September 2022

On the Edge is contributing financial support totalling US$77,000 to be distributed across projects related to SSC Groups and evolutionarily distinct species and lineages. These grants are available for projects to be undertaken between 1 November 2022 and 30 July 2023. The third round of applications will be open between 31 August and 26 September 2022.

This new Center will contribute knowledge, experience, and capacity to global plans to save wildlife. Georgia Aquarium is one of just three such Centers in the United States whom work become a more structured part of the global conservation community, unifying under One Plan to assess, plan and act to reverse negative wildlife trends.

American Humane, the US' first national humane organization and the world’s largest certifier of animal welfare practices, recognized to Dr Jon Paul Rodríguez with the inaugural Wolfgang Kiessling International Prize for Species Conservation 2022. The “Kiessling Prize,” acknowledge those who achieve significant positive change in the field of conservation practice, theory and research.

The migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus), known for its spectacular annual journey of up to 4,000 kilometres across the Americas, has entered the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM as Endangered, threatened by habitat destruction and climate change. All surviving sturgeon species – also migratory, found across the northern hemisphere – are now at risk of extinction due to dams and poaching, pushing the world’s most Critically Endangered group of animals yet closer to the brink. The tiger (Panthera tigris) has been reassessed, revealing new population figures.

A new report by the IUCN SSC African and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups and TRAFFIC indicates that rhino poaching rates have declined since 2018, and trade data suggests the lowest annual estimate of rhino horns entering illegal trade markets since 2013. According to the report, global lockdowns and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw several African countries experience dramatically reduced poaching rates in 2020 compared to previous years.

Fondation Segré and IUCN Save Our Species are proud to announce that the second Calls for Proposals under the Fondation Segré Conservation Action Fund are now live, focus on scaled reptiles, the most diverse and largest order of all reptile groups. Applications will close by 03 October 2022.

Read the latest edition of the IUCN SSC Quarterly Report, June 2022. Learn about a new series of webinars organised by the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group; the perspectives of the Red List Committee for this quadrennium seen by his Chair, Luigi Boitani; and discover the new Red List Centre at Zoo Schwerin.

IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group' members joint effort with conservationist colleagues on an open access paper which provides a baseline and mechanism for tracking the spread of introduced and invasive alien species across countries globally.

We mourn the loss of William (Bill) Perrin, leading marine conservationist, who passed away on 11 July 2022. He was Chair of the IUCN SSC Cetacean Specialist Group from 1984 to 1991. Among the many ways in which he shaped this group and raised its profile as a major force in conservation, Bill compiled the first global cetacean Action Plan, published in 1988.

The Conservation Planning Specialist Group is looking for two dedicated, driven individuals with proven expertise, to join their team. CPSG saves threatened species by increasing the effectiveness of conservation efforts worldwide. Bringing together the right people and information to engage in collaborative conservation planning, CPSG produces practical management recommendations for conservation action. In their over 40 years of action, CPSG have helped develop conservation plans for more than 1,100 species in over 85 countries. Their 242 volunteer members help to fulfill their conservation mission to ensure that all species that need a plan are covered by an effective plan.

Full jobs’ description:
Multi-species Planning Program Officer

Single-species Risk Assessment and Conservation Planning Program Officer

The search is on for the next cohort of Whitley Award winners. If you or someone you know is making an impact through their conservation project, and need funding and international recognition; this award may be interested in. 

Applications are open until 31 October 2022.

Do you know of any early-career conservationists who need funding to support their work conserving the natural world? Future Conservationist Awards are worth up to $15,000 each and support projects in low- and middle-income countries and some high-income islands in the Caribbean and Pacific.

The application deadline is 10 October, 2022. Visit their website for more information.

The next WildTeam online training workshops are available for booking: 

Grant Writing for Wildlife Conservation
21st September - 9th November (4 hours learning per week)

Monitoring and Evaluation for Wildlife Conservation
8th November - 13th December (2.5-3.5 hours learning per week)

Conservation leadership: Learning
16th November - 14th December (2.5-3.5 hours learning per week)

Full details

Monitoring and understanding changes in biodiversity is one of the big challenges for conservation. The new IUCN guidelines “Selecting species and populations to monitor for genetic diversity” provides guidance to conservation managers through the decision and evaluation processes that take place when designing a genetic diversity monitoring programme and identifying the most appropriate set of species or populations to monitor. Monitoring changes in genetic diversity will be increasingly important in the future and this document will provide an important resource for the post-2020 Biodiversity Framework by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Full access here.

Shark News, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group magazine, Issue 6 July 2022

Gajah 50, the journal of the IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group