As participants arrive in Abu Dhabi, UAE, for the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025, protected and conserved areas actors gathered across the city. From participating in the first Global Indigenous Peoples and Nature Summit, to bringing together conservation practitioners engaged under the BIOPAMA programme, the day underlined what is sure to be a key theme of IUCN Congress 2025: good governance, rights and the leadership of Indigenous and local communities are the cornerstone to effective and long-lasting conservation success. |