A year out from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress, organizers say the host committee is on track to meet its fundraising commitment and achieve record-setting attendance.

The countdown begins this week with top IUCN organizers in town to meet with members of the World Conservation Congress National Host Committee and other environmental leaders. The congress, which will take place Sept. 1-10, will be the largest high-level international meeting that Hawaii has hosted since the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It marks the first time that a U.S. location has hosted since the IUCN’s founding in 1948.

“There’s a lot of excitement building,” said Enrique Lahmann, IUCN Congress director. “This year we are conducting regional conservation forums, and planning for Hawaii has been a main objective of these forums. It’s very interesting. Some of the challenges and opportunities that we see in Hawaii in terms of conservation and sustainable development are similar to things that we see on a global level. We recognize that Hawaii is a microcosm for what’s going on in many parts of the world.”

Lahmann said next year’s IUCN Congress will be held under the theme “Planet at the Crossroads,” emphasizing that nature conservation and human progress are not a zero-sum game. Lahmann said Hawaii was selected as the ideal host for this dialogue from eight international contenders, including Istanbul; Liverpool, England; and Rio de Janeiro.

“We visited Hawaii last February as part of the selection process,” he said. “It impressed me to see how much that people in Hawaii identify with their own land and their culture. The combination of cultural aspects, biodiversity and all of the conservation issues made Hawaii the place where the event should be held. And, quite honestly, I fell in love with Hawaii.”

Organizers are expecting Hawaii attendance to rise above the 6,700 participants who came to the Barcelona Congress and the 6,500 who went to Jeju, South Korea, the site of the most recent Congress.

“There’s strong interest in Hawaii and in having an event in the U.S., where we have a lot of members,” Lahmann said. “It certainly looks like we can achieve our goal, and if we do, that would be a record.”

Tim Johns, chairman of the World Conservation Congress National Host Committee, said the organization is working with the IUCN to generate interest and support for the Congress, which he views as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“If APEC was the Olympics of economic development, this is the Olympics of conservation,” Johns said. “We’ve got a good host committee, and we are working hard. We’re already more than halfway to our goal of raising $13 million to support the event, which will put Hawaii on the world stage.”

The committee also is working with Hawaii hotels so they will be ready to meet the IUCN’s strict environmental guidelines once registration opens next month. Johns said many Hawaii hotel rooms and venues will be needed to support the event, which the Hawaii Tourism Authority has estimated will pump a minimum of $37.7 million in visitor spending and $3.6 million in taxes into the state’s economy.

Lahmann said the event, which will draw participants from more than 160 countries, will include a global environmental parliament session — the Members’ Assembly — during which the IUCN’s member organizations will identify concerns that will guide the IUCN’s work for the coming years. The Members’ Assembly will be preceded by a public debate — the Forum, during which anyone who wishes to register may discuss pressing conservation and sustainability challenges. Throughout the event, free exhibitions will be open to the public.

“Right now we are working on identifying five or six key areas or Hawaii commitments in which IUCN can make a collective difference,” Lahmann said.