IUCN-Med has signed a collaboration agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Land Management and Environment to organize the first Congress for Nature Conservation in North Africa. The signing ceremony took place on 16 June in the Ministry in the presence of Mr Mohamed Bacha, General Secretary of the Ministry.
The document, entitled ‘Collaboration Agreement for the Organization of the North Africa Congress for Nature Conservation in Algeria', was signed for IUCN by the Director of IUCN-Med, Mr Antonio Troya. The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation between the two institutions on the technical and logistical aspects of the forthcoming event.

The countries involved in the first North Africa Conservation Congress are Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. In spite of many differences at a national level, these countries share a similar Mediterranean environment and face common challenges in managing and conserving their natural resources. In addition, the environment lies at the root of a certain interdependence between the countries in this region, which encourages collaboration.

The three-day Congress for Nature Conservation will take place in the first quarter of 2015. The exact dates will be confirmed soon by the organizing committee. Three hundred participants are expected to be invited from governmental organizations, NGOs, cooperation agencies, sponsors and IUCN Members.

The main objective of the Congress is to promote exchanges and collaboration among the various actors involved in nature conservation in North Africa through transfers of knowledge and scientific data and implementation of joint national and regional initiatives.

For further information, please contact: Maher Mahjoub