During the IUCN meeting in Kuwait, APN Warns of the Environmental Impacts of Wars and Conflicts in the Region | The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature
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خلال اجتماعات IUCN في الكويت.. "العربية" تحذر من الآثار البيئية الناجمة عن الحروب والنزاعات في المنطقة

 The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's largest international conservation group, has over 1,400 members from governments, governmental institutions, and civil society organizations.

It also has an observer and consultative position at the United Nations.Razan Zuayter, APN’s Co-founder, called for a reliable mechanism to compensate for environmental crimes caused by armed conflicts in the West Asian region (9 September). During a panel discussion on the IUCN Strategic Plan for the next four years at the 9th IUCN Regional Conference in Kuwait, Zuayter presented a set of proposals based on the resolutions and recommendations agreed upon during previous conferences in 2004, 2008, and 2016, which were not implemented despite approval by the General Assembly.

During her participation in the “Intersessional IUCN Program 2021-2024” session discussing the upcoming IUCN Plan, Zuayter presented a set of proposals based on the resolutions and recommendations agreed upon during previous conferences in 2004, 2008, and 2016, which were not implemented despite approval by the General Assembly.Zuayter asked for an official report explaining the reasons behind IUCN’s failure in implementing previous resolutions.

She pointed out the environmental damage caused by the occupation and the need to take action to address it, warning that silence towards Israeli environmental violations is complicity in the crime.

It is worth noting that APN submitted two environmental resolutions considering the priorities of the region during the previous IUCN regional meetings, which were approved by a majority of the members.

In the same context, Hassan Al Jaajaa, APN’s Co-founder, stated that Israel has uprooted more than 3.5 million trees (including perennial ones) in Palestine since 2000. He also pointed out that the Israeli occupation commits arson annually in the Jordan Valley, eastern Jordan.

These fires drastically affect biodiversity and farmers who are often forced to leave their land due to the immense damage.He also noted that tackling environmental conservation and biodiversity entails human protection, especially with the ongoing ethnic cleansing led by "Israel" against the unarmed Palestinian on the entire area of ​​historic Palestine.

To conclude, Jaaja called for incorporating the remarks during the “post 2020 Biodiversity Framework” discussing biodiversity into the final statement to be issued after the conference.At the exhibition, APN presented a comprehensive overview of the organization's activities, results, and achievements.

Afterwhich, the 9th IUCN Regional Conference concluded on Wednesday evening (11 September 9).The conference, with the participation of 14 countries, aims to provide a platform for IUCN members to discuss critical and important environmental issues and plan for the IUCN post-2020 program. It also seeks to unify Member States in preparation for the upcoming IUCN World Congress in Marseille, France (19 June 2020).