impacted nature conservation around the globe according to a collection of research papers published in a special issue of PARKS, the journal of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. (March 2021)
Urgent Needs for Global Wildlife Health - Zenodo. Machalaba, Catherine, Uhart, Marcela, Kock, Richard, Diaz, Francois, & Karesh, William B. (October 2020).
COVID‐19 and protected and conserved areas – IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, PARKS Journal 26.1, Editorial essay
The Effect of COVID 19 on Mountain Protected Areas - IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Mountain Specialist Group
Gender-based violence and environment linkages during COVID-19 - IUCN Global Programme on Governance and Rights (2nd edition, November 2020)
Guidance
IUCN’s advice to the World Heritage Committee following the COVID-19 pandemic - IUCN World Heritage Programme
Guidelines for Working with Free-Ranging Wild Mammals in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic – IUCN SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group
IUCN indigenous Members’ solutions and challenges related to the COVID-19 crisis - IUCN Global Programme on Governance and Rights and IUCN Members from Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations
Statements
Great apes, COVID-19 and the SARS CoV-2 - Joint Statement of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Wildlife Health Specialist Group and the Primate Specialist Group Section on Great Apes
The Business Case for Conservation – reflections at the time of COVID-19 – Perspective from Dr. Nirmal Jivan Shah, CEO of IUCN Member organisation Nature Seychelles
Environmental Rule of Law: Pandemics Now and the Next Time in the Americas – Perspective from Claudia S. de Windt, member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law steering committee
Conserving Nature in a time of crisis: Protected Areas and COVID-19 - IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas
CEESP and COVID19: A Call to Action - Note from Kristen Walker Painemilla, Chair of IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (Spanish)
CEC and COVID-19: Message from the Chair - Message from Sean Southey, Chair of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (French and Spanish versions below the English)
Crossroads Blog
It is Time for a Global Wildlife Health Authority - post by experts of the IUCN SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group
Quarantining also means caring for our great ape relatives – post by Elizabeth L. Bennett of the Wildlife Conservation Society
Regional responses
A call to place nature at the centre of development strategies in the Western Balkans - IUCN Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Resilient responses to pandemic impacts - report by IUCN Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean
Building Resilience for Nature and People - IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa COVID-19 Response
A Green Recovery in Europe will also need to scale up Nature Based Solutions - IUCN European Regional Office
Photo: CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS.
Newsletters
Wildlife Disease Management is a key factor in preventing outbreaks like COVID-19 from happening again - IUCN Save Our Species and Integrated Tiger Habitat Programme
Focus on COVID-19: CEESP and our efforts during the crisis - IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy
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Other resources
IUCN SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group website
IUCN WCPA Health and Well-being Specialist Group web page
#NatureForAll Discovery Zone - New, searchable database of environmental education resources for families, teachers, and people of all ages that can help connect people with and learn about nature wherever they may be.
Healthy People in a Healthy Environment Key Directions Statement - IUCN National Committee Australia
Grants
Grants available through IUCN are posted here.
Africa
As a part of IUCN Save Our Species’ African Wildlife initiative, funded by the European Union, we are inviting proposals for Rapid Action Grants targeting terrestrial or freshwater threatened species in South Africa.
- They are designed to enable immediate responses to new and emerging threats.
- Rapid Action Grants are now also open to projects responding to threats linked to COVID-19 crisis and its consequences.
Rapid Action Grants (now closed) targeting terrestrial or freshwater threatened species in continental Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar (except South Africa).
Africa, Caribbean and Pacific
The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Rapid Response Grants (now closed), managed by IUCN on behalf of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and the European Union (EU), is expected to fund approximately 60 projects, with a total budget of 2 million Euros.
The Rapid Response Grants will address negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the management and governance of protected areas, while strengthening the resilience of local communities in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
