HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Patron of Nature
Photo: © Palais Princier de Monaco
IUCN founded the Patrons of Nature in 2010 to rally global leaders and mobilize resources in support of the Union’s vision of a just world which values and conserves nature. Patrons of Nature provide strategic guidance to the Director General and generate investment for IUCN’s Programme as well as specific flagship initiatives.
IUCN Patrons of Nature
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco has been Regent of the Principality since 2005. In 2006, HSH the Prince decided to establish his own Foundation, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, to address our planet’s environmental challenges.
The Foundation encourages sustainable and fair management of natural resources and places humankind at the centre of its projects. It supports the implementation of innovative and ethical solutions in three areas: climate change, water and biodiversity. In order to be an influential player in environmental protection on an international scale, the Foundation has established a network of men and women from the worlds of politics, science and economics, all of whom are ready to take joint action towards a common objective.
The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is an active Member of IUCN.
In the words of His Highness, "It is important to join forces to increase awareness of the importance of safeguarding our environment. We need to continue our efforts, now more than ever, to protect our planet; it is the responsibility of every single one of us so as to ensure the future of humanity.”
Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein is an international public servant and advocate for cross-cultural understanding, conflict prevention and recovery issues such as refugees, missing persons, poverty, climate change and disarmament. Her peace-building work has focused on the Middle East, the Balkans, Central and Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Queen Noor’s work in Jordan and the Arab world has focused on national and regional human security in the areas of education, conservation, sustainable development, human rights and cross-cultural understanding. Since 1979, the initiatives of the Noor Al Hussein and the King Hussein Foundations, which she founded and chairs, have advanced development thinking in Jordan and the Middle East through pioneering best practice programs in the fields of poverty eradication, women’s empowerment, microfinance, health, and arts as a medium for social development and cross-cultural exchange.
Queen Noor has made environmental priorities an essential component of her work to promote human security and conflict resolution. Shortly after her marriage in 1978, she became patron of Jordan’s Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), the Middle East’s first environmental NGO responsible for nationwide nature reserves, environmental clubs, the integration of biodiversity concepts into school curricula, for the region’s first eco-tourism/rural development projects, and for regulating diving, protecting endangered marine species, and clean up of coastal beaches and shores. RSCN programs have become regional models for conservation and sustainable development providing training and capacity building.
The Queen also chaired Jordan’s National Commission in 1990 which developed Jordan’s National Environment Strategy, the region’s first such initiative, and Jordan’s Environment Law which set standards for water use and quality, specifications to measure and control air pollution, and conditions for the establishment and operation of wild and aquatic nature reserves. She founded the Arab World’s first children’s museum in 1988 and its mobile wing targeting young people in rural areas with computers, and educational materials and recreational activities focused on environmental protection, the sciences, health, and history.
Internationally, she has focused on environmental conservation and human security with emphasis on water and Ocean health and protection issues. She is a Founding and Emeritus President of BirdLife International, Trustee Emeritus of Conservation International, member of the Ocean Elders and has received the United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Award among other honors for her activism.
Queen Noor is also involved with a number of other international organizations advancing global peace-building and conflict recovery. She is also President of the United World Colleges (UWC), a network of 17 equal-opportunity international IB colleges around the world which foster cross-cultural understanding and global peacebuilding; a Trustee of the Aspen Institute, Advisor to Search for Common Ground and Trust Women – the Thomson Reuters Foundation annual conference aiming to put the rule of law behind women’s rights.
In recognition of her efforts to advance development, democracy and peace, Queen Noor has been awarded numerous awards and honorary doctorates in international relations, law and humane letters.
HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland, is the second child of His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf and Her Majesty Queen Silvia. Prince Carl Philip is fourth in line of succession, after Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Estelle, and Prince Oscar. In 2015, he married HRH Princess Sofia. Their first child, Prince Alexander, was born on 19 April 2016. Their second child, Prince Gabriel, was born in August 2017.
Prince Carl Philip is a Major in the Swedish Amphibious Corps, has an interest in arts, design and photography. Through his company “Bernadotte & Kylberg”, he has designed several collections for many brands. In his own name he has designed a series inspired by the Red List, whose proceeds benefited the Swedish Red List.
The Prince is, among others, patron of the charity Lilla Barnets Fond which supports medical research and the development of care for new-born babies in Sweden, and the sailing race Volvo Ocean Race. The Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Foundation was established in conjunction with the wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia. The purpose of the Foundation is to counteract bullying, with the vision that children and young people will have the right and possibility to be themselves. The work focuses on combating online hate speech and spreading awareness about dyslexia. The Prince Couple’s own involvement in these issues forms the basis of the Foundation’s work.
I am extremely happy to be given the opportunity to work with IUCN and in my role as Patron of Nature; I look forward to doing great things for nature, HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden
Photo: © Al Luming
Dr. Luming AI
Luming AI, Ph.D. is the founder and President of Wuhan Dangdai Science and Technology Industries (Group) Co., Ltd, and former Chairman of Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE), which is the largest and the most influential environmental NGO in China. He is also a Trustee of TNC China Board and WWF China.
A passionate advocate and practitioner of public welfare and corporate social responsibility, AI Luming is a committed philanthropist. From 1995 to 2016, he was Head of Village Committee of Xinhong Village, Jiufeng Township of Wuhan City, and implemented rural poverty alleviation programs for over 20 years. In addition, he has led his enterprises to help students and the disabled, and actively supported the development of education.
In recent years, he has devoted more than 80% of his time to environmental protection and public welfare causes. He has been awarded the title of "Public Welfare Person of the Year" for many times due to his engagement in environmental protection. AI Luming and the nearly 1,000 entrepreneur members of SEE personally participate in environmental protection practices and exploring new modes of environmental protection. SEE members apply business wisdom to create environmental values and solve social problems, therefore become a model of modern innovation and welfare governance in serving the public interest.
Gregory C. Carr
President, Gorongosa National Park Restoration Project, Mozambique.
Greg Carr was raised near Yellowstone National Park in the State of Idaho, USA. He earned a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University in 1986. Carr subsequently created several successful computer and internet companies.
In 1998 Carr resigned from his for-profit boards and dedicated himself to philanthropic activities. In 1999, he co-founded the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University.
In January of 2008, Carr signed a long-term Public-Private Partnership with the Government of Mozambique to restore and co-manage the country’s flagship national park, Gorongosa. The various Departments of the Gorongosa Management Team:
- have increased wildlife in the Park more than 10-fold through better protection and selective reintroductions (the Park’s large fauna was nearly extirpated during a generation of civil conflict in the country);
- started an agroforestry and reforestation program on Mt. Gorongosa, protecting the only true rainforest in Mozambique and a critical water catchment for the Park;
- signed a contract with a private corporation that controls 270,000 hectares to add that land to the Park, creating a wildlife corridor north to the Zambezi River;
- created the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory. The Laboratory: conducts research with partnering Mozambican and international universities; is implementing a multi-decade all-taxa census of species in the Park; teaches advanced biology courses to scores of young Mozambicans annually; is creating the first Masters in Conservation Biology degree in Mozambique, which will be taught entirely in the Park.
- provides health care, agricultural, and education assistance to 175,000 local people who live in sixteen traditional communities that share the greater Gorongosa ecosystem with the Park.
Dr Sylvia Alice Earle (USA) is Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, Founder of the Sylvia Earle Alliance (S.E.A.) / Mission Blue, Founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research Inc. (DOER), Chair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute and former Chief Scientist of NOAA.
Author of more than 200 publications and leader of more than 100 expeditions with over 7,000 hours underwater, Dr Earle is a graduate of Florida State University with M.A. and PhD. degrees from Duke University and 27 honorary doctorates. Her research concerns the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems and development of technology for access to the deep sea.
Dr Earle is the subject of the Emmy® Award Winning Netflix documentary, Mission Blue, and the recipient of more than 100 national and international honors and awards including being named Time Magazine’s first Hero for the Planet, a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, 2014 UNEP Champion of the Earth, Glamour Magazine’s 2014 Woman of the Year, member of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark, and winner of the 2009 TED Prize, the Walter Cronkite Award, the 1996 Explorers Club Medal, the Royal Geographic Society 2011 Patron’s Medal, and the National Geographic 2013 Hubbard Medal.
Dr Earle is one of IUCN’s greatest allies in marine conservation, and together with her, IUCN is leading several campaigns to increase the number of marine protected areas and improve high seas governance, among others.
Andrew Forrest is the founder and Chairman of the Fortescue Metals Group, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer. Along with his wife Nicola, Mr Forrest is the co-founder of the Minderoo Foundation, an Australian philanthropy which takes on tough, persistent issues with the potential to drive massive change.
Andrew and Nicola Forrest launched Minderoo Foundation’s Wildfire and Disaster Resilience Program on 23 April 2020, in the wake of Australia’s cataclysmic 2019-20 bushfire season.
The programme’s ambition is to inspire a new way for global leadership to prepare for climate-induced disasters in a way that reduces the social, environmental and economic hardships that come from them.
As Mission partner, IUCN will lead in developing a blueprint for species and habitat recovery and resilience, in close cooperation with the IUCN Australian National Committee.
The program has already formed partnerships with leading organisations and experts ready to quickly boost Australia’s preparedness for the kinds of challenges the country faced in early 2020, as well as to collaborate on the development of a long term disaster resilience blueprint, said Andrew Forrest
Mr Forrest was awarded an honorary doctorate by The University of Western Australia, is an Adjunct Professor of the Central South University in China, and a lifetime Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
He is Global Patron of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, recipient of the Australian Sports Medal and the Australian Centenary Medal and is a Councillor of the Global Citizen Commission, which made a series of human rights recommendations to update the Universal Declaration of Human Rights presented to the United Nations Secretary General in April 2016.Mr Forrest was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2017 for distinguished service to the mining sector, to the development of employment and business opportunities, as a supporter of sustainable foreign investment, and to philanthropy. In 2018, he received the EY Entrepreneur of The Year Alumni Social Impact Award for the “lasting and exceptional legacy” of his philanthropic work.
Soichiro and Reiko Fukutake
A native of Okayama, Japan, Mr. Soichiro Fukutake joined Fukutake Publishing (now Benesse Holdings, Inc.) in 1973 and became Chairman and CEO in 2007. He assumes the honorary adviser from October, 2016. Through his Benesse Art Site Naoshima projects, Mr. Fukutake spearheaded the Inland Sea of Japan renaissance around Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima focused on art, nature and architecture for more than 25 years. In 2004, he established the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation (now Fukutake Foundation), opened the Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima, and was named honorary citizen of Naoshima. He has led the Setouchi Triennale, which is the international Art Festival held every three years on a dozen islands in the Seto Inland Sea, as a general producer since 2010. His honorary awards include the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts (2008), AIJ Appreciation Prize (2010), JIA Grand Prix (2011), and Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award (2012). In his quest for a sustainable future for the planet, he played a key role in establishing the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles in 2010 to reduce carbon emissions, and currently serves as the organization’s Honorary Chairman. Mrs. Reiko Fukutake is the founder and Executive Director of Rei Foundation Limited, which aims to attain social change through sustainable human development as a means of expanding people’s life opportunities and their capacity to make responsible decisions as members of the global community.
Dr Jane Goodall
DBE, Founder, Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace
Dr Jane Goodall is among the world’s most renowned ethologists, a globally famous voice of nature and a long-time member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. In July 1960, at the age of 26, Jane Goodall travelled from England to what is today Tanzania and bravely entered the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. She was equipped with nothing more than a notebook and a pair of binoculars. But with her unyielding patience and characteristic optimism, she won the trust of these initially shy creatures. She managed to open a window into their sometimes strange and often familiar-seeming lives. The public was fascinated and remains so to this day.
Today, Jane’s work revolves around inspiring action on behalf of endangered species, particularly chimpanzees, and encouraging people to do their part to make the world a better place for people, animals, and the environment we all share.
The Jane Goodall Institute is a global community conservation organization that advances the vision and work of Dr. Jane Goodall. By protecting chimpanzees and inspiring action to conserve the natural world we all share, JGI helps improve the lives of people, animals and the environment. Founded in 1977 by Dr. Goodall, JGI inspires hope through the collective action of community-centered conservation, the innovative use of science and technology, and their global Roots & Shoots program which empowers young people of all ages and is now active in more than 140 countries.
Dr Richard Leakey is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, New York where he also serves as the Founder and Chair of the Turkana Basin Institute, a Kenya based research facility that studies the history of life, past climate change and origins of humans.
Formerly Director of Kenya’s National Museums, Director of the Wildlife Conservation and Management department, founding Director and Chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Member of Parliament in Kenya and Head of the Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Richard Leakey is now focused on funding the research institute at Turkana. He is Chair of the Kenya chapter of Transparency International and Chair of WildlifeDirect, a web-based conservation advocacy and fundraising organization.
Richard Leakey played a key role in efforts to combat elephant and rhino poaching in the early 1990s. He has actively campaigned for the protection of the Great Apes and has become increasingly vocal about the threats to biodiversity arising from climate change and human population growth. Richard Leakey is Kenyan, lives in Nairobi but travels widely to promote his concerns and interests. He has published widely and has participated in many documentaries.
"For too long we have abused nature and the health of this planet. We must recognise that conservation is not a choice but an imperative and those who stand tall in support of saving nature's riches for unborn generations should feel proud, not apologetic. IUCN is a fundamental tool in fashioning our future.
Photo: Frank Mars
Frank Mars
Board Chair – Mars, Incorporated
Advisor, Strategic Programs – Mars, Incorporated
Frank Mars is Chair of the Mars Board of Directors, and whilst in this capacity, is acting as an Advisor of Strategic Programs within Mars.
Since 1990, Frank has held a variety of positions across its diverse business categories and global operations, including Electronics, Snack Food, Pet Care and Food segments across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
From 2005 to 2017, Frank served as Global President of Mars Symbioscience, leading the development of a technology-based health and life sciences venture within Mars tasked with developing and commercializing novel science and evidence-based products and services.
In 2017, Frank transitioned to Vice President of Mars Sustainable Solutions where he led a multidisciplinary team developing scalable solutions to increase the resilience and sustainability of key tropical marine and forestry raw material supply ecosystems important to Mars’ business and ecosystem preservation.
Frank is also Co-founder and a Director of Heliae®, a micro-algal-based life sciences and technology company developing commercial scale microalgae products and regenerative agricultural solutions for naturally enhancing soil health and improving overall agricultural crop resilience and productivity.
Frank earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from Yale University in 1985 and his MBA in 1990 from Duke University (Fuqua School of Business).
Laura Turner Seydel is an international environmental advocate and eco-living expert dedicated to creating a healthy and sustainable future for our children. Laura is chairperson of the Captain Planet Foundation, which has worked worldwide for 27 years to activate generations of environmentally literate children empowered to protect and sustain the natural systems upon which all life depends. She is a director of and works with the Environmental Working Group to limit the toxic chemicals in food, air, water and consumer products. In 1994, she and her husband co-founded Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
In 2004, she co-founded and is board chair of Mothers and Others for Clean Air.
Laura serves on the boards of her family’s foundations and business: the Turner Foundation, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, the Turner Endangered Species Fund and Ted’s Montana Grill. She serves on the national boards of the League of Conservation Voters, Waterkeeper Alliance, Recycle Across America, Project Drawdown, the Carter Center Board of Councilors and on the advisory board for the Ray C. Anderson Foundation.
Laura lives with her husband, Rutherford, in Atlanta. Two of their children also live in Atlanta and continue their family’s work in sustainability; their youngest attends university in Los Angeles. The Seydels’ home, EcoManor, was the first LEED-certified Gold residence in the southeastern United States.
David Evans Shaw is Managing Partner of Black Point Group, with wide-ranging interests in technology companies and public service. He is a prominent technology entrepreneur with business creation, leadership, investment and board experience that includes more than a dozen successful companies including IDEXX Laboratories (founder, CEO), Ikaria Pharmaceuticals (founding CEO, chair), and Covetrus – formerly Vets First Choice – (Cofounder, Chair) and Modern Meadow, Inc.
Shaw has served on the faculty of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership, and the Executive Department of the State of Maine. He is co-chair of the Aspen Institute High Seas Initiative, former Treasurer, trustee and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) publisher of Science, chair emeritus of The Jackson Laboratory, founding chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance, trustee-emeritus of the National Park Foundation and Maine Medical Center. Other affiliations have included the founding Advisory Board of Curiosity Stream, founder Second Century Stewardship, Executive Committee of the US-Israel Science and Technology Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, Explorer's Club, Service Year Alliance leadership council, YPO, WPO, CEO and others.
Shaw is the recipient of honorary degrees from Colby College, Bates College, Maine College of Art, and the University of Southern Maine. He was inducted into the Teddy Roosevelt Society, the Life Sciences Foundation's Biotech Hall of Fame, named Wave Maker at the 2016 Blue Ocean Film Festival, International SeaKeeper in 2013 (with Sargasso Sea board) and honored at the 2017 New York Restoration Project Hulaween Gala, and the UNH Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. Shaw has produced numerous short films and videos, and is a resident of the State of Maine.
Dr Richard Sneider is an accomplished entrepreneur, a conservationist and extreme explorer. Dr. Sneider is the Chairman of Earthbar LLC, a health supply retail company; he was co-founder of One World Star Holdings International LTD (OSI-a global vertically integrated apparel fashion conglomerate), and its Chief Strategic Officer, overseeing its mergers and acquisitions. He is a partner in Papua Diving Resorts in Raja Ampat, and an investor and active participant in the GP Management of Primestor Properties LLC, and an executive producer of feature films and documentaries.
Dr. Sneider holds degrees in Psychoanalysis and Philosophy and a PhD in Intellectual History from Claremont Graduate School, with a specialty in political ideology and hegemony identifying objectivity in strategy - a tool he has applied in his expeditions, and in business strategic planning; he has participated in conflict resolution negotiations in politically sensitive regions, and has partnered with the United Nations on initiatives. Dr. Sneider is a guest lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center on Leadership and Conservation and acts as IUCN FFSG Global Chair and Patron of Nature.
Dr. Sneider has a deep-rooted interest in exploration and fieldwork, nature, traditional societies, and their interaction. With decades of field exploration, a passion for exploring unchartered territories, Sneider has surveyed above and below water pristine places in the Americas, West Papua, Africa, Asia and the North Arctic, where he participates in biodiversity surveys, often in areas not previously surveyed or reached, and is a sponsor, field-architect and partner of Dr .Gerry Allen and Dr. Jared Diamond’s on-going Indonesian New Guinea field surveys. Dr. Sneider has been deeply involved in the world of Aquaria for 35 years, discovered the significant M sneideri fish species, and still designs, builds, and sustains complex, one-of-a-kind, world class freshwater eco-systems.
His concern for rainforests, freshwater habitats, and his belief that support for species survival, in concert with human communities, is an essential component of conserving a healthy planet, have prompted him to join the Chairman’s Council of Conservation International, the Board at the Los Angeles Zoo, the ICOA Board of National Geographic and the Board of the Humpty Dumpty Institute. Through these organisations, IUCN, and through his own activities, Dr. Sneider participates in funding and advocacy for environmental concerns. Dr. Sneider participates in a wide array of philanthropic initiatives earning him the 2017 Honoree of the City of Hope prestigious Spirit of Life award, and was recently featured in the book 100 Making a difference.
Jon Stryker is the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation, a private, global grant making organization with offices in New York City, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Cambridge, UK. Arcus supports the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) human rights, and conservation of the world's ape populations. Mr. Stryker has supported the foundation's ongoing efforts with more than $500 million in funding since its inception in 2000.
Mr. Stryker is also a founding board member of the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya, Save the Chimps in Ft. Pierce, Florida, and Greenleaf Trust bank in Kalamazoo. He serves on the boards of The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and his undergraduate alma mater Kalamazoo College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kalamazoo College and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jessica and Adam Sweidan
To address global biodiversity loss, Adam and Jessica founded Synchronicity Earth in 2009, a UK-based charity, which identifies conservation priorities and finds the people best placed to tackle them. Synchronicity Earth has two key goals: to increase the scale and impact of environmental philanthropy, and to partner with the most effective organizations and individuals to reduce the loss of species and ecosystems.
Prior to establishing the charity, Jessica ran The Synchronicity Foundation that she and Adam created in 2000, overseeing donations to projects across the globe. A slightly different approach to philanthropy meant that Adam and Jessica were deeply engaged in the projects and people they supported; project ideas were either generated through meaningful encounters, by seeking out solutions to problems, or by being recommended a direction from a trusted partner. As a result, the portfolio became a mosaic of projects which included support for a range of themes, like: scholarships and education; endangered species; social and economic development; creative endeavors and art education; health care and medical clinics; human rights and relief efforts; and the well-being of children. The Synchronicity Foundation has worked with over 70 projects in nearly 40 countries.
Adam is a founding partner and Chief Investment Officer of Aurum Fund Management Ltd. He has been investing in the alternative investment market for more than 20 years. Adam graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. Jessica also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in Philosophy and Art.
In 2015 Adam and Jessica were made Honorary Conservation Fellows for the Zoological Society of London.
