We are living in a pivotal moment for conservation — and youth are at the heart of it. As the climate and biodiversity crises reach critical levels, global momentum for change is growing. The decisions we make now will shape our collective future — and young people are stepping up with bold leadership and a fresh vision for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world. Around the globe, youth — who make up more than half of the world’s population — are not just raising their voices; they are organizing, driving innovation, shaping solutions, and holding institutions accountable.

However, conservation institutions are just beginning to respond. With the launch of the Youth Strategy 2022–2030, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) — the world’s largest volunteer-based network of conservation scientists — took a major step forward in its commitment to embed youth engagement across the Union. This commitment was further reinforced with the creation of the IUCN Youth Advisory Committee in April 2024, established to provide strategic guidance and ensure effective implementation of the Youth Strategy.

The limiting factor? Not youth interest — but the number of senior professionals available to mentor.

Yet, a critical gap remains between intention and impact. Young people still face significant barriers to meaningful involvement in conservation. They frequently lack connections to key networks and struggle to understand how complex decision-making systems work, making it hard for them to influence real change. At WILD.org, we’ve witnessed this firsthand. For more than ten years, we have collaborated closely with young ecological stewards worldwide through our youth-led initiative, CoalitionWILD. A cornerstone of our work is the Global Mentorship Program, which pairs emerging conservationists with experienced professionals. The demand is incredible—each year, we receive hundreds of applications from passionate young people eager to grow, connect, and make a greater impact. The limiting factor? Not youth interest — but the number of senior professionals available to mentor. And this is not unique to us. In our conversations with partner organizations and mentorship program hosts, we’ve seen the same pattern again and again: youth want connection and guidance, but opportunities remain scarce and unstructured.

This motion is both timely and necessary. It offers a concrete, actionable, and effective mechanism for engagement: mentorship. Not symbolic involvement. Not one-off panels. But sustained, meaningful relationships between emerging conservationists and experienced professionals. Relationships that foster knowledge exchange, mutual learning, long-term leadership development — and ensure continuity and legacy in conservation.

Motion 097 is the natural next step. It builds on existing momentum by embedding mentorship into IUCN’s operational toolkit. It helps organizations translate commitments into action, offering a simple yet powerful framework to nurture the next generation of conservation leaders while revitalizing senior leadership through fresh perspectives and renewed purpose.

If passed at this year’s World Conservation Congress, The IUCN will be empowered to institutionalize mentorship—not as an optional extra, but as a core component of building a future-ready movement. It will create more space for intergenerational collaboration and ensure that the experience and energy of young people are not lost, but multiplied.

We don’t need more declarations of support for youth — we need structures that make that support real. Motion 097 does exactly that. As it comes to the floor at the IUCN Members’ Assembly for further discussion, we urge all IUCN members to support and vote YES on Motion 097.

Let’s invest in our collective future by making mentorship a cornerstone of conservation.