IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) E-Bulletin - June 2003

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:

MODERN LIFESTYLE THREATENS OLDEST SEED PLANTS ON EARTH
A RAY OF LIGHT FOR SOUTH AMERICA'S SHARKS AND RAYS
INTERNATIONAL NEOTROPICAL ORCHIDOLOGY CONFERENCE
IMPORTANT PLANT AREAS TO PROTECT MEDITERRANEAN FLORA
ACCOLADES FOR SSC MEMBERS
RED BOOK OF COLOMBIAN PLANTS
NEW SPECIALIST GROUP WEBSITES
RED BOOK DONATION AND EXHIBIT IN SPAIN

Secretariat News
SSC AT DEFYING OCEANS' END CONFERENCE
NEW SPECIES INFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER
SPECIALIST GROUP CHANGES
NEW SSC INTERNS
SPECIES 39 IN THE MAIL AND ON THE WEB

MODERN LIFESTYLE THREATENS OLDEST SEED PLANTS ON EARTH WARNS NEW CYCAD ACTION PLAN
Cycads, the oldest seed plants on earth, are now also amongst the most threatened plants in the world cautions a new SSC Action Plan. Two species have gone Extinct in the Wild and continuing pressure from modern lifestyles suggests that more are likely to join them. Full news release and Action Plan online.

A RAY OF LIGHT FOR SOUTH AMERICA'S SHARKS AND RAYS
Experts from eight countries gathered in Brazil last week to assess the conservation status of sharks and rays in the South American region in a workshop organised by SSC's Shark Specialist Group. Full news release.

INTERNATIONAL NEOTROPICAL ORCHIDOLOGY CONFERENCE
SSC Orchid Specialist Group members and IUCN's Regional Office for Mesoamerica were central to the 1st International Conference on Neotropical Orchidology held at the Ciudad de la Investigación de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, in May. Participants from 21 countries took part in a programme that included information and data management, in situ and ex situ conservation, and education. Several advances on many conservation fronts throughout Mesoamerica were reported. The Proceedings will be published as a collection of extended abstracts in Lankesteriana. Enquiries to: Jardin Botánico Lankester, Universidad de Costa Rica, P.O. Box 10317050, Cartago, Costa Rica, A.C.

IMPORTANT PLANT AREAS TO PROTECT MEDITERRANEAN FLORA
Bertrand de Montmollin (Chair) as well as other members of the SSC Mediterranean Island Plant Specialist Group and the IUCN/SSC Plants Officer participated in a workshop on Important Plant Areas (IPAs), hosted by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and Plantlife International in Malaga, Spain, 27-28 June. Identifying Important Plant Areas is a key conservation tool to ensure the long-term future of plant species and their habitats, as adopted in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. This calls for "the protection of 50 per cent of the most important areas for plant diversity assured" by 2010. Further IPA workshops in different parts of the world are planned to work on criteria for identifying IPAs to help fulfill the CBD target.

ACCOLADES FOR SSC MEMBERS
SSC Antelope Specialist Group member Dr. Anna Lushchekina from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Science, was recently awarded the Order of the Golden Ark by His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, for her dedication to steppe ecosystem conservation in Mongolia, Central Asia and Russia. Dr Lushchekina is honoured in particular for her work for the Saiga antelope and conservation of Mongolian gazelle. The Order of the Golden Ark was established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard to give recognition to people dedicated to nature conservation.
SSC member and long time IUCN associate, Dr Vo Quy is one of the winners of the 2003 Blue Planet Prize for his key role in conserving and restoring Vietnam's war-damaged environment and initiating community-based conservation projects. Dr Quy is Professor at the Center for Natural Resources Management and Environmental Studies at Vietnam National University in Hanoi. This year marks the 12th awarding of the Blue Planet Prize, the international environmental award sponsored by Japan's Asahi Glass Foundation.

RED BOOK OF COLOMBIAN PLANTS
Compliments go to editors Eduardo Calderón, Gloria Galeano (both SSC members) and Néstor Garcia as well as to the many contributors to Libro rojo de plantas fanerógamas de Colombia vol. 1 (Chrysobalanaceae, Dichapetalaceae and Lecythidaceae). This is one of the first Red List publications to use the 2001 IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria and it is hoped the book will be a major step towards ensuring the long-term future of the species listed.

NEW SPECIALIST GROUP WEBSITES
The number of Specialist Group websites continues to growing steadily with the recent addition of the Equid Group site, providing conservation information on the world's zebras, asses and horses. Among the range of material are species profiles, details of projects and relevant publications.

The Orchid Specialist Group (OSG) has launched its new site which provides details of the rationale of the OSG, its strategy, membership, and activities. The OSG advocates an integrated approach to orchid conservation, using both in situ and ex situ methods, including habitat management, sustainable utilisation, seed banking and reintroduction. Educating the orchid community and general public about the threats to orchids and viable solutions is critical to the success of conservation projects. Contact the webmaster, Graham Smith (webmaster@erythos.com) with feedback.

RED BOOK DONATION AND EXHIBIT IN SPAIN
Public awareness in Spain of threats to biodiversity is being promoted thanks to donations of The Red Book: the Extinction Crisis Face to Face. The book was produced as a collaboration between SSC, CEMEX and Agrupación Sierra Madre, and has proved extremely popular. Every year, CEMEX Spain donates some of the books to organizations related to the environment, and this year, 300 books were given to the Conselleria de Medio Ambiente de la Generalitat de Cataluña (Environment Ministry of Catalonia), for distribution in schools and public libraries associated with the Conselleria. CEMEX Spain also organized a Red Book photo exhibit at the Palau Robert (Paseo de Gracia, 107, in Barcelona). Inauguration of the exhibit and donation were led by the Director General of CEMEX in Spain, D. Ignacio Madridejos, and a representative of the Conseller de Medio Ambiente (Minister of Environment). The exhibit is open until 4 July.

Secretariat News

SSC AT DEFYING OCEANS' END CONFERENCE
Two SSC marine initiatives have been incorporated into the marine conservation agenda that resulted from the recent Defying Oceans' End conference, convened by Conservation International. Roger McManus, recently appointed as marine focal point on SSC's Executive Committee, helped ensure that expansion of the IUCN Red List for marine species was included as one of the meeting's marine conservation priorities. The working proposal from the meeting calls for the evaluation of over 12,000 marine species over the next 10 years at an estimated cost of US$7.25million. SSC plans a major fundraising effort for this. Also emerging from the meeting is a call for work to recast the assumptions behind much of the management of marine species, the "myths" that SSC sees as a political obstacles to better management of marine species and their habitats. This call reflects SSC's project to leverage emerging science about extinction vulnerability in marine organisms more effectively to improve policy and practice. A web page covering these activities will be available on the SSC website shortly. See also Global Marine Programme website for Defying Oceans' End outcomes.

NEW SPECIES INFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER
SSC's information management initiative, the Species Information Service (SIS) has received fresh impetus with the appointment of Mr Stuart Salter as SIS manager. Previously Stuart was Director General, Science, Technology and Advisory Services Division, Policy Branch at the Canadian International Development Agency. He has broad domestic and international experience both within Government and the private sector. Based at IUCN headquarters in Gland, Stuart takes on the critical position of coordinating this multi-million dollar initiative and is working closely with SSC Chair, David Brackett on fundraising.

SPECIALIST GROUP CHANGES
Natalia Ananjeva has taken on the Chair of the new North Eurasian Reptile Specialist Group. The Group will focus on the conservation needs of reptiles found in the former Soviet Union territory and Mongolia and complement the work of the European Reptile and Amphibian, and the China Reptile and Amphibian Specialist Groups. This is a great first step towards building a Global Reptile Specialist Group.

SSC also welcomes Roderic Mast and Nicolas Pilcher as new Co-Chairs of the Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG). Perran Ross has stepped down as interim Chair, with the gratitude of the new Co-Chairs, and the MTSG Executive Committee and membership. Rod and Nick welcome advice from other Specialist Group Chairs, and can be reached at: MTSG.CO-CHAIRS@conservation.org.

NEW SSC INTERNS
Patricia Désilets, a "jeune professionelle" from Canada, supported by the Québec Ministère des Affaires Internationales, is working with the SSC Plant Programme for six months principally on the "Top 50" plants campaign. She will also provide support to Specialist Groups for Red Listing.

Tracy Dickinson has joined the Red List Programme office in Cambridge, UK and will be helping compile and release the 2003 Red List. Tracy previously worked for the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and has written a guidebook on UK wild flowers.

SPECIES 39 IN THE MAIL AND ON THE WEB
Issue 39 (January-June 2003) of Species, SSC's newsletter is in the mail and should be reaching SSC members shortly. It is also available on the SSC website in PDF. Enclosed in this issue is the new SSC Directory and Information Resource CD which contains contact and affiliation information for SSC members as well as SSC's key documents such as policy statements. With more than 7,000 members, contact information is constantly changing, so it is impossible to keep a fully accurate record. The directory will be updated periodically as resources allow, and members are urged to notify the SSC Secretariat of any changes (Email: sscmembers@iucn.org).

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.