The Species Survival Commission is a science-based network of thousands of volunteer experts from almost every country in the world, all working together toward achieving the vision of "a just world that values and conserves nature through positive action to both prevent the loss and aid recovery of the diversity of life on earth."
With over 10,000 volunteer experts, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) work independently and with the different IUCN Units to build knowledge on the status of species and threats to them and to provide advice, develop policies and guidelines and facilitate conservation planning. Through this work, SSC catalyses conservation action and enables IUCN to influence policy and assist societies in biodiversity conservation.
186
groups in 186 countries comprise the SSC network, distributed in Red List Authorities, Task Forces, Action Partnerships, Conservation Committees and Specialist Groups.
157,000+
species have been assessed. Red List Partnership and SSC network delivered key indicators through the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
18
Centers for Species Survival. The SSC Chair’s Office is partnered with leading species conservation organisations to leverage the Network capacity.
SSC members provide scientific advice to conservation organisations, government agencies and other IUCN members, and support the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.
The IUCN Species Strategic Plan encompasses the joint work of the Species Survival Commission as well as a number of partnerships. This 2021-2025 IUCN Species Strategic Plan collect high-level goals of the Species Conservation Cycle, and Key Species Results (KSR) determined by the SSC network.
High-level interventions address conservation issues of serious and urgent concern, through letters to governments or private companies which highlight the threat(s) to species and /or their habitats, using SSC expert advice, proposing suitable action to influence decision-making and therefore helping to avoid or reduce any adverse impacts on biodiversity.
Committing to REVERSE the current negative trends in THE RED list status of species, Reverse the Red aims to ignite optimism and collaborative action to guarantee the survival of all species we share this planet with, and the ecosystems they live in.
Aimed to support the mission of SSC by empowering and accompanying the network, providing leadership, boosting impact, helping build capacity, keeping efforts on track, and building partnerships.
Chair. Jon Paul Rodríguez has been working for the conservation of Venezuelan species and ecosystems since he was a biology undergraduate at Universidad Central of Venezuela (UCV) in the late eighties. With other students he co-founded Provita in 1987, an NGO that has championed numerous evidence-based projects, including several editions of the Red Book of the Venezuelan Fauna and of the Red Book of Terrestrial Ecosystems of Venezuela. After graduating from UCV in 1991, he went to Princeton University for a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology (1999), and a Certificate on science, technology and environmental policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (2000). He currently Chairs the IUCN Species Survival Commission, is Professor at the Center for Ecology of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Investigations (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas ― IVIC), and continues to be active in Provita as the organization’s President. He defines himself as a biologist that is interested in generating information useful for informing conservation policies, without being a politician. Jon Paul is author in more than 230 publications, including books, chapters, and peer-reviewed articles in major international scientific journals.
Chair. Jon Paul Rodríguez has been working for the conservation of Venezuelan species and ecosystems since he was a biology undergraduate at Universidad Central of Venezuela (UCV) in the late eighties ...
We need more collaboration. We need to bring together the expertise, the political power, the urgency and passion, and the resources. We need ambitious targets to be set by global leaders. We need concerned citizens to push for this. We need to bring everyone in to achieve those targets.
Deputy Chair
Dr Rima Jabado is the Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. As a scientist and conservationist, she has spent over 20 years developing and working on conservation initiatives globally. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between science and policy to ensure issues such as bycatch, threatened species conservation, and illegal trade are tackled. Her research has been instrumental in influencing decision makers to implement meaningful measures for the protection of species across a range of fisheries. She is now leading the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project to ensure sharks, rays, and chimaeras are considered in area-based management initiatives around the world. She is a member of the IUCN Marine Conservation Committee, serves as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Appointed Scientific Councilor for Fish, and sits on the Advisory Committee for the CMS Sharks Memorandum of Understanding as the representative of the Asia region. She has also founded the Elasmo Project, a non-profit initiative that encourages and supports work in data-poor areas focused on investigating shark and ray fisheries and trade.
Deputy Chair
Dr Rima Jabado is the Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. As a scientist and conservationist, she has spent ...
Director of Strategic Partnerships. Dr Kira Mileham is a science communicator with a focus on collaborative partnerships, human behaviour change and species conservation. Kira specialises in working with diverse global communities to identify shared visions, develop systems and unite action towards a more positive future for wildlife, wild places and people. As the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC), Kira is globally responsible for strengthening collaborative species conservation efforts of IUCN SSC’s extensive network of 10,000+ scientific experts by connecting them with NGOs, Corporate partners and Government Agencies. Kira holds degrees in Conservation Ecology, Public Relations and a PhD in human behaviour change and impact evaluation from the University of Newcastle, Australia.
Director of Strategic Partnerships. Dr Kira Mileham is a science communicator with a focus on collaborative partnerships, human behaviour change and species conservation. Kira specialises in working ...
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 11 October 2019 (IUCN) – IUCN has issued an urgent call to massively scale up species conservation action in response to the escalating biodiversity crisis. The Abu Dhabi Call for Global Species Conservation…
