The historical beginning of international environmental activities in Geneva can be traced back to the creation of the World Conservation Union [2] (IUCN) in 1948, the year in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly.

IUCN was founded in Fontainebleau, France, on October 5th 1948, following a joint initiative of the Government of France, UNESCO [3] and the Swiss League for Nature Protection. [4] Its hybrid structure as an international association of governmental and non-governmental members, in essence a ‘semi-governmental NGO’, results in this earliest of the environmental organisations being also the most modern. Between 1949 and 1997 the number of members increased from 80 to 880, of which 75 are governments, 105 are governmental agencies and 680 are either national or international NGOs. An additional network of 8500 experts work on a voluntary basis within seven commissions (see box). The world headquarters of IUCN, originally established in Morges but now located in Gland, works in collaboration with 10 regional offices, of which 4 are located in Africa, and 24 national liaison offices.

The mission of IUCN is «to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable». The organisation promotes the conservation of species and ecosystems, in particular forests, wetlands, as well as marine and coastal areas. In pursuit of its goals, IUCN helps countries to prepare their national plans and to identify projects to protect the environment. It also develops guidelines for establishing protected areas and promotes education and information on conservation issues. Finally it participates actively in the negotiation of international agreements relating to biological diversity and the conservation of resources. The annual budget of IUCN is at present SFr 67 million, of which Switzerland contributes approximately SFr 5 million.

Having spearheaded many of the principal environmental initiatives in the world during the past 50 years, IUCN played a key role in the creation of WWF and in the process leading up to the three international conventions concerning the conservation of species: Ramsar [5] , CITES [6] and the Convention on biological diversity. [7] In collaboration with WWF and UNEP, IUCN produced the first World Conservation Strategy in 1980, and then in 1991 it published Caring for the Earth – A Strategy for Sustainable Living. More recently, in February 1998, IUCN and the World Bank jointly established an independent World Commission on Dams. This Commission has a two-year mandate centred on developing recommendations and criteria to address social, environmental and economics/engineering issues posed by large dam projects.

The organisation celebrates its 50th year of existence in 1998 and a ceremony to honour this event will take place from November 3rd to 5th at the birthplace of IUCN in Fontainebleau.

1.2.1 Background [8]

It was IUCN that contributed to the founding of WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature, [9] in 1961. As one of the largest private organisations concerned with the conservation of nature in the world, WWF must surely be one of the best known. Indeed, who has never seen the famous giant panda?

One of the persons who most influenced the beginning of WWF was the British biologist Sir Julian Huxley, the first Director General of UNESCO and one of the founders of IUCN. With the two ornithologists, Max Nicholson, at that time Director General of the British Nature Conservancy, and Peter Scott, then Vice-President of IUCN, he decided in the beginning of the 1960’s to create a new international organisation. Its goal would be the collection of funds to finance activities devoted to the conservation of nature and its headquarters would be in Switzerland, a neutral country where IUCN was already established.

The World Wildlife Fund was founded officially as a charity on September 11th 1961. Expecting to collaborate closely with IUCN, it decided to share the villa in Morges already occupied by IUCN. In a joint declaration, IUCN and WWF agreed to work together «to harness public opinion and educate the world about the necessity for conservation». Wanting to give itself a readily identifiable image that would be understandable in all languages, WWF chose the black-and-white panda. Chi-Chi, the famous giant panda, had just arrived at London Zoo!

Judging that its work would be carried out more efficiently from offices located in different countries, the new organisation initiated National Appeals for funds. Two-thirds of the funds received were to be donated to the international Secretariat and the remainder used for projects chosen by the national offices. The first National Appeal was started in the United Kingdom on November 23rd 1961 with HRH the Duke of Edinburgh as its President. The USA organised their fundraising appeal on December 1st 1961, followed several days later by Switzerland. The National Appeals have now become the National Organisations with their own separate legal identity and governing board.

Finding the villa in Morges too small for its activities, in 1979 WWF moved to a modern building, donated by an anonymous benefactor, in Gland. At the beginning of the 1980’s the World Wildlife Fund became the World Wide Fund for Nature, except in Canada and the USA where it retained its original name.

Supported by a world-wide network of 27 national organisations, five other associated organisations, 22 programme offices and close to 3000 active collaborators in 96 countries, WWF works today for the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of resources and the reduction of pollution and wastes. The national organisations run their own conservation activities in the countries where they are located and supply technical and financial support to the programmes of WWF International. The programme offices advise national governments and work to raise public awareness on problems associated with the environment.

The international Secretariat, WWF International, oversees the network, develops the political guidelines of the organisation, co-ordinates the activities and supplies a range of services to the national organisations. The annual income of WWF has increased from US$ 1 million in 1960 to US$ 300 million today. The funds come principally from the contributions and donations of the approximately 4.7 million members, and are complemented by grants from foundations, governments, the private sector and development aid agencies.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat was signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar on February 2nd 1971 and came into force in 1975. The list of wetlands considered to be of international importance, the Ramsar List, covers the sites [10] that the Contracting Parties to the Convention, numbering 110 today, undertake to protect or to manage in order to preserve their important ecological role.

February 2nd, the anniversary of the signature of the Ramsar Convention, was named World Wetlands Day by the Ramsar Standing Committee at its 19th session in October 1996. Composed of 7 members representing the seven Ramsar regions,[11] the Standing Committee meets annually to approve the budget, to review projects and to adopt the agenda of the Conference of the Parties, which takes place every 3 years.

The secretariat of the Ramsar Convention (the Ramsar Bureau) collaborates closely with IUCN and shares the same building in Gland. The other NGO partners of the Ramsar Convention are Wetlands International (Netherlands), BirdLife International (U.K.) and WWF. The budget of the Ramsar Convention for the triennium 1997-1999 is SFr 8.3 million. It is covered by the mandatory contributions of the Contracting Parties.

The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention will take place in San Jose, Costa Rica, from May 10th to 18th 1999. With the central theme being People and Wetlands – The Vital Link, the meeting will be devoted particularly to the important relationship between human societies and wetland resources.

Eight Ramsar sites have been designated in Switzerland following the ratification of the Ramsar Convention by Switzerland in 1976. One of these sites is a section of the Rhone River stretching for 20 km from the city of Geneva to the mouth of the Allondon River. This stretch of the river, which has been under the protection of the federal authorities since 1991, [12] is home to thousands of migratory waterfowl during the winter season. Some 70 species of bird are represented, including several types of duck, grebe, coot, cormorant, gull, tern, kingfisher, heron and kite.

1996 was an important year for the Ramsar Convention since it celebrated its 25th anniversary. As it was also the 20th anniversary of the ratification of the convention by Switzerland, the Federal and Geneva authorities combined forces with the Ramsar Bureau to invite representatives of the diplomatic missions and the international organisations in Geneva to visit the site. This event provided the perfect opportunity for the international community and the general public to learn more about this important convention, which is the first international treaty to deal with the conservation and sustainable management of species and ecosystems.