Network
P. Meier
The IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group brings together more than 194 of the world’s leading cat experts, including scientists, wildlife managers and conservationists from 62 countries who are dedicated to advance the understanding and conservation of the world’s 40 wild living cat species. It is one of over 120 similar international specialist groups forming the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Cat Specialist Group
The Specialist Groups perform species assessments for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM, and produce species action plans and policy guidelines. These groups also provide information for the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and advise governments that are party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Cat Specialist Group is active in many of its own initiatives, focusing on the development of tools for the assessment of the species’ status, on the compilation and distribution of intelligence and on supporting the work of its members. A central concern is to promote the dialogue among scientists and practitioners throughout the world. The group believes that cooperation and sharing of knowledge are critical for the conservation of the wild cats. The Cat Specialist Group is responsible for the global monitoring and conservation of all 40 wild living cat species. The main tasks include:
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maintaining the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM for the cat species;
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advising governmental and private organisations engaged in species conservation;
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developing conservation strategies and action plans;
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establishing and distributing information on the status and conservation needs of all wild cat species through an own publication series Cat News and the Cat SG website;
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education and training of nature conservation experts (capacity development).
IUCN and SSC
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is one of the oldest and largest international conservation networks and was formed in 1948. It is a membership union with over 1,400 member organisations including States, government agencies, NGOs, indigenous peoples’ organisations, scientific and academic institutions and business associations from over 160 countries.
The vision of the IUCN is a just world that values and conserves nature. They follow the mission to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
The six commissions of the IUCN unite over 15,000 experts. The largest of these commissions is the Species Survival Commission (SSC). The SSC is a science-based network of more than 10,500 volunteer experts. The vision of the SSC is “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." The SSC provides knowledge on the status and trends of species, develops policies and guidelines, facilitates conservation planning and catalyses conservation action. The SSC comprises over 160 specialist groups. One of which is the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group.
The IUCN and the SSC approach conservation by applying the Species Conservation Cycle with its three essential components ASSESS-PLAN-ACT (Fig. 1):
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Assess: Understand and inform the world about the status and trends of biodiversity
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Plan: Develop collaborative, inclusive and science-based conservation strategies, plans and policies
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Act: Convene and mobilise conservation actions to improve the status of biodiversity.
There are two additional components outside the cycle:
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Communicate: Drive strategic and targeted communication to enhance our conservation impact and
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Network: Enhance and support our immediate network and alliances to achieve our biodiversity targets.
Following the ASSESS-PLAN-ACT approach, the IUCN developed the IUCN Species Strategic Plan for 2021-2025 which contains targets set by its SSC Specialist Groups for each component (Assess, Plan, Act, Network, Communicate).
