Part of the IUCN Strategies for Sustainable Development Handbook Series, this handbook is one in a series being produced by IUCN and its partners to assist countries and communities implement Agenda 21, the action programme of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. It is suitable for people involved in strategies.

The World Conservation Union brings together States government agencies and a diverse range of non-governmental organisations in a unique world partnership over 800 members in all, spread across some 136 countries. The organisation seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitably and ecologically sustainable.