SSC MOURNS NEPALESE HELICOPTER CRASH VICTIMS

A helicopter tragedy in Nepal on 23 September has resulted in the loss of some of Nepal's top conservationists, including SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group Co-Chair Dr Tirtha Man Maskey, SSC member Mr Narayan Poudel, Nepalese Government Officials, and several WWF colleagues.

Dr Maskey was one of the pioneers in wildlife conservation in Nepal and recently retired from his service as the Director General of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. His death has created a gap in the Species Survival Commission, a gap not just of a Co-Chair of a Specialist Group, but a gap of knowledge, personality, dedication and much more. Mr Poudel was Dr Maskey's successor at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and a fellow rhino expert. Dr Nico van Strien, Co-Chair of the AsRSG, has sent his deepest sympathies to the families of Dr Maskey and Mr Poudel, and has sadly postponed the upcoming meeting of the South Asian members of AsRSG which was to be held at Kaziranga in October.

We are sure that you will join us in holding the families of all those killed in this tragic accident in our thoughts. We also think of the Government of Nepal, WWF and the other organisations that lost staff in this terrible accident.

Full story: http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2006/09/25_nepal.htm

54TH STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING OF CITES MAINTAINS IVORY TRADE BAN

The 54th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Standing Committee (which oversees the implementation of CITES decisions in between the major conferences) was held in Geneva on 2 -6 October. Many wildlife trade issues were addressed, including saiga, Tibetan antelope, illegal tiger trade, bigleaf mahogany and limited exports of elephant ivory from southern Africa.

It was decided not to allow exports of elephant ivory from Botswana (20 tonnes of ivory), Namibia (10 tonnes) and South Africa (30 tonnes) to proceed at this time. The sales were agreed in principle in 2002. However, they were made conditional on the ability of the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) system to establish up-to-date and comprehensive baseline data on elephant poaching and population levels. However the CITES Standing Committee determined that this condition has not yet been satisfied and the sales may not go forward.

Full story: http://www.cites.org/eng/news/press_release.shtml

This fund has helped many SSC Specialist Groups to develop species conservation Action Plans which have become reference works worldwide in the field of species conservation work. SSC has lost a great friend and supporter.

A new interface for the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) http://www.issg.org/database was launched on the 25th September. The world's premier source of free, authoritative information about introduced species that threaten native biodiversity and livelihoods now has improved content and functions. The global invasive species problem is driven by human activities and fighting back is possible provided communities and decision makers are aware of the threats and have access to information on what they can do.

For more information, please contact Michael Browne of the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group at issg@auckland.ac.nz or phone +64 9 3737599 (x86814).

SPECIES STAFF CHANGES

Tatjana Good joins the Global Mammal Assessment (GMA) team as a Research Assistant at the beginning of October. Tatjana served as Project Officer with DIVERSITAS in Venezuela for the last few years working on various biodiversity science projects. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2004. She will be a great addition as we prepare to launch some of the GMA’s initial results.

Communications

Julie Griffin, the Species Communications intern will take up a new position in the Species Programme in mid October as Project Assistant on the GEF Plants project. IUCN has formed a partnership with Botanic Gardens Conservation International (Kew, UK) and ArtDatabanken (Swedish Species Information Centre, Uppsala, Sweden), to support the implementation of the IUCN-BGCI GEF plant conservation project, which aims to support the implementation of the CBD Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in 6 countries (Cameroon, Sri Lanka; Costa Rica; Morocco; Philippines; Madagascar). Her email remains the same: julie.griffin@iucn.org

Anna Knee, who has been the Species Programme Communications Officer for six years, latterly as a job-share with Andrew McMullin, took up a new position as Writer/Editor within the IUCN Global Communications Unit on 2 October. She will provide editorial support for a range of corporate communications products including the IUCN magazine World Conservation. Her email remains the same: alk@iucn.org

Replacements are being sought for both positions and will be announced in due course.

In this second Mediterranean regional assessment, all the reptile and amphibian species existing within the region of study have been evaluated for their global conservation status. This assessment aims to assist in regional planning and to help identify internationally important sites for biodiversity. Like the first in the series, it also hopes to encourage development of a network of regional experts to enable future assessments and the continued updating of the baseline dataset.

Press release and copy of the report. http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2006/09/14_amphibians.htm

THE WORLD HERITAGE – UNESCO’S CLASSIFIED SITES

Scheduled for publication in October 2006, “The World Heritage” by Patrick Bonneville and Philippe Hemono is the most complete work to date showcasing UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. All 830 listed sites from 138 countries are featured, including the 18 recent additions made last summer at the 30th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Vilnius, Lithuania. This book is the reference about the subject. Members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) can take advantage of a special 15% advance-order discount offer now available online at www.worldheritageboutique.com.