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Ian Davidson, Executive Director of Nature Canada
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It is with great pleasure that Nature Canada announces the recent appointment of its Executive Director, Ian Davidson, to the Canadian Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The IUCN is one of the world’s largest global environmental networks. Founded in 1948, this leading authority on the environment supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs and local communities together to solve some of the planet’s most pressing problems.
As a member of the Canadian Committee of the IUCN, Nature Canada joins a diverse group of people from the Canadian conservation community to help shape policy and decision-making on the protection and conservation of wildlife and habitat.
“In most countries, the IUCN plays a strong and central role in facilitating conservation action and linking domestic agendas with global ones. I think that Nature Canada should be part of the global dialogue on nature conservation and participate in setting the agenda of the IUCN in Canada,” said Ian Davidson.
The Canadian Committee is a unique group on the national conservation scene – it brings representatives from government, non-profit organizations, academia and Aboriginal groups around one table to talk about conservation issues of global and national concern, such as climate change, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples’ rights and interests. The arctic, both in a Canadian and global context, is an issue that the Committee is eager to address, with plans in the works for a panel session on key events to which participants would be invited.
Nature Canada’s work promotes conversation, engagement and action on all of these issues.
With wind energy set to become an important component of Canada’s green energy economy, Nature Canada has stressed the importance of building a wind energy sector that does not significantly impact wildlife and its habitat, particularly birds and bats. Nature Canada supports the development of wind energy in Canada, coupled with conservation measures that protect wildlife and their habitat. Help us send that message to federal and provincial regulators.
In the coming year, Nature Canada will be working with fellow Committee members, including Parks Canada, Environment Canada, Nature Conservancy, Canadian Wildlife Federation and Aboriginal groups, among others, to promote conservation awareness and action on biodiversity in Canada.
“As a member of the Board of the Canadian Committee for the IUCN, we can advance the nature agenda on the national stage and then from there, on the global stage,” says Davidson.
The Committee will also help its members prepare for the 2012 World Conservation Congress in Korea by providing support for conservation forms and committee meetings across the country. The next big push will come this fall – a meeting has been called to bring members together in order to outline their priorities and responsibilities during the upcoming Congress.
The forum, scheduled to take place in September, will provide “an opportunity for the Canadian conservation community to share ideas and offer solutions on behalf of wildlife in this country and beyond,” says Davidson.
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