IUCN COMMISSION GROUP

IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group

Overview and description

Description:: IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group Day after day, an increasing number of species are becoming rare or even extinct in the wild. The current mass extinction threatens to undermine ...
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IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group Day after day, an increasing number of species are becoming rare or even extinct in the wild. The current mass extinction threatens to undermine the ecological fabric of nature and associated life-support systems for humanity. The Conservation Translocation Specialist Group (CTSG) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) is working with others to face emerging threats, restore species, and yield wide-ranging benefits for nature and people. Actions of our practitioners worldwide illustrate that there is hope and that positive change is possible.

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Group leadership

Dr Axel MOEHRENSCHLAGER

Chair

Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager is the Director of Conservation & Science at the Wilder Institute, Adjunct Professor at the U. of Calgary/Canada, Adjunct Associate Professor at Clemson U./USA , Erskine ...

More about the Specialist Group

The CTSG is one of IUCN’s disciplinary groups, with member representation spanning all continents. CTSG is headquartered at the Wilder Institute in Canada in partnership with the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi. CTSG developed IUCN SSC Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, which are now available in 8 languages and have been integrated into government policy in many regions. These guidelines are applicable to all species on Earth, conservation translocations have been conducted for over 1500 species, and the diversity of objectives, species, and countries of application continues to increase. CTSG advances science, informs government policy, trains practitioners, and promotes the application of conservation translocations to benefit nature. Such activities acknowledge social, cultural, political, and economic considerations and often align to enhance tangible benefits to society.

Conservation translocations can be proactive to avert extinction, or reactive to return species that have been lost regionally or globally from the wild. CTSG’s mandate includes the planning, application, or evaluation of any human-mediated translocation for conservation purposes. Such activities span translocations among regions in the wild or any form of conservation breeding, propagation, or headstarting for release. Reinforcements or Reintroductions can be used to restore populations within their indigenous range. More risky applications include conservation translocations beyond such ranges including Ecological Replacements which introduced species to restore ecological functions lost through the extinction of other species, or Assisted Colonizations which involve translocations to mitigate against emerging or inescapable threats. The application of CTSG’s guidelines extends to Rewilding Efforts that attempt to restore larger ecosystems, as well as to the controversial topic of ‘De-Extinction’ which aims to resurrect proxies of extinct species for eventual release into the wild.

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Specialist Group work

We aim to create profound benefits for nature and people by saving species and restoring the function of ecosystems. To do so, we aim to support conservation biologists and managers in designing and managing the complexities surrounding conservation translocations in terms of multi-stakeholder interests, biological uncertainties, and risk. We thereby hope to ultimately increase knowledge to plan, courage to act, certainty to secure resources, skill to respond to challenges, and the achievement of successful conservation outcomes.

IUCN Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations

The aim of the workshops is to support conservation biologists and managers in designing and managing the complexities surrounding conservation translocations in terms of multi-stakeholder interests, biological uncertainties, and risk.