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By Misty Herrin
October 2, 2008: Getting Ready for the World Conservation Congress
"Some things can’t be done over the internet." That’s the tagline for the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress, which kicks off Monday in Barcelona. That’s hard for a web addict like me to accept, but it’s true. There’s no substitute for the power of meeting face-to-face.
More than 8,000 of the world’s leading environmental decision makers agree, so they’re descending upon Barcelona to exchange knowledge, brainstorm, team up, celebrate successes, and make new plans that are so ambitious and creative they just might work.
The Nature Conservancy is sending a team of our best and brightest, including our President and CEO Mark Tercek, to the World Conservation Congress because past experience has proven that a summit of this magnitude has the power to propel conservation forward in surprising and dramatic ways.
The massive program of events speaks volumes. Scanning the list of hundreds of sessions, panels, workshops, receptions, press conferences, book launches and other gatherings makes the head spin.
Where to start? What’s more important? Where can I be of use? Which will help me play my own small part in conserving nature? Why can’t someone create dress shoes that can be worn for 12 hours straight while running from meeting to meeting? Why is that so hard?
Conservancy experts are playing integral roles in many of these events. The team has taken great pains to identify the most strategic and relevant opportunities for us to share and learn from others. Our delegation reflects this.
There’s Duncan Marsh, our authority on climate change strategies like REDD, and Trevor Sandwith, our lead on Protected Areas. Lynne Hale, director of our Global Marine Initiative, will bring the growing threat of ocean acidification to the global conversation. Scientists and field staff like Veronica Arias from our Ecuador Program will share new strategies with on-the-ground practitioners so that others can improve and accelerate their own conservation efforts.
My job will be to connect reporters with these and other experts. There are a lot of sessions I’d like to catch, but mostly I’m looking forward to the sights and sounds of thousands of brilliant people talking and rushing about and moving us all towards a brighter future.
For anyone who cares deeply about conservation, it's easy to feel like a lone, small voice in a world of overwhelming challenges. But that’s what the Conservancy is for and that’s what the WCC is for. By coming together, we can achieve things we never imagined.
Misty Herrin is a senior writer with The Nature Conservancy’s marketing team. She reports on news from our international programs for nature.org and print publications.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Misty Herrin (Misty Herrin).
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