The Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Director of Conservation Jonathan Hughes has been elected to the Council of the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization after securing enough votes from IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) members across the world.
Jonathan, who is based in Edinburgh, ran a successful campaign to become an IUCN Councillor and will now be well placed to help shape the future of nature conservation on a global stage.
The IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network. Founded in 1948 – The Wildlife Trusts were a founder – it is a membership body with more than 1,000 government and non-government member organizations who vote for Councillors, alongside almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries across the world.
Speaking after his first Council meeting in Jeju, South Korea, Jonathan Hughes said:
“My priority will be getting all the great ideas out there in the conservation movement turned into action on the ground. By being on the IUCN Council and continuing my work with The Scottish Wildlife Trust and The Wildlife Trusts movement I hope to connect conservation policy and practice between local, national and international levels.
“The restoration of nature should be a central part of global economic and social decision making – we need to have the ear of finance ministers and prime ministers, not just environment ministers. We also need to scale up our efforts by protecting wildlife on a landscape scale, as well as bringing nature back into the heart of our towns and cities.”
Scottish Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Simon Milne said:
“Jonathan Hughes is an inspired practitioner and ambassador for conservation in the 21st Century. He is now in the perfect position to help champion the restoration of ecosystem health on a global scale and to ensure that our natural life support systems are protected for current and future generations.”
Click here to see the election results and for more information on the work of the IUCN.