The Latin-American conference on the conservation of renewable natural resources

Abstract

The International U nion for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an independent international body, whose membership comprises states, government departments, and private institutions, as well as international organizations. Its main purpose is to promote or support action that will ensure the perpetuation of wild nature and natural resources in as many diverse forms and parts of the world as p o s s i b l e n o t only for their intrinsic cultural or scientific values, but also for the long-term economic and social welfare of mankind. The Union was founded in 1948 and has its permanent headquarters at Morges, Switzerland. It is run by a President and an Executive Board, who are elected triennially at a General Assembly. The Union, in association with the Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa South of the Sahara (CCTA), held a Symposium on Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in Modern African States at Arusha, Tanganyika, in 1961, and a similar conference on Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in Tropical South-East Asia was organized in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1965. Both these Regional Conferences recommended conservation measures that are now being implemented by states, governments, and appropriate organizations in those regions. At the FAO Conference held at Santiago, Chile, in 1964, and also at the Mar del Plata Conference convened by the Organization for American States in 1965, recommendations were adopted emphasising the need for a Latin-American Regional Conference on Conservation. The I UCN Executive Board, at a Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, in July 1966, following its Ninth General Assembly, accordingly approved a recommendation of its Latin-American Committee on National Parks, to hold a Regional Conservation Conference in Latin-America in 1968. The Conference accordingly took place in the Hotel Llao-Llao, near San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina, from 27 March to 2 April 1968. The site of the Conference adjoined the Nahuel Huapi National Park, the largest National Park in Argentina, and was c o r n mended by all as being ideal for such a g a t h e r i n g not only because of the scenic and conservation values of the Park, but also for historical reasons, Dr Francisco P. Moreno having donated 'three square leagues' of land to the State in November 1903, to form the nucleus of the Park. The Conference was organized by IUCN and co-sponsored by UNESCO and FAO, both of which sent strong delegations. IUCN's thanks are particularly due to the Government of the Republic of Argentina, under whose auspices the Conference took place, the Department of State for Agriculture and Livestock being responsible for its running. It was attended by a total of 155 participants from 13 countries in Latin-America, from 4 other countries, and from 10 International Organizations.