Species Survival Commission E-Bulletin - November 2001

This bulletin, as a supplement to Species, SSC's published newsletter, aims to keep staff, members, and the wider IUCN network up-to-date with news and announcements from the Commission.

Previous issues:

PLANT CONSERVATION NEWS
SSC's steering committee for plant work, the IUCN/SSC Plant Conservation Committee, met in Montreal 10-11 November. Chaired by David Given, the Committee reviewed progress made by the Plants Programme during the last year. It advised on potential new Chairs and Specialist Groups for regions such as Madagascar, the Flora Malesiana region (in East Asia), Hawaii, and the Arctic; reviewed proposals for the conservation of crop wild relatives and support for plant Red Listing and biodiversity indicators; discussed communications issues including the new website and the "Top 50" programme; discussed the draft IUCN ex situ policy statement, and links with important meetings such as the World Parks Congress and the International Conservation Biology meeting. The group also finalised plans for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) plant strategy which is seen as a key step forward in accomplishing the Programme's work (see following paragraph). The PCC is very grateful to the Montreal Botanical Garden for hosting this meeting.
Global Plant Conservation Strategy at SBSTTA 7
While the main focus of the Seventh Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA7) to the CBD, in Montreal, 12-16 November was forest biodiversity, delegates also worked on a proposal for a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. This strategy is an overarching framework containing 16 specific targets to be achieved by the year 2010. While the delegates supported the idea of a target-driven strategy for plant conservation, and stressed the need for an integrated approach, the level of targets has not yet been agreed. Much work will need to be done in January before a consensus document is to be presented to the Conference of the Parties in April 2002. The Strategy aims to provide direction to existing plant programmes, stimulate co-operation between these programmes, and facilitate the identification of gaps so that the targets can be attained.

PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR SSC MEMBER
An SSC member has won a prestigious national award for her contribution to wildlife conservation. María Elena Zaccagnini, Vice-Chair of the SSC Sustainable Use Specialist Group (SUSG) and Chair of the South America - Southern Cone SUSG, was recently presented with a Francisco de Asis Award by the Natural Science Society of the Argentine Litoral (a region in Argentina). María Elena, who works for Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA, Argentina), received the award in recognition of the hard work she and her colleagues have done at INTA to conserve migrant bird populations and resident wildlife in agricultural areas in central and eastern Argentina. Every year a small number of Francisco de Asis Awards are presented to Argentinian scientists and journalists who make important contributions to nature conservation.

AFRICAN-EURASIAN MIGRATORY WATERBIRDS
Mariano Gimenez Dixon represented IUCN/SSC at the second meeting of the Technical Committee of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). This was hosted by the Biological Station Tour-du-Valat, France, 5-7 November. IUCN/SSC assists in the technical and scientific aspects of implementation of the Agreement. Among the key topics discussed were: lead poisoning in waterbirds (which included a report on the non-toxic shot workshop help in Romania in October 2001); development of a format for Species Action Plans; implementation of the AEWA International Implementation Priorities 2000-2004; establishment of a small conservation grants fund; amendments to the AEWA Action Plan; developments on the Global Register for Migratory Species (GROMS); and the development of the Agreement's website (http://www.unep-wcmc.org/AEWA/index2.html). The next Technical Committee meeting will be held in Tanzania in May 2002.

LAUNCH OF THE RED BOOK
The Red Book: The Extinction Crisis Face to Face produced by IUCN/SSC in partnership with Cemex, one of the world's largest cement companies, and Agrupación Sierra Madre, a Mexican conservation organisation, is a dramatic new tool to communicate the issues surrounding extinction and conservation to broad audiences. Drawing on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - the Red Book combines awe-inspiring imagery with solid science and factual accounts. More than 100 stunning photographs from some of the most renowned photographers reflect the extraordinary beauty and diversity of the natural world. The launch of the book, expected to be led by the Canadian Minister for the Environment, takes place at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa on Monday 3 December. An information kit will be posted on the IUCN website (www.iucn.org) on the launch day.

SSC MARINE CONSERVATION PROGRAMME PLANNING
An SSC Marine Programme Planning Meeting was held 5-7 November at the offices of Conservation International in Washington DC. Convened by the Ocean Conservancy, organised by Amie Brautigam and facilitated by Simon Stuart, the meeting brought together 26 participants representing a wide range of expertise, organisations and geographical areas. Chairs of the SSC Shark, Coral Reef Fishes, Caribbean Fish, Sirenia, Cetacean, Mollusc, and Grouper and Wrasse Specialist Groups were present. Targets and priorities in terms of marine biodiversity conservation were identified within the framework of the 2001-2010 SSC Strategic Plan. Forty targets were identified covering four issues (use and exploitation of marine resources; habitat loss and degradation; invasive species; and climate change) and four tools (related to protected areas, tenurial rights, public outreach, and SSC management) to be used to help meet these targets were outlined. There was strong consensus on the need for a paper explaining why and how fishing pressure can drive species to extinction. Other top priorities included: an analysis of damaging, non-selective fishing gear; an improvement of fish monitoring methods; a need to address the mariculture issue; production of a briefing on vulnerable life histories for fisheries; closer working relations with the SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group; addressing threats to spawning aggregation; compilation of case studies on non-consumptive uses of live marine resources; and identification and assessment of marine "hotspots". A meeting report will be produced shortly and follow-up activities will be coordinated by the SSC Secretariat.

SSC INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION SCOPING WORKSHOP
Following the marine meeting, an Invertebrate Scoping Workshop was held 7-9 November organised by SSC and facilitated by Onnie Byers of the SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group. This was a first opportunity for Chairs of all the SSC invertebrate Specialist Groups (Inland Water Crustacean, Mollusc, Odonata, Social Insect, Southern African Invertebrates) to meet and work together. Other invertebrate specialists from conservation organisations and scientific institutions attended the meeting which brought together 13 participants from four continents. Over 95% of all described animal species are invertebrates. To most effectively tackle the many and diverse conservation needs for these species, the workshop aimed to develop a strategy for enhancing SSC's input to global invertebrate conservation through its own invertebrate network. The main issues were discussed and the meeting resulted in a series of detailed tasks and outputs leading to the development of a plan of action for SSC's invertebrate conservation work. The following topics were identified (in order of priority): lack of taxonomic and conservation related knowledge; habitat destruction; human resources issues; invasive species; lack of awareness; pollinator loss; and climate change. Exploitation and sustainable use were recognized as additional issues.

NEW SPECIES PROGRAMME INTERN
Luke Watson has joined the Species Programme as publications intern. Luke who has a masters degree in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, London, will be editing Action Plans for equids, cetaceans, and sharks in the coming months.

NEW CANID SPECIALIST GROUP PUBLICATION
The SSC Canid Specialist Group has published its first Occasional Paper. "Livestock Guarding Dogs: Their Current Use World Wide" is available online at http://canids.org/occasionalpapers/

If you would like more information on any of the items included in this issue or wish to submit an item to future issues, please contact Anna Knee at alk@iucn.org; tel: +41 (0)22 999 0153.