Former anti-apartheid activist Valli Moosa of South Africa was elected the new president of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) on Wednesday. IUCN is deemed the world’s largest conservation network.
”Nature conservation is everybody’s business. We will succeed if we continue to broaden our scope and involve more people,” said Moosa, following his election by the 1 000-member IUCN in Bangkok, which is playing host to the 3rd World Conservation Congress.
Moosa, 47, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, has served on the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) governing council, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, and the South African Business Trust.
He will hold the post of IUCN president for the next four years.
Moosa became Minister of Constitutional Affairs in the former Cabinet of president Nelson Mandela in 1994. He was appointed Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in 1999.
He attracted international attention through his competent mediation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and the 5th IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban. — Sapa-dpa