April 2020

22 April 2020 is the next deadline to submit a proposal for the Recovery of Species on the Brink of Extinction funding opportunity.

In a partnership between National Geographic, Fondation Segré and IUCN SSC, the goal of this request for funding is to halt further biodiversity decline by implementing species conservation plans for species and groups of species.

For further information, please visit the funding opportunity webpage or send an email.

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of participants and visitors, IUCN and the French government have decided to postpone the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020. Previously scheduled for 11 to 19 June 2020, it will now take place from 7 to 15 January 2021 in Marseille. Read more here.

Sign up to the Congress newsletter to receive Congress updates.

In March, an international IUCN press release reported that the African Black Rhino remains Critically Endangered, but its population is slowly increasing as conservation efforts counter the persistent threat of poaching.

The IUCN Red List now includes 116,177 species of which 31,030 are threatened with extinction.

In November 2019, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group (SSG) members and experts came together in Vancouver, Canada to assess the extinction risk of deepwater elasmobranchs. This was part of the global reassessment of all chondrichthyans for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species being undertaken through the Global Shark Trends Project.

Training: Facilitating Species Conservation Planning Processes

The CPSG’s multi-stakeholder species conservation planning processes are ‘pivot points’ in recovery efforts for threatened wildlife globally. This course shares some of CPSG’s experience with a next generation of species conservation planners. This course will run from 9-13 November 2020 at White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Florida, USA. Visit our website for details and to register.

Webinar: Facilitating A Multi-stakeholder Disease Risk Analysis Workshop

This webinar uses two examples to introduce you to the IUCN-SSC’S Disease Risk Analysis process and how it can be applied as a stand-alone process or integrated into a broader conservation planning workshop. Specific issues to consider as a DRA facilitator are highlighted.

IUCN Save Our Species funded project finds that the isolation of 2 islands has been an important factor in their protection from threats.

Photo: Timneh Parrot (Psittacus timneh) © World Parrot Trust

IUCN Save Our Species funded project describes these exciting discoveries and why the team leader risks his life for this cause.

Photo: Pristimantis bowara © Aldemar Acevedo

To have your news included in the Species e-bulletin, please email a text of 50 words or fewer, with relevant links and a small image or logo, to Hari Brooker, Species Media and Communications Officer. News received by the 20th of each month will feature in that month's edition.

The 2019 Annual Report of the Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) is now available here.

Read a summary of the meeting and full reports from each working group on topics related to the meeting theme of “Engaging Governments in Species Conservation Planning.”

On 26 April 2020, John James Audubon’s birthday, the Flamingo Specialist Group is launching International Flamingo Day. Audubon promoted the flamingo in his iconic artwork. International Flamingo Day aims to be a focal point for all to celebrate these amazing birds. More information will follow on our website, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Vulture Specialist Group

Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group

IUCN ECARO has launched calls for expertise in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the Western Balkans:

· Two international expert member positions on the regional Project Advisory Board, to support the ADAPT project. Learn more here.

· Qualified individuals to serve as independent experts on Nature-based solutions Coordination Groups. Learn more here.

All positions are voluntary. Application deadline is 27 April 2020.

The IUCN SSC online consultation on the Green Status of Species is open! Don't miss your chance to tell us what you think and how we can improve this exciting tool for charting species recovery and conservation impacts.

Closing date: 1 May 2020.

Due to the challenges presented by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) a revised closing date has been agreed for the submission of an application to the Cambridge Conservation Initiative Collaborative Fund.

The new deadline for submitting an application to the Collaborative Fund is Wednesday 1st July 2020. 

In conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Durham University and RSPB, the British Ornithologists' Union conference (including online participation) on birds and climate change is due to take place on 24 November 2020 in Peterborough, UK.

The deadline for both in-person and Twitter submissions is 30 April 2020.

Do you work, study, or do research in conservation? Join over 1,700 other conservationists in 94 countries in this 8-minute survey about Life in Conservation. This information will contribute to understanding of welfare in the conservation sector.

The survey is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Kiswahili, and is completely anonymous. 

Please share and learn more at #lifeinconservation on Twitter!

TRAFFIC have recently launched its Wildlife Trade Portal – the most comprehensive open-access portal of wildlife seizure data. A presentation and demonstration of the Portal is available through this recording of the launch event held on 2 April 2020.

The Dama Gazelle (Nanger dama) Conservation Strategy 2019-2028 has been published in English and French. It is jointly produced by ASG, Al Ain Zoo and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and follows a planning workshop held in Al Ain, UAE.

Hi- and low-res versions and a wall map are available for download here.

Conservation Planning Specialist Group Senior Program Office Phil Miller is a co-author on the newly published “Aquatic Disease Risk Analysis: Applications for the conservation and management of freshwater mollusks” in Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation. Please contact CPSG for a copy of the article.

This report from a 2018 workshop led by the Conservation Planning Specialist Group and Parque das Aves shares recommendations for ex situ management of 6 Amazon parrot and 1 parakeet species in Brazil. The report is available in English and Portuguese.

The new volume of the Flamingo Specialist Group’s open-access journal is available. There are eight articles in Flamingo 2019 (covering wild and captive birds), a list of flamingo-related papers from 2019 and a summary of global flamingo populations.

The deadline for submissions to Flamingo 2020 is 31 October 2020. Learn more here.

Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) - February

ASAP - April

Global Tree Specialist Group - Spring 2020

Sustainable Use and Livelihoods (SULi) Digest - January and February 2020

Vulture Specialist Group Roundup - April 2020