GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — With Palestine becoming a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one of the largest environmental groups, Palestinians have realized a long-sought-after achievement in light of Israeli practices that threaten their environment and prevent them from benefitting from their natural resources.
Palestine joined the IUCN — which includes 1,066 nongovernmental and 217 governmental organizations and has observer and consultative status at the United Nations — during the group’s World Conservation Congress held in Hawaii, Aug. 30-Sept. 10. Some 1,000 participants representing governments and organizations and around 10,000 others attended the congress, which focused on IUCN strategic policies for 2017 through 2020.
