This year’s World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi was a pivotal moment for Jamma Conservation & Communities. As an IUCN Member, we participated in the motions process, where governments, NGOs, and Indigenous and local organisations all vote on global conservation policy. Of the 148 motions tabled, 146 passed — a continuation of the high passage rate seen in previous Congresses. Several of these motions, however, risk reinforcing protectionist narratives or weakening sustainable use by omitting crucial language tied to rights, governance, and legitimate local decision-making.
Alongside this, together with the Wild Sheep Foundation and Conservation Visions, we hosted the Human-Centred Conservation Pavilion, which became one of the most visited and talked-about spaces at the Congress. Across five thematic days, 27 sessions, and more than 10,000 livestream views, the Pavilion convened a global community committed to bringing evidence, lived experience, and honesty back into conservation dialogue.
From both the Pavilion discussions and the motions outcomes, ten clear insights emerged.
- The motions revealed a growing protectionist tilt.
While many motions were well-intentioned, a concerning pattern emerged: sustainable use language was frequently omitted. Several motions, particularly those on wildlife trade, “overexploitation,” and tourism standards, risk undermining community rights, resource governance, and the practical tools people use to coexist with wildlife. This underscores why Human-Centred Conservation needs to be more visible in global policy spaces.
- Rights shape real outcomes.
Speakers from Kazakhstan to Namibia demonstrated that secure land, wildlife, and governance rights lead to more durable conservation outcomes. Symbolic rights produce symbolic results; real rights produce stewardship.
- Governance determines whether interventions work.
Whether it’s early-warning systems, coexistence tools, or wildlife economy models, success depends on governance structures people trust. Without that trust, tools become external impositions rather than part of local solutions.
- Power-sharing matters more than benefit-sharing.
Benefit-sharing still keeps power in the hands of external actors. Power-sharing shifts decision-making, agenda-setting, and rule-making to communities, and that’s when stewardship deepens.
- Lived experience reveals realities policy often overlooks.
Coexistence is not theoretical. It is shaped by daily risk, responsibility, and emotional burden. Those realities must inform policy if conservation is to remain credible.
- Sustainable use is essential for resilient wild economies.
Tourism alone cannot sustain rural livelihoods. A diverse wildlife economy — regulated use, wild foods, cultural economies, non-timber forest products — spreads risk and strengthens local agency.
- Wild foods are frontline climate adaptation.
Wild foods require no irrigation, chemicals, or land conversion. They sustain households during climate shocks and carry cultural meaning that strengthens identity and belonging.
- Coexistence affects wellbeing and health — not just wildlife.
Across the Pavilion sessions, community leaders showed how conservation decisions shape both emotional and physical wellbeing. Psychological safety, fairness, and dignity influence how people relate to wildlife; secure access to wild foods supports nutrition and resilience; and safe coexistence reduces stress, injury, and trauma. When governance and policy overlook these realities, they undermine both human health and conservation outcomes.
- Global narratives can distort local realities.
Decisions made far from the landscape, including bans, corridor designs, or funding restrictions, can help or harm. When distant narratives dominate, local resilience is often compromised.
- 11. Honest dialogue builds trust — and demand for more.
Participants repeatedly highlighted the Pavilion as a rare space where science, governance, lived experience, and difficult conversations were given equal respect. That honesty resonated, and created momentum for continued collaboration.
Human-Centred Conservation struck a chord in Abu Dhabi. Many participants told us they were searching for a conservation approach that genuinely works, one that is cross-disciplinary, grounded in rights and governance, informed by lived experience, and capable of holding complexity without defaulting to ideology. The Human-Centred Conservation Pavilion offered exactly that: a space for honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations that too often stay unspoken in global forums. The momentum it generated shows a growing appetite for conservation that is human, contextual, and practical. Jamma will continue advancing this approach, strengthening community leadership, supporting evidence-based solutions, and helping shape policies that reflect the realities of people who live with wildlife every day.
Photo Credit: Max Winpenny
Our Top 10 Takeaways from the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress
