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For Save Our Species (SOS) funded plant projects, the PCSC
has been working with the working group to include assessed
plant groups in the strategic direction for funding. Cycads were
included in 2012 and both cycads and conifers were included in
2013, leading to the funding of eight conservation projects
involving cycads and conifers ranging from 25,000 to 64,000
CHF per project.
The next meeting of the PCSC will probably take place in
September 2014, linked to the Botanists of the 21st Century
conference being organized by UNESCO in Paris. We are also
planning to participate in the World Parks Congress, to raise the
profile of plant conservation in protected areas. Our website can
be accessed here.
John Donaldson
Chair, Plant Conservation Sub-Committee
Marine Conservation Sub-Committee (MCSC)
The core purpose of the MCSC is to connect and facilitate on
marine and ocean matters across IUCN; including regional
offices, focal points and with IUCN partners.
During 2013, we convened several meetings and advanced
priority areas of the MCSC. At the Specialist Group (SG) Chairs
meeting in the United Arab Emirates in early 2013, we convened
fish-related marine SGs as well as all marine SGs, to strengthen
connections between groups and to identify key concerns and
issues. In December we met with MCSC membership,
reconstituted for the new quadrennium. Our focus was to
advance our core areas of communication, bycatch, trade,
wildlife spectacles and positive change for threatened marine
species.
Areas being developed further include better engagement with
Regional Fishery Management Organizations for threatened
species of commercial importance; support for the ongoing
IUCN SSC Global Marine Species Assessment, especially
building on the outcomes of assessments, and integrating
species into spatial planning, and encouraging collection of
trade data for commercial species. Ongoing work involves
The Marine Conservation Sub-Committee at IUCN HQ, December 2013.
various engagements with other marine SGs and SSC subcommittees,
especially those of Conservation Planning,
Invertebrates, Invasive Species and Sustainable Livelihoods. We
also contribute to KBA (Key Biodiversity Areas) discussions in
relation to marine species. Specific projects address bycatch
species, building on three reviews already completed and
considering a number of IUCN Resolutions on the issue. We
would like to see a more integrated—One IUCN—marine
programme during the current quadrennium.
We produce, with the support of the Global Species
Programme, a Marine Species Newsletter and this will be
shared via the new Union Portal.
Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson and Claudio Campagna
Co-Chairs, Marine Conservation Sub-Committee
IUCN Red List Committee (RLC)
Introduction
The IUCN Red List Committee is the key decision-making body
that provides oversight and guidance for The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List Committee sets the
standards of scientific quality for the Union’s work on
biodiversity assessments, develops guidelines on the
application of these standards, develops a strategy for
effectively expanding taxonomic and geographic coverage,
advises and assists uptake of IUCN Red List data in decisionmaking,
and builds collaboration with other organizations
working on biodiversity assessments. The IUCN Red List
Committee meets in-person once per year; inter-sessionally,
much of the work is conducted via email, virtual meetings, or in
separate meetings of its working groups.
Composition and structure
The IUCN Red List Committee is designed to include
representatives of the three pillars of IUCN: the IUCN Species
Survival Commission, the IUCN Secretariat (especially the
Global Species Programme), and The IUCN Red List
Partnership (many of whom are also IUCN Members). Current
IUCN Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic
Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International;
NatureServe; Microsoft; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza
University of Rome; Texas A&M University; Wildscreen; and
Zoological Society of London. The IUCN Red List Committee
continues to seek expressions of interest from new Partners,
and has held preliminary discussions with prospective Partners
during 2013.
Much of the active work of The IUCN Red List Committee is
conducted within its working groups. The Red List Technical
Working Group (RLTWG) is the key technical body that strives to
ensure consistency and rigour in the assessment process. The
National Red List Working Group (NRLWG) works to build
linkages between the global IUCN Red List and assessments
done at the national level. In 2013, The IUCN Red List
Committee established two new Working Groups: a Data
Access Working Group (DAWG), to advise on use of IUCN Red
List data in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of Use,
and a Red List Informatics Working Group (RLIWG) to facilitate
better coordination among IUCN Red List Partners and others
on overcoming major technological stumbling blocks.
98 IUCN species Annual Report 2013