Flocking Together: Our Mission at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025
Our team has arrived in full force, ready to help shape the global conservation agenda.
With 78 delegates representing our Global Team and 43 of our Partners, we are committed to ensuring that conservation remains evidence-based, equitable, and nature-positive.
Where the World Unites to Shape Nature’s Future
The Congress opened today and will take place until October 15th in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), drawing between 8,000 and 10,000 participants from governments, civil society, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, academia, business, and conservation.
Organised every four years, WCC plays a defining role in setting the international conservation agenda. It blends high-level decision-making with opportunities for sharing knowledge, and is split into three parts:
- Forum (9–12 October): A global marketplace of ideas, innovations, and partnerships with sessions on conservation themes, capacity-building, and networking.
- Exhibition (9–13 October): A hub of interactive booths and pavilions showcasing conservation initiatives.
- Members’ Assembly (13–15 October): IUCN’s highest decision-making body, where motions (the mechanism by which IUCN Members influence third parties and guide the policy and Programme of IUCN) are voted on and future leadership is elected.
“The IUCN World Conservation Congress is where global priorities for nature are debated and decided. This year, BirdLife International will not only participate — we will help shape the agenda. The Congress is an opportunity to show how we translate world-leading science and policy into tangible, on-the-ground action, powered by the strength of our global Partnership.” – Dr Lesley Dickie, Head of the BirdLife International Delegation at the WCC
“For BirdLife, WCC is a strategic platform to influence global policy and conservation priorities, to showcase the science-based work of our Partnership, and to strengthen vital relationships with donors, partners, and decision-makers,” says Dr Poshendra Satyal, who is coordinating the BirdLife Partnership participation at the Congress.
It is also a space to align with international targets, from biodiversity goals to climate and equity agendas and to demonstrate our contribution. Our participation reflects BirdLife’s role as a global leader in conservation science, policy advocacy and locally rooted action. By having a strong presence, we ensure that conservation continues to be evidence-based, equitable and nature-positive.
“As the world’s largest nature conservation Partnership, we will attend WCC 2025 united. Coordinating across our network is essential to present a collective voice on key motions and policy issues, to ensure visibility and influence across sessions and debates, and to strengthen our collective impact on conservation outcomes. It also provides a platform to build new funding opportunities and deepen existing partnerships.”
– Dr Lesley Dickie – Executive Vice President for Conservation and the Regions at Birdlife international
Science, Advocacy, and Action: Our Focus at WCC 2025
We will use the Congress to highlight the unique strengths and contributions of our Partnership to global conservation.
Science and knowledge leadership will be at the forefront. As the global authority on birds for the IUCN Red List, we continue to guide species assessments and global conservation priorities. We will share updates on Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), where we lead in managing the global standard, and showcase the reach of our platforms such as the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) alongside our contribution to tools like the Nature Action Tracker.
Policy and advocacy will also be central. BirdLife connects global processes to local action, ensuring that evidence drives policymaking. From our engagement with the Convention on Biological Diversity, UNFCCC, Ramsar Convention, and Convention on Migratory Species, to strengthening advocacy capacity across our Partnership, our influence extends across scales. We are playing a strategic role in the motions process, co-sponsoring 17 motions, 10 of them directly, and pushing for policies that safeguard species, sites, and ecosystem integrity. We will contribute strongly to debates on the links between climate and nature, on Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs), on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), and on equity in conservation.
Our delegation will also spotlight on-the-ground impact, sharing country- and region-specific success stories — from forest restoration and marine conservation to community-led stewardship and bird protection. Our contributions to sessions and side events will demonstrate how locally rooted action delivers globally significant results.
Visibility and engagement will be key. BirdLife will participate in a series of high-level sessions, including events focused on our DataZone, forest conservation, KBA and Red List Partnerships, IBAT, nature-positive frameworks, and Indigenous- and community-led conservation. Our pavilion and exhibition presence will bring together donors, media, and partners through storytelling, data visualisation, and thought leadership.
Finally, WCC is also about leadership and vision. Many of BirdLife Partners and supporters are running for various IUCN positions with a vision to shape conservation agenda and actions for the next four years (2026-2029).
What We Expect and What’s Next
We aim to secure influence on motions that guide the global conservation agenda, to enhance networking and fundraising by showcasing tangible results and strategic ambition, and to inspire conservation donors by showing how investment in BirdLife translates into measurable, lasting outcomes.
The Congress also provides a crucial opportunity to build momentum as we approach major milestones including CBD COP17, UNFCCC COP30, and the post-2030 biodiversity frameworks. We will ensure that the collective voice of our Partnership resonates strongly at each of these.
The BirdLife delegation will include 78 participants in total: staff from 43 BirdLife Partners that are IUCN members, alongside 17 staff members from the Global Team. Together, we will give one voice to nature in Abu Dhabi.
Our delegation will be led by Dr Lesley Dickie (Head of Delegation), supported by colleagues including Dr Stuart Butchart (Chief Scientist), Dr Poshendra Satyal, Manoswini Sarkar, Dr Noëlle Kumpel (Motions Lead), Peppy Sparrow (Development Team). Importantly, we will also be joined by representatives from BirdLife Partners across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific, who bring with them diverse perspectives, expertise, and national priorities.