Including Peace in Conservation – Conflict Sensitivity at The World Conservation Congress and Lessons from South Sudan

Oct 15, 2025 | Natalia Chan
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The world’s top nature conservation experts, leaders, and decision makers have been gathering in Abu Dhabi for the World Conservation Congress, bringing together the membership of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in a once-every-four-years meeting. On 24 September, a motion on conflict sensitive conservation was overwhelmingly passed, with all governments and Indigenous groups voting in favour. This motion (057) is significant, as it articulates growing recognition of the importance of the relationship between nature, peace and security, whereas historically the conservation movement has been reluctant to speak out publicly on this. It comes amidst building momentum to proactively explore the intersection between conservation and peacebuilding and to integrate conflict sensitivity as a practical means to help conservation organisations better navigate the challenges of working in volatile contexts and to centre local populations in their efforts. This is particularly important because many biodiversity hotspots are in areas that experience conflict, instability and weak governance, making conservation efforts especially complex.