About the Congress

The ILCN Global Congress is a triennial gathering that brings together organizations and practitioners advancing private and civic land conservation across seven continents.

Every three years, the ILCN partners with leading national land conservation organizations and networks to convene the global private and civic land conservation community of practice at our Global Congress. These non-profit and non-governmental organizations and initiatives are advancing voluntary, long-term, and effective land conservation on privately owned or managed lands and play a key role in complementing Indigenous-led and government-led land protection efforts to secure land and water resources for present and future generations.

Through plenary discussions, workshops, and networking, the Global Congress enables peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange on solutions, strategies, and innovations that are advancing private and civic land conservation from Santiago to Sydney. The event serves as an invaluable opportunity for inspiration, reflection, and capacity-building through workshops on key themes and issues in conservation finance; land stewardship and management; law and policy; organization and governance; and large landscape conservation.

Each Congress grows and builds upon the momentum, relationships, and outcomes that have emerged through past convenings of the ILCN, including the 2015 Global Congress in Berlin, Germany; the 2018 Global Congress in Santiago, Chile; the 2021 Global Congress in Barcelona, Spain and online; and the 2024 Global Congress in Quebec, Canada.

Intended Outcomes

• Increased knowledge of the diversity of tools and approaches being used around the world to protect and steward private land for the long-term;
• Greater understanding of strategies that can be used to advance private and civic land conservation in specific country contexts;
• The emergence and transfer of innovations in private and civic land conservation policy and practice across sectoral, jurisdictional, and geographic boundaries;
• Establishment of productive and actionable relationships among practitioners from around the world, leading to continued knowledge exchange, sharing of expertise, and sense of global community;
• Recognition and elevation of the role and importance of private and civic land conservation in achieving national and international protected area and biodiversity conservation goals;
• Celebration of the achievements of the host country’s private and civic conservation community of practice on an international stage.