Species Survival Commission E-Bulletin - April 2002

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

Previous issues:

In this issue:

Global Strategy For Plant Conservation Adopted - A CBD landmark
Status review of South African mammals
Orchid Specialist Group celebrates launch of first day covers
Indian Subcontinent Regional Orchid Specialist Group meeting
Red List training workshops
Specialist Group central to fight against invasive alien species on islands
SSC member wins Whitley Award
New South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group
Wetlands International Specialist Group network meeting
SSC at the CITES Animals Committee meeting
Strategic Planing for Reintroduction Specialist Group
Scoping IUCN's future work on trade

GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR PLANT CONSERVATION ADOPTED - A CBD LANDMARK
Delegates at the sixth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP6 - CBD) have adopted the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. The decision, made on Friday 19 April at the close of the two-week conference, is a landmark in the history of the CBD. It is the first time that plant conservation issues have received such detailed scrutiny by the governments of the world (183 countries are Parties to the Convention). It is also the first time that targets have been set to guide, as well as monitor, progress by the Convention. More information.

STATUS REVIEW OF SOUTH AFRICAN MAMMALS
A workshop was held earlier this month as part of a review being conducted by the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) of the status of about 300 terrestrial and marine mammals in South Africa. More than 80 taxonomists, academics, field biologists and researchers across the country have been collecting data for the past three months. The project will update the 1986 Red List of South African Mammals and its findings will feed into the global IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. The workshop was facilitated by Onnie Byers of the CBSG and SSC's Red List Officer, Craig Hilton Taylor.

ORCHID SPECIALIST GROUP CELEBRATES LAUNCH OF FIRST DAY COVERS
To commemorate the International Year of Mountains (2002), Bhutan Post has issued a special set of first day covers entitled 'The Jewel Orchids of the Dragon Kingdom', a project which closely involved the SSC Indian Subcontinent Regional Orchid Specialist Group (ISROSG). The ISROSG helped develop the stamps through its Chair Udai Pradhan, and his daughter Hemlata Pradhan, who is also a member of the Group. Hemlata, a botanical illustrator from the Sikkim Himalayas, India designed the series of six stamps based on her water colour paintings. The stamps were released by Her Majesty Queen Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk of Bhutan at the opening ceremony of the recent ISROSG meeting in Thimphu, Bhutan's capital. More information.
ISROSG MEETING
Bhutan's Minister of Agriculture attended the ISROSG meeting and stressed the need for balancing the development of orchid growing enterprises with orchid conservation in the wild. Mr Pradhan suggested that orchid growing, if managed sustainably could become a good source of revenue for the mounting number of unemployed Bhutanese youths. A well informed public that benefits from its natural resources can be the only long term solution to the protection of orchids and many other wild species, he said. Topics covered by the meeting included: the threat posed by the Teesta hydro-electric dam project to orchid habitats in the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and the Teesta Valley; recovery planning; the use of Himalayan species in breeding modern orchid hybrids; commercial orchid nurseries and CITES regulations; and field studies of threatened orchids.

RED LIST TRAINING WORKSHOPS
A Red List workshop, organised by The Netherlands Committee of IUCN (NC-IUCN) and the Centre of Environmental Science was held on 17 April at the National Herbarium in Leiden. Its main purpose was to test the application of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (and the regional application guidelines) on known national species data, against the Dutch criteria and categories. About 25 experts who are involved in the Red List process in The Netherlands provided local cases studies to work on, varying from fungi to higher vertebrates. This was part of a wider process within The Netherlands to update the Dutch list of threatened species. The NC-IUCN plans to organise a European Red List workshop in the Netherlands in November 2002.
SSC Red List Officer Craig Hilton Taylor conducted a further Red List training workshop for about 25 Herbarium staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK, on 23 April.

SPECIALIST GROUP CENTRAL TO THE FIGHT AGAINST INVASIVE SPECIES ON ISLANDS
The SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is central to implementing a new initiative aimed at combating invasive alien species on islands. The Cooperative Initiative on Invasive Alien Species on Islands was unveiled by New Zealand's Conservation Minister, the Hon. Sandra Lee, at the recent CBD conference. It has been developed by New Zealand, IUCN, and the Global Invasive Species Programme, on behalf of Pacific islands, and other island countries. More information.

SSC MEMBER WINS WHITLEY AWARD
John Mauremootoo of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, and member of the SSC Indian Ocean Island Plant Specialist Group has won the Whitley Award for International Nature Conservation. The award is in recognition of his relentless work in spearheading community initiatives to restore the fast-disappearing native forests of the Island of Rodrigues, Mauritius. The winners of this prestigious award were announced by HRH The Princess Royal at the Whitley Laing Foundation's recent annual awards ceremony in London. Rodrigues Island is home to some of the most threatened plants in the world, including many known from less than 10 individuals in the wild, and one reduced to a single plant.

NEW SOUTH ASIAN INVERTEBRATE SPECIALIST GROUP
A South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group has been formed as part of the move to enhance IUCN/SSC input into global invertebrate conservation efforts. The Group's co-chairs are Dr T. N. Ananthakrishnan, an internationally known entomologist, and Dr B.A. Daniel who has worked for the Zoo Outreach Organisation for several years, and initiated its invertebrate network. Both are based in India.

WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL SPECIALIST GROUP NETWORK MEETING
A meeting of the waterbird networks (Specialist Groups shared between SSC and Wetlands International) was held 18-19 April in Wageningen, The Netherlands. The meeting, involving Specialist Groups chairs and coordinators, was called to initiate a new work programme between Wetlands International, SSC and its Specialist Groups. Key areas covered included: finalising the new Wetlands International Strategy 2002-2005, and the associated programme work plans; Specialist Group work plans for the coming years, in response to the Strategy; peer review of the Waterbird Population Estimates 3rd Edition; the review of scientific support and synergies amongst partners of the Ramsar Convention; and network development and support.

SSC AT THE CITES ANIMALS COMMITTEE MEETING
SSC was well represented at the recent Animals Committee meeting in Costa Rica. Issues of particular relevance to IUCN/SSC included developing guidelines for conducting rapid reviews of species, and a system for highlighting 'look-alikes' and those species for which there is no reported trade. IUCN, with partner organisations, is planning to undertake a series of 'rolling reviews' of the conservation status of species, and noted potential opportunities for synergy with CITES, once it has been able to highlight priority species. These will emerge with the ongoing extension of the Red List taxonomic coverage. On the subject of universal labelling of caviar and conservation of sturgeon, the CITES Secretariat will work with the SSC Sturgeon Specialist Group's sub-group on genetic and molecular identification, to promote the collection of specimens. It was recommended that the Animals Committee, in conjunction with various parts of IUCN and other relevant organisations, establish a working group to deal with the socio-economic aspects of sturgeon conservation and trade. For a more detailed report of the meeting see: http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/cites/CITA2/

STRATEGIC PLANING FOR REINTRODUCTION SPECIALIST GROUP
SSC's Reintroduction Specialist Group (RSG) held a strategic planning workshop last month in Abu Dhabi to guide the group's activities for the next five years within the framework of the SSC Strategic Plan. Topics covered included evaluating the impact and influence of the RSG, lessons learned, role of the RSG within SSC and the wider conservation community, the significance of reintroductions in conservation, and prioritisation of tasks.

SCOPING IUCN'S FUTURE WORK ON TRADE
Species Programme staff joined colleagues from other IUCN global programmes, commissions, multilateral and regional offices, and TRAFFIC, in a biodiversity and trade programme development meeting on 22 April. Invasive and threatened species; the precautionary principle; intellectual property rights, traditional knowledge and access and benefit sharing mechanisms were among the issues discussed. International governance and market mechanisms are among the areas identified by IUCN to further its work on trade through a newly established steering group.

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.