IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Much more than posters

14 November 2008 | News story

No less than 115 posters joined together with the over 800 events that took place during the four days of the Forum, to powerfully communicate conservation messages through visual means. 

The posters took centre stage in the busy hall between workshops, and turned the heads of the 8000 delegates of the Forum.

Depicting a range of topics from innovations at the community and local level, to scientific and academic issues, to policy and governance concerns, the poster session provided a haven for participants to take a break from the presentations and debates taking place at the Forum.

The posters reflected the diversity of issues and topics at the Forum, from the successes and failures of governments and enforcement agencies to protect and conserve the environment, to stories by village women whose main source of livelihood are the natural resources surrounding them.

A team of IUCN staff served as a jury to select top three posters. The main criteria included originality, content, relevance of the message and visual impact.

In no particular order, the first of the three winners of the poster competition is From Addax to Zorilla: conserving Saharan wildlife, a poster created by Sahara Conservation Fund, which dispels the myth that deserts are empty spaces. The poster highlights how ecotourism can contribute to the livelihoods of local people.

The other winning poster is Eco-regional Conservation Strategy with a Participative Perspective, created by Fundación Pro-Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The poster brings together the causes and effects which link humans to their environment: “There is no water in the faucet ... because there is no water in the aqueduct ...because there is no water in the river ... because there is no water in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Heart of the World ... because its forests were felled and burnt.”

The third winning poster, Cultural Renewal for Sustainable Development, created by Fundacion Andaluza Fondo de Formacion y Empleo Consejerio de Empleo Junte de Andalucia. This poster asks what is required to make a deep-rooted permanent change and calls for a transformation that begins with the viewer. The poster suggests that biocultural diversity management, comprehensive diagnosis, training and raising awareness on values, of new ideas that begin from within.