Company type | Commission |
---|---|
Industry | Nature conservation |
Headquarters | Gland, Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jon Paul Rodríguez (chair) [1] |
Products | IUCN Species Action Plans |
Services | Endangered species assessment, planning, implementation, networking and communication |
Parent | IUCN |
Website | iucn |
The IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) is one of the six commissions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Species Survival Commission, the largest of the IUCN's six commissions, is a science-driven network consisting of 9,000 volunteer experts working in more than 160 Specialist Groups, including 17 invertebrate groups, Red List Authorities, and Task Forces. [2] The IUCN Species Strategic Plan outlines conservation priorities, with the current plan covering the period from 2021 to 2025. [3]
Since 2016, Jon Paul Rodríguez is the chair of the commission. [4]
SSC Specialist Groups are primarily taxon-specific volunteer organizations made up mostly of research biologists and natural historians. [5] Some groups focus on conservation issues specific to certain plants, animals, and fungi, while others work on broader goals like species reintroduction into former habitats, addressing climate change, wildlife health, and promoting sustainable use and trade. [2]
National Species Specialist Groups are also another type of specialists groups promoted by the SSC to create national species expert networks aimed at reversing biodiversity loss and addressing emerging sustainability challenges related to nature. [6]
Since 1986 the SSC has been publishing Species Action Plans. Action Plans are developed by SSC Specialist Groups. The plans evaluate the conservation status of species and their habitats, and establish conservation priorities. [5]
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".
Conservation status is a measure used in conservation biology to assess an ecoregion's degree of habitat alteration and habitat conservation. It is used to set priorities for conservation.
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management.
Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to an area where it has been extirpated, or to augment an existing population. Species that may be eligible for reintroduction are typically threatened or endangered in the wild. However, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control; for example, wolves being reintroduced to a wild area to curb an overpopulation of deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, some prefer the term "reestablishment".
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in The Environmentalist in 1988 and 1990, after which the concept was revised following thorough analysis by Myers and others into "Hotspots: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions" and a paper published in the journal Nature, both in 2000.
The Ethiopian wolf, also called the red jackal, the Simien jackal or Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia, it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in size and build, and is distinguished by its long and narrow skull, and its red and white fur. Unlike most large canids, which are widespread, generalist feeders, the Ethiopian wolf is a highly specialised feeder of Afroalpine rodents with very specific habitat requirements. It is one of the world's rarest canids, and Africa's most endangered carnivore.
The dama gazelle, also known as the addra gazelle or mhorr gazelle, is a species of gazelle. It lives in Africa, in the Sahara desert and the Sahel. A critically endangered species, it has disappeared from most of its former range due to overhunting and habitat loss, and natural populations only remain in Chad, Mali, and Niger. Its habitat includes grassland, shrubland, semi-deserts, open savanna and mountain plateaus. Its diet includes shrubs, herbs, grasses, leaves, shoots, and fruit.
An endangered species recovery plan, also known as a species recovery plan, species action plan, species conservation action, or simply recovery plan, is a document describing the current status, threats and intended methods for increasing rare and endangered species population sizes. Recovery plans act as a foundation from which to build a conservation effort to preserve animals which are under threat of extinction. More than 320 species have died out and the world is continuing a rate of 1 species becoming extinct every two years. Climate change is also linked to several issues relating to extinct species and animals' quality of life.
Wendy Foden is a conservation biologist, best known for her work on climate change impacts on biodiversity loss.
Koslov's pika or Kozlov's pika is a species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae. It is endemic to China. Its natural habitat is tundra. It is threatened by habitat loss. Kozlov's pika are herbivores, they are known as "ecosystem engineers" as they're known to promote diversity of different plants species. Specifically, this species of Pikas has been enlisted as "endangered" in China. Kozlov Pikas are estimated to be within the Northern edge of the Arkatag Range in China.
The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is one of six commissions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
A Regional Red List is a report of the threatened status of species within a certain country or region. It is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, an inventory of the conservation status of species on a global scale. Regional Red Lists assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit and therefore may feed directly into national and regional planning. This project is coordinated by the Zoological Society of London, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and partners in national governments, universities and organizations throughout the world.
Sapo National Park is a national park in Sinoe County, Liberia. It is the country's largest protected area of rainforest, was the first national park established in the country, and contains the second-largest area of primary tropical rainforest in West Africa after Taï National Park in neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire. Agriculture, construction, fishing, hunting, human settlement, and logging are prohibited in the park.
Perrier's sifaka is a lemur endemic to Madagascar. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of diademed sifaka It has a very small range in northeastern Madagascar where its habitat is dry deciduous or semihumid forest. Part of its range is in protected areas. It is an almost entirely black sifaka and measures about 90 cm (35 in), half of which is a bushy tail. Females are slightly larger than males.
Fungi are considered to be in urgent need of conservation by the British Mycological Society on the grounds that it is a traditionally neglected taxon which has legal protection in few countries. Current threats to fungi include destruction of forests worldwide, habitat fragmentation, changes in land use, pollution, anthropogenic climate change, and over-exploitation of commercially attractive species. Fungi population status has never been recorded until 2018 by the Royal Botanic Gardens. These surveys relay species information, threats, and current protective policies. Expertise of 210 contributors from 97 institutions in 42 countries contributes to these reports.
Peter Jackson was a British journalist, photographer and author, who took an interest in the conservation of tigers. In 1983 he became the Chair of the Cat Specialist Group, a position he held for 17 years.
Funga refers to the fungi of a particular region, habitat, or geological period. In life sciences, funga is a recent term (2000's) for the kingdom fungi similar to the longstanding fauna for animals and flora for plants. The term seeks to simplify projects oriented toward implementation of educational and conservation goals. The term highlights parallel terminology referring to treatments of these macroorganisms in particular geographical areas. An official proposal for the term occurred in 2018, despite previous use.
Bibhab Kumar Talukdar is an Indian conservation biologist. He is the founder of Aaranyak, a leading wildlife non-governmental organization based in Guwahati, India. It is a Scientific, Industrial Research and frontline environmental organization in India.
Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) are discrete three-dimensional portions of habitat that are important for one or more species of chondrichthyans and have the potential to be managed for conservation. This project is led by the Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission.