Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — October 2025
Last week in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates and a city known for its technological innovations and futuristic architecture, Founder and Director of Women for Conservation Sara Ines Lara and Isabella Cortes attended the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress. The congress offered an opportunity for representatives from the entire globe to come together and exchange the newest developments in the world of conservation; after speaking with the world's top conservation leaders and exchanging experiences with other organizations, they gathered some key reflections to share with us.
First, empowering women to be leaders in conservation is more vital than ever — women are still underrepresented in conservation and it is imperative that we do everything we can to make their voices heard in this critical time. This realization is a call to action for us at Women for Conservation: now is the time for us to spread our message and empower as many women as we can.
Second, more than ever, Indigenous peoples are taking the lead in conservation projects around the world. We saw strong Indigenous representation at this year's Congress, hearing from several Indigenous leaders about their work implementing Traditional Ecological Knowledge to create conservation solutions that are guided by thousands of years of experience with the land. This development was deeply heartening to us at Women for Conservation, as Indigenous rights and representation is an important part of the work we do.
Finally, we must act now. The next few years will be crucial in the fight to mitigate climate disaster and biodiversity loss, and the only way we can be successful is by uniting — creating a network of women and organizations that support one another, share resources, and work together to create solutions that will have a lasting positive impact on our precious planet.
Strategic Roadmap for the Future
The last few days of the Congress included an election where IUCN Members voted on a new 20-year Strategic Vision and a four-year Programme (2026–2029). The Strategic Vision sets out IUCN's goal for "a just world that values and conserves nature", while the Programme lays out the steps to implement the vision over the next four years.
This adoption marks a pivotal moment for the Union and its thousands of Members and experts, laying out a roadmap for action to transform society, economic systems and ecosystems, and to build resilience for the decades ahead. View the press release here.
The election also included the appointment of new IUCN council members. We were honored to meet the newly re-elected president of IUCN, Razan Al Mubarak. Mubarak is a global leader in conservation, serving as the director of Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and the Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency.
We stand with women leaders everywhere, and we are overjoyed to see that female leadership will continue to guide the IUCN for the next four years, meaning change and female representation for one of the most influential conservation organizations in this period of essential action.
Youth Leadership in Action
Isabella Cortés Lara, co-founder of Women for Conservation, participated in the IUCN Youth Forum, representing the next generation of environmental leaders. During the forum, she shared the organization's vision of uniting art, education, and community action to inspire young people to take part in conservation. Her participation reflected the vital role of youth in shaping inclusive, creative, and sustainable solutions for the planet's future.
While at the Congress, Isabella had the opportunity to interview two iconic figures in conservation: On her left is Dr. Frank Hawkins, IUCN's Science & Policy Advisor, who designs biodiversity metrics and pushes for private investment to actively protect species. On her right is David Meyers, Executive Director of the Conservation Finance Alliance, with 25+ years creating sustainable finance tools — from establishing massive protected areas in Madagascar to leading global impact investing efforts. You can find her full interview on our Instagram @womenforconservation.
Our presence in Abu Dhabi strengthened the purpose that has guided us from the beginning: to build a global movement of women transforming their communities and defending life in all its forms.
Together, we will continue to weave partnerships, share knowledge, and spread the message that conservation is not only driven by science, but also by empathy, art, and hope.
Because at Women for Conservation, we believe that when women flourish, nature blooms.
Photo gallery from our participation at IUCN Congress (Flickr)
