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PERSPECTIVES ON THE SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION: THE FIRST 50 YEARS

The Species Survival Commission (SSC) of IUCN-The World Conservation Union-celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. This volunteer network of research scientists; natural resource managers; museum, zoo, aquarium, and botanic garden staff; and lay conservationists has grown from a few dozen people at its start to now more than 7000 members representing nearly every country in the world. SSC's volunteers are distributed in 110 Specialist Groups, ranging from those on single species (as in the African Elephant group), to larger taxonomic assemblies (as in the palm or butterfly groups) and interdisciplinary concerns (as in the invasive species group). SSC's special Task Force on Declining Amphibian Populations, formed in 1990, now numbers more than 1000 scientists and field workers addressing the extent and causes of sudden extinctions and decimations of amphibian species around the world. The following account highlights SSC's history and present concerns. A more detailed overview is given by Rabb and Sullivan (1995).

Thanks to a gift of $1 million in 1990 from the Sultanate of Oman in honor of Sir Peter Scott, former chair of the Commission, the Specialist Groups have produced 50 conservation Action Plans and developed or improved approaches and techniques for assessing conservation priorities. In most cases, addressing the actions identified in the plans requires comprehensive, long-term programs. In the instance of the African primates, fully one-quarter of the identified projects have not been carried out because of civil strife. Other difficulties include simple lack of financial or human resources, inadequate policy or regulatory instruments, and insufficient communications with concerned stakeholders or constituencies.

Peter Scott left another legacy to SSC, and that was the idea of identifying those species most in danger of extinction, which led him, in 1966, to start the Red Data books on the vertebrates so threatened; these led in turn to the IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Animals. Following on Peter Scott's legacy, the SSC initiated a system of Red Data Book Categories in 1963, which was radically revised in 1994 into the more objective IUCN Red List Categories. The first-ever IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants made its appearance in 1998, and was followed by a more detailed assessment of tree species in the World List of Threatened Trees.

Analyses of the IUCN Red Lists have shown that nearly 25% of the 4400 known mammal species are threatened with extinction, as are 11% of the birds. The less well reviewed reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and invertebrates appear to be more like the mammals in degree of threat, while on the plant side, at least 12% of the 325,000 known vascular plant species are threatened. Overall, the summary data in hand continue to confirm that we have a major episode of extinction ahead. Robert May emphasized this point in remarks to the IUCN upon its 50th anniversary occasion in 1998.

The ongoing IUCN Red List Programme is now informed by a rigorous set of quantitative boundaries, largely developed under the leadership of Georgina Mace in a thorough consultative process. The most frequently used criteria are population numbers, geographic range, and trends in numbers. Population viability analyses are employed more rarely. The latter process is facilitated by instruments such as VORTEX, a simulation modeling program distributed by SSC's Conservation Breeding Specialist Group. This group also has developed tools for quick prioritization of taxa for conservation action and has assisted government wildlife agencies in many countries, including the United States.

The range of activities undertaken by SSC is staggering, and includes the monitoring of emerging problems in wildlife trade; representations to international conventions such as CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the International Wetlands Convention; and assessments of the conservation status of species.

Among current primary concerns within the global IUCN and SSC memberships are the increasing problems with invasive species and with sustainable uses of living natural resources. SSC's Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) will play a key role in the IUCN Global Initiative on Invasive Species, developed in response to rapidly growing evidence showing that alien invasive species of plants and animals are having profoundly negative impacts on species and genetic diversity at local and global levels.

Probably the thorniest arena in which SSC is involved is sustainable use of living natural resources. In 1991, an effort was launched to develop an IUCN policy on ecological principles for sustainable use management. Robert Prescott-Allen led this work, which solicited the input of hundreds of experts and practitioners around the world. However, the result was considered too removed from the realities of regional differences in environmental, social, and political settings. A second Sustainable Use Specialist Group was then formed along regional lines (there are now 13 regional subgroups). A simple policy statement has been crafted and is under review by the members of IUCN. The statement speaks to the factors in supply and demand for natural products and the control mechanisms that need to be in place, while considering environmental and socioeconomic variability. This topic likely will continue to be a major subject of debate, and to challenge us to study options for true sustainability. The Convention on Biological Diversity is demanding more from signatory countries with respect to developing programs for conservation of their biodiversity, and sustainable use is the hope of many parties.

A prime challenge to the SSC at this time is organizing the information held by the network in more accessible forms. The Species Information Service (SIS) currently in development is conceived to be the answer to data collection and analysis issues, providing access to the network's expertise to managers, policy makers, students, and the SSC's volunteers themselves. The SIS initiative is considered an essential part of a broader IUCN program to establish a Biodiversity Conservation Information System that would link materials from biological, economic, legal, and other realms to inform conservation actions, studies, and policy making.

Finally, it should be noted that despite its name, the Species Survival Commission has a broad conception of its mission to help save species. That is, habitat and general environmental considerations are the thrust of many activities of the SSC network, for habitat destruction and degradation remain the primary immediate causes of the loss of species. SSC works with IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas in safeguarding areas for the biota wherever possible, and with other parts of the IUCN as opportunities and issues arise. In this connection the rather rapid growth in regionalization of the IUCN poses a challenge to the SSC. Specifically, it is difficult to muster the volunteer efforts of the SSC in timely responses to the conservation threats and opportunities that arise locally, nationally and regionally, and it is also difficult to reconcile the global orientation of the dominant taxonomic elements of SSC with the particulars of regional needs.

Nevertheless, it is clear that more locally determined work is in prospect, and this accords with the prevailing view that for conservation to succeed it must have a base of commitment from local communities, preferably coming with a beneficial relationship between people and the local environment. For this reason SSC leadership has been promoting training in communications and in facilitating the resolution of conflicts that arise in stewardship of living natural resources. Although the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program is helping conservation biologists acquire the requisite skills to communicate and advocate more effectively, such training must be extended around the world to many more individuals to maximize the success of their conservation efforts.

References

Baillie, J., and B. Groombridge, editors. 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of threatened animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

IUCN. 1994. IUCN Red List Categories. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

May, R. 1998. Conservation: dealing with extinction. Pages 48-62 in Imagine tomorrow's world. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland

Oates, J.F., and the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group. 1996. Status survey and conservation action plan (revised edition). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Oldfield, S., C. Lusty, and A. MacKinven, editors. 1998. The world list of threatened trees. World Conservation Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Prescott-Allen, R., and C. Prescott-Allen, editors. 1996. Assessing the sustainability of uses of wild species. Occasional papers 12, IUCN Species Survival Commission, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Rabb, G.B. and T.A. Sullivan. 1995. Coordinating conservation: global networking for species survival. Biodiversity and Conservation 4:536-543.

Walter, K.S. and H.J. Gillett, editors. 1998. 1997 IUCN Red List of threatened plants. IUCN - The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Further information on SSC Specialist Groups, newsletters, publications, and SPECIES, SSC's biannual newsmagazine, can be accessed on the Internet at www.iucn.org/themes/ssc.

George Rabb received a 1998 SCB Distinguished Service Award for extraordinary contributions to biodiversity conservation while chair of the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union.

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