This monthly 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: visit the archives

In this issue:

ULIE SEAL AWARD CREATED BY SEAZA
EX SITU GUIDELINES
NEW CHAIR FOR SUSTAINABLE USE SPECIALIST GROUP
FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY PROGRESS
RED LIST REMINDERS
CROP WILD RELATIVES IN EUROPE
SPECIALIST GROUP WEBSITE ACTION
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
NEW DIRECTOR AT SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
SSC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATE

ULIE SEAL AWARD CREATED BY SEAZA
The South East Asian Zoos Association (SEAZA) has established the Ulie Seal Award to acknowledge the tremendous impact that Ulie’s life and work has had on conservation throughout the world. Ulie has served as Chair of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) since 1979 and, along with the Group, is thrilled to learn of the award: SEAZA’s recognition means a great deal to him and to those who follow his lead and continue his work of minimizing the loss of biodiversity.

EX SITU GUIDELINES
The IUCN Technical Guidelines on the Management of Ex Situ Populations for Conservation supersede the IUCN Policy Statement on Captive Breeding. Approved December 2002, the Ex Situ guidelines are now available from the SSC website in IUCN’s three official languages:
English: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/pubs/policy/exsituen.htm
French: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/pubs/policy/exsitufr.htm
Spanish: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/pubs/policy/exsitusp.htm

NEW CHAIR FOR SUSTAINABLE USE SPECIALIST GROUP
Congratulations to Dr Jon Hutton, who recently officially accepted the role as Chair of the SUSG. Contact details for the Group remain unchanged, listed at: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/sgs.htm

FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY PROGRESS
The SSC Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Programme recently received funding from Wetlands International – DGIS (Netherlands) to implement the project "Capacity building for inland water biodiversity assessment and conservation in East Africa". The Programme continues to develop methodologies for identifying priority areas for freshwater biodiversity assessment, and recently held a successful workshop in Lao PDR to refine Red List assessments and build capacity in the region.

RED LIST REMINDERS
A reminder to all SSC members that the deadline for submissions to the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is 30 April 2003. Revised, updated Authority Files are available at http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sis/authority.htm, along with a standard electronic questionnaire that covers minimum documentation requirements for those submitting assessments. All assessments have to be evaluated by the relevant Red List Authority before they can appear on the IUCN Red List, and completed assessments should be sent to the Red List Programme Office at redlist@ssc-uk.org

CROP WILD RELATIVES IN EUROPE
A new European Community-funded project initiative, European Crop Wild Relative Diversity Assessment and Conservation Forum (PGR Forum), focuses upon conserving wild relatives of socio-economically important plants native to Europe. The project brings together 31 specialists from 23 countries, with representatives from SSC and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). The objective is to provide a European forum for the assessment of taxonomic and genetic diversity of European crop wild relatives, and to develop appropriate conservation methodologies with a focus on in situ conservation. PGR Forum works with existing projects, such as Euro+Med PlantBase (www.euromed.org.uk) and the European Plant Genetic Resources Information Infrastructure (EPGRIS - www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/epgris), to bring together comprehensive taxon conservation datasets for European crop wild relatives. For more information, contact Shelagh Kell, Project Officer: s.p.kell@bham.ac.uk

SPECIALIST GROUP WEBSITE ACTION
The Grouse Specialist Group (GSG) presents its new website: http://www.gct.org.uk/gsg/
As the websites of the Pheasant SG and the Partridge/Quail/Francolin (PQF) SG, the GSG´s website is hosted at the Game Conservancy Trust (GCT) in the UK. Suggestions for future development of the site are welcome: contact Michèle Loneux at Michele.Loneux@ulg.ac.be

The Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (Southern Africa) website has been recently updated. To check it out, visit http://www.ewt.org.za/cbsg/. Contact Yolan Friedmann at cbsgsa@wol.co.za with suggestions related to the site’s development.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
“Turning the Tide: The Eradication of Invasive Species” contains 52 papers and 21 abstracts from the International Conference on Eradication of Island Invasives. The publication includes a wide assortment of projects dealing with the ecological impacts of invasive alien species, and represents significant contributions from the IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG). Abstracts of all papers featured in the publication are available on the ISSG website at http://www.issg.org/, and hard copies will soon be available from the IUCN Publications Services Unit, e-mail: books@iucn.org

“Plant Conservation in the Tropics” is an important compendium for plant conservation managers. The book’s editors contribute significantly to several of the IUCN/SSC Specialist Groups and the Plant Conservation Committee. Appendices include the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, the CAMP protocols, IUCN Re-introduction Guidelines, and IUCN Invasive Species Guidelines. Published by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, this is the first time these fundamental documents have been published together. The book also includes a number of useful case studies, many provided by SSC members. For more information, contact Wendy Strahm: was@iucn.org

"Guidance for CITES Scientific Authorities: Checklist to assist in making non-detriment findings for Appendix II exports" is now available at: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/pubs/CITES/guidance.htm.

NEW DIRECTOR AT SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Dr Cristian Samper, SSC’s Deputy Chair and Plant Conservation Committee member, has been appointed director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Since 2001, he has been deputy director and staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, a facility studying the forest canopy, plant physiology, the marine environment and other aspects of the tropics.

SSC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATE
The minutes of the SSC Executive Committee Meeting held 18-20 January are now available. Updates from previous Executive Meetings are currently posted on the SSC website at http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/aboutssc/steering.htm. Minutes from the January meeting will be posted here soon.

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 Andrew Nichols at ajn@iucn.org; tel: +41 (0)22 999 0153.