The Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (Cenesta) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable, community-based and culture-based development. As the oldest registered civil society organisation in Iran, it maintains a strong focus on field work and policy work in Iran while often contributing to work in West and Central Asia, collaborating with initiatives in other world regions and regularly engaging with conservation and development policies at the international level.  A long-time Member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and as a Founding Member of the ICCA Consortium, Cenesta is accredited with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), works closely with Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and collaborates with the European Commission (EC). Cenesta has also closely worked with other international entities and is an active member of the Global Forest Coalition. For more than three decades it has been at the forefront of policy development to demonstrate and support the efforts and results of IPs and LCs in conserving biological and cultural diversity, generating their own sustainable livelihoods and, not last, adapting to climate change.

Cenesta has a small core of staff and a large network of associates, ranging from indigenous peoples and community-based groups to women’s associations and technical experts who act on the basis of common concerns and specific capacities. Cenesta staff and associates work in the context of project contracts and/or on a voluntary basis, contributing time as well as financial and material resources for the goals of the organisation.