The Full form of IUCN is International Union for Conservation of Nature. IUCN was established in the year 1948 and has its headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. It was formerly known as World Conservation Union. IUCN engages and promotes a mutually beneficial and a long term view towards the conservation of the earth’s flora and fauna. The world’s oldest organization IUCN, which was formed for the conservation of biodiversity, is a wide network of environmental organizations.

It was founded as the International Union for the Protection of Nature for the sustainable use of nature’s resources and to promote natural conservation. IUCN organisations comprised of 1300 Member and the input of over 15,000 experts which sets the direction for the work of the Union’s and global conservation. Its members comprise both civil society and government organizations. This vast expertise and diversity makes it a global authority for the conservation of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

The functions of IUCN are to promote the nature’s conservation and sustainable use of its natural resources, to gather and analyze the data, field projects, conduct research, etc., to work for poverty alleviation, gender equality, and sustainable business, to create and publish IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and more.