Challenges and opportunities for the largest volunteer conservation science network


JON PAUL RODRÍ GUE Z


The first time I became aware of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) was in April 1987, when it had convened in Caracas, Venezuela, for its 62nd meeting (Lucas, 1987). Nearly 38 years later, I am about to conclude my second and final term as SSC Chair. Since that first impactful meet- ing, the Commission has grown from 60 groups and hun- dreds of members to a massive, powerful, prestigious and influential scientific enterprise, with 193 groups and over 10,000 members, working in almost every country and jur- isdiction. In recognition of its uniqueness, in May 2024 the SSC was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest volunteer conservation-science network. At the beginning of my first term, I wrote on these pages


about my team’s vision for what lay ahead and how the SSC could contribute to improving the conservation status of species worldwide (Rodríguez, 2017). Wehave since system- atically documented annual progress towards that vision (e.g. in reports such as IUCN SSC & Secretariat, 2024) and plan to present an analysis of these data in the near fu- ture. Here, I would like to look back at the last 8 years to examine the major lessons we have learnt and the future op- portunities and challenges, specifically the nature of the net- work, volunteerism and the evolving roles of members. Between 2017 and 2024, SSC membership increased by


39%, with much of the growth among fungi, invertebrate and cross-cutting groups (the latter includes disciplinary and national species specialist groups). We focused pro- actively on filling gaps in the network to address the conser- vation needs of species. Recurring questions are whether unlimited growth is sustainable and how much growth is enough. But nevertheless, the magnitude of the task is clear: available human and financial resources do not match the places in the world where biodiversity is highest (Rodríguez et al., 2022). Despite our growth, expertise on fishes, fungi, invertebrates and plants remains underrepre- sented within the network, and membership diversity needs to improve further in terms of age, gender, institu- tional setting and geographical location of SSC experts. Continuing to build the network and explore innovative fi- nancial and management models (e.g. SSC Centers for Species Survival: Kessler et al., 2021; Rocha et al., 2021; Alvarez-Clare et al., 2023) to support an expanding


Email: jonpaul.rodriguez@iucn.org IUCN Species Survival Commission, Provita, and Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Caracas, Venezuela


membership and strengthen human capacity therefore re- mains imperative. One of the SSC’s most important assets is that members


arevolunteers.Ontheonehand, this ensures the independence and autonomy of the SSC with respect to the other compo- nents of IUCN(member organizations, National and Region- al Committees, Council, Secretariat and Commissions). As volunteers, SSC members join as expert individuals who re- present themselves rather than their employers. Involve- ment in the SSC thus comes with the commitment to provide the scientific data that underpin assessment, planning and action,and not to advocate for a specific institutional agenda. This is the basis of our credibility, objectivity and evidence- based advice to conservation organizations, government agencies and other IUCN members, and in support of the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. There are, however, some concerns regarding volunteer-


ism. All SSC members, and especially SSC Group Leaders, have multiple demands on their time. Some question whether it is realistic to maintain the quantity, quality and increasing level of dedication needed for implementing the Species Conservation Cycle (Assess–Plan–Act–Network– Communicate; Rodríguez et al., 2022) based on the work of volunteers. I believe the legitimacy of a volunteer body of experts greatly outweighs any potential disadvantages, but we should focus on addressing work overload. Possibil- ities include sharing and delegating responsibilities with other Group members, and explicitly focusing on leadership succession and capacity building. Although there are not- able exceptions, SSC Groups tend to be organized with a top-down approach, with most of the responsibility falling on Chairs and a few close collaborators. Sharing leadership and planning for succession not only distributes the burden, but can also foster greater diversity among emerging talent. This is possibly the biggest transformational change needed in the culture of the SSC. Between 2018 and 2024, the emphasis of SSC Groups


shifted towards conservation action, and activities in the Act component of the Species Conservation Cycle doubled, although the primary emphasis of the network continues to be assessments for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN SSC & Secretariat, 2024). Assessments of extinction risk are the foundation for conservation plans and for in- forming implementation. They drive our membership and create knowledge for dissemination (Rodríguez et al., 2022; Rodríguez & Fisher, 2023). But with the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), I can easily imagine many of


This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 681–682 © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605325000043

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