UNIÃO PLANETÁRIA EM PROL DA NATUREZA

Abstract

The present paper draws upon the initial history of IUPN – International Union for Protection of Nature. It highlights the necessary steps that took place in order to form an international coalition to propose and set up a membership Union that is formed by government and civil society members. The roots of a growing interest about nature protection, preservation or conservation is traced back to the history of ideas and concepts such as wilderness, the principle of plenitude, the principle of diversity and conservation biology and ethics. Such ideas of major significance to modern conservation and to the science of ecology ─ the creation of new protected areas, protection of threatened species ─ were intertwined with different romantic and artistic expressions that transformed the values and aesthetic experiences associated with scientific discovery and understanding of life in its many forms.