Aban Marker Kabraji is the former director of the Asia Regional Office of the IUCN, the world’s largest nature conservation organisation. Ms. Kabraji has recorded a video message in which she notes that the objectives of the World Exhibition are in harmony with the nature sustainability and nature conservation work pursued by the IUCN in the Asian region.

The World Exhibition’s new ambassador led the Asia Regional Office of the IUCN as director for more than 20 years, and also held the office of Director of the IUCN Regional Hub for Asia-Oceania (which comprises 15 countries and more than 70 environmental initiatives). She also holds positions in several other international entities: the Advisory Committee of the UN Centre for Regional Development or the Board of Trustees of TRAFFIC International. She led the External Review of the International Institute for Environment and Development (2011-2012), sits on the Green Economy Coalition Steering Group, was recently appointed Team Leader of the Special Policy Study on the “Green Belt and Road Initiative and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. Furthermore, she is a member of the External Advisory Board for the Yale Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, a McCluskey Fellow.

Ms. Kabraji told the office of the World Exhibition that she considers the main goal of the event as being the presentation of established nature conservation best practices. She stressed that the most important tasks of nature conservation include projects which she herself coordinated in Asia as IUCN regional director, such as those focusing on medicinal plants, the sustainable use of large mammals, and trophy hunting. Regarding the latter, she said that this activity increases the value of wild animals for local communities to such a degree that it results in investments for the protection of larger populations. In the long term, all this aids the development of communities in small villages and reduces poverty.