Question:  The UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre was previously an independent organization jointly managed by IUCN, UNEP and a non-governmental organization founded in what year?

The UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is an executive agency of the United Nations Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom.  UNEP-WCMC has been part of UNEP since 2000, and has responsibility for biodiversity assessment and support to policy development and implementation.  The World Conservation Monitoring Centre was previously an independent organization jointly managed by IUCN, UNEP and WWF established in 1988, and prior to that the Centre was a part of the IUCN Secretariat. <SEP>  It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States.  The living planet report is published every two years by WWF since 1998, it is based on living planet index and ecological footprint calculation. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of humanity's footprint on the environment. <SEP> The National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), (राष्ट्रिय प्रकृति संरक्षण कोष) previously known as King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation is a Nepalese non-governmental organization working in the field of nature conservation. It was established in 1982 as an autonomous non profit organization by legislative law of Nepal.  NTNC's mission is to conserve nature and natural resources in Nepal while meeting the needs of the people in sustainable way.  Geographically, the Trust activities have spread from the sub-tropical plains of Chitwan, Bardia and Kanchanpur in the lowlands to the Annapurna and Manaslu region of the high Himalayas, including the trans-Himalayan region of Upper Mustang and Manang.  Currently, the projects of Trust are divided into three geographical areas - the lowland, the mid-hills (Kathmandu Valley) and the high mountains.  The Trust’s activities in the lowlands are based in and around the Chitwan National Park, the Bardia National Park and the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve located in the central, western and far-western development regions of Nepal, through the Biodiversity Conservation Center (BCC) in Chitwan, the Bardia Conservation Program (BCP) in Bardia and the Suklaphanta Conservation Program (SCP) in Kanchanpur.  Similarly, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), the Manaslu Conservation Area Project (MCAP) and Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project (GCAP) are three protected areas managed by the Trust in the mountain region.  The Central Zoo is the only project of the Trust in Kathmandu Valley.  As a new initiative, the Trust has established an Energy and Climate Change Unit to address the emerging issues of climate change through mitigation and adaptation approach and renewable energy technologies.  The Trust has also started work on urban environment conservation with the Bagmati River Conservation Project. <SEP> The United Nations Environment Programme is an agency of United Nations and coordinates its environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices.  It was founded by Maurice Strong, its first director, as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) in June 1972 and Environment has overall responsibility for environmental problems among United Nations agencies but international talks on specialized issues, such as addressing climate change or combating desertification, are overseen by other UN organizations, like the Bonn-based Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.  UN Environment activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, environmental governance and green economy.  It has played a significant role in developing international environmental conventions, promoting environmental science and information and illustrating the way those can be implemented in conjunction with policy, working on the development and implementation of policy with national governments, regional institutions in conjunction with environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  UN Environment has also been active in funding and implementing environment related development projects.