February 2023

The main purpose of this grant is to encourage and promote activities that contribute to the Species Conservation Cycle, through the allocation of funds of USD $2,000 to $3,500 for those projects/activities to be undertaken between 2023 and 2024.

You are invited to review the "Draft - IUCN SSC Position Statement on the Role of Botanic Gardens, Aquariums, and Zoos in Conservation." Developed by the IUCN Species Survival Commission and a group of experts, it aims to contribute to the implementation of IUCN WCC-2020-Res-079 on linking in-situ and ex-situ efforts to save threatened species. This draft will be revised, considering the inputs received during the consultation before publication.

The online consultation period will be open until February 28th, 2023.

Amplifying Success is a pillar of Reverse the Red, and this first annual celebration showcases conservation in action and efforts across the world that are making a difference for species conservation.

Get involved in our Year of Action emphasizing conservation actions you are taking to Reverse the Red.

Our End-of-year 2022 Quarterly Report included a summary of recent activities and the network’s achievements. As one can see, SSC DATA has allowed us to organize our work and systematize our reporting: 67% of targets are in progress or have been achieved already. Financial support in the order of US$ 560,000 was disbursed in support of our network of 176 Groups in 186 Countries. This year we focused on supporting peer-reviewed publications by SSC members and launched two efforts in this regard. Partnerships and work at the national level continue to occupy much of our time. Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership, Centers for Species Survival, Reverse the Red, and the Sumatran Rhino Survival Alliance show us that joining forces with others allows us to achieve larger goals.

In 2022, new funding for publications was made possible by the EAD-SSC partnership. 16 articles were published as part of a special issue in Diversity, on Assessments, Planning and Action for Conservation of Species and Ecosystems at Multiple Spatial Scales.

Read the articles published here.

As part of our partnership with Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation, three papers were published online:

Submitted by members of the IUCN SSC Afrotheria Specialist Group: Updated estimates of biotic diversity and endemism for Madagascar – revisited 20 years later

Submitted by members of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and SSC Oil Crops Task Force: Restoring the orangutan in a Whole- or Half-Earth context

Submitted by members of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group: Cheetahs persist in the wild in the remote Awdal region of Somaliland

Learn more about the SSC-Oryx Publications opportunity

A Science letter written by IUCN SSC members highlights that global restoration efforts are in danger of falling without adequate seed supply. Increasing the number and capacity of seed banks for restoration would benefit planning projects.

In this open-access paper, experts catalogue nine fundamental ecosystem services that the biotic components of indigenous freshwater biodiversity provide to people. And push the calling for protecting freshwater biodiversity in an integrated manner —authors include several SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee members and/or members of other Specialist Groups.

We are sad to announce the death of Grenville “Gren” Lucas, who served as Chair of the Survival Commission (SSC) from 1981 to 1989. Gren was a globally respected conservationist and will be especially remembered for his hugely influential leadership of the conservation of plant species.

Mark Stanley Price, who passed away on 13 December, was a conservation scientist with 40 years of experience working in Africa and West Asia. From 1979 to 1987 he designed and led the pioneering project to reintroduce Arabian Oryx to Oman, the first time that an Extinct in the Wild large mammal had been restored to a wild, free-living state.)

Session 2

21st February - 9:00 am or 4:00 pm UTC

Session 3

07th March - 9:00 am or 4:00 pm UTC

Session 4

21st March - 9:00 am or 3:00 pm UTC

IUCN Save Our Species is looking for a new Programme Officer based in Kenya to help implement and monitor species conservation projects under the African Wildlife initiative.

Apply here

Georgia Aquarium is looking to hire a full-time staff position with experience in quantitative risk assessment and modelling of wild/captive populations to join their Center for Species Survival and help them with their species conservation planning.

Apply here

The next WildTeam online training workshops are available for booking: 

Grant Writing for Wildlife Conservation

13th March - 1st May 2023 (4 hours of learning per week)

Monitoring and Evaluation for Wildlife Conservation

21st March - 25th April 2023 (3-3.5 hours of learning per week)

Project Management for Wildlife Conservation

26th April - 7th June 2023 (3.5 hours of learning per week)

• Shark News, Issue 07 | January 2023

• Seed Conservation Specialist Group, Official Newsletter, Issue 2, August 2022
  
  
• Dawn Chorus Vol 2 (2), ASTSG newsletter, September 2022
  
  
• IUCN SULi Digest, September + October 2022