page_title: International Union for Conservation of Nature
section_title: Criticism
hierarchical_section_title: International Union for Conservation of Nature / Influence and criticism / Criticism
caption_attribution_description: The Maasai taking their livestock into the Ngorongoro Caldera for grazing
context_page_description: The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".
  Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation. It tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through building partnerships. The organization is best known to the wider public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species worldwide.
  IUCN has a membership of over 1400 governmental and non-governmental organizations.
context_section_description: It has been claimed that IUCN put the needs of nature above those of humans, disregarding economic considerations and the interests of indigenous peoples and other traditional users of the land. Until the 1980s IUCN favored the "Yellowstone Model’ of conservation which called for the removal of humans from protected areas. The expulsion of the Maasai people from Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is perhaps the best known example of this approach.
  This is linked to another criticism that has been directed at IUCN, namely that throughout its history it has mainly been ‘Northern focused’, i.e. had a West-European or North-American perspective on global conservation.  Some critics point to the fact that many individuals involved in the establishment of IUCN had been leading figures in the British Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of Empire, which wanted to protect species against the impact of ‘native’ hunting pressure in order to safeguard hunting by Europeans. The fact that, at least until the 1990s,  most of IUCN staff, the chairs of the Commissions and the IUCN President came from western countries has also led to criticism.
  More recently, activist environmental groups have argued that IUCN is too closely associated with governmental organisations and with the commercial sector.  IUCN's cooperation with Shell came in for criticism, also from its own membership. IUCN's close partnership with Coca-Cola in Vietnam – where they have together been launching Coca-Cola-focused community centers – has also drawn some criticism and allegations of greenwashing. Its decision to hold the 2012 World Conservation Congress on Jeju Island, South Korea, where the local community and international environmental activists were protesting against the construction of a navy base also led to controversy.
caption: IUCN's relationships with local land users like the Maasai have caused controversy in the past
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