The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) opened an office in Brussels in 2011 to increase its engagement with the European Union (EU) and its three institutions, namely the European Commission, European Parliament, and EU Council of 27 Member State governments, in support of WCS’s conservation programmes. In September 2018, the Wildlife Conservation Society European Union Office (WCS EU) was formed, a Belgian international nonprofit association (Aisbl - VAT: BE0711.985.839) , which assumed all the operations of the former Belgian branch office.
The WCS EU Office builds relationships with the EU, and Belgian and other European governments to amplify our global conservation impact (EU Transparency Register: 054662633848-40). Our goal is to influence EU decision-making at the science-policy interface, to safeguard wildlife and wild places worldwide.
The WCS EU Office engages with EU policymakers in key areas that contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including:
- Combatting wildlife trafficking and ensuring sustainable wildlife trade
- Applying an integrated One Health approach
- Promoting marine conservation
- Promoting natural climate solutions and tackling deforestation and forest degradation
- Contributing to the implementation of the EU-funded Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) programme
- Integrating biodiversity into EU development aid programmes to benefit Indigenous Peoples and local communities
- Influencing multilateral policy fora, such as CBD, CITES, and CMS