682 Jon Paul Rodríguez
the tasks of species assessments no longer performed direct- ly by people. It does not take much to envision an open- access, real-time online IUCN Knowledge Facility that instantly delivers a report on the status of species or eco- systems and the proportion included in protected areas and key biodiversity areas, at spatial scales from munici- palities to the planet, thus informing decision-making at all relevant political, sea- and landscape scales (Cooper et al., 2023). In this IUCN Knowledge Facility, the Red Lists of Threatened Species and Ecosystems would no longer be static but rather evolve towards providing real-time status. Quality control would still be a key role for SSC members, Secretariat staff and IUCN partners, verifying a random sel- ection of assessments for training and improving AI, and reserving the detailed focus of assessors for species groups where knowledge is unavailable on the internet or limited to unpublished expert knowledge. As the use of AI expands throughout conservation, in-
cluding in species and ecosystem risk assessment (e.g. Cazalis et al., 2024; Reynolds et al., 2025), the time and effort saved would allow SSC members to shift their attention to planning and action, directly addressing the drivers of ex- tinction risk. With growing demands from nations for doc- umenting progress towards their commitments under the Kunming–Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework and a trend towards deglobalization and decolonization of bio- diversity monitoring data (CBD, 2022), implementation of IUCN knowledge products at the national level is likely to increase as well. Anticipating these shifts, we need to build on the competitive advantages of the SSC and increase the capacity of its members to respond to these evolving de- mands, as illustrated by the establishment of the first National Species Specialist Groups (e.g. Sheherazade et al., 2023;Xie &Rodríguez, 2023; Cano-Alonso et al., 2024; Ivande et al., 2024). The greatest strengths of the SSC are the scientific excel-
lence of its members and the flexible, decentralized and in- dependent nature of its governance. Group Leaders create structures that are tailored to the challenges they need to address for their taxon or cross-cutting issue and to their capacity to take them forward. There is no typical SSC Group, nor any ideal governance style, and it would be a mistake to standardize them. Leading the SSC has been deeply rewarding professionally and personally, and I am sure that the next Chair will feel the same way. I look for- ward to seeing the network continue to evolve and innovate in species conservation.
The SSCvolunteers provide an in-kind contribution estimated to be in the order of USD 50–100 million per year—IUCN is grateful for their passion and dedication. Likewise, c. 85%of the funds used to support the network and staff, and cover the cost of communications, travel and administration, are
generously provided by our partners and donors (IUCN SSC & Secretariat, 2024). We are especially indebted to Environmental Agency–Abu Dhabi for their continuous strategic support over decades, and to Re:wild for acting as our fiscal sponsor at no overhead cost to the SSC. This issue includes five articles published in partnership with the SSC (Rodríguez & Fisher, 2023).
References
ALVAREZ-CLARE, S., MILEHAM, K., RODRÍGUEZ, J.P. & KNAPP, C.R. (2023) Two Centers for Species Survival launch collaborative conservation programmes. Oryx, 51, 553.
CANO-ALONSO, L.S., ACEDO, C., ALMUNIA, J., BELLIDO, J.J., CALMAESTRA, R.G.&TELLERÍA, J.L. (2024) Launching of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Spain Species Specialist Group. Oryx, 58, 282–283.
CAZALIS, V., DI MARCO, M., ZIZKA, A., BUTCHART, S.H.M., GONZÁLEZ-SUÁREZ, M., BÖHM, M. et al. (2024) Accelerating and standardising IUCN Red List assessments with sRedList. Biological Conservation, 298, 110761.
CBD (2022) Monitoring Framework for the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, decision 15/5. CBD, Montreal, Canada.
COOPER, H.D., MUMBA, M., DHYANI, S., SHEN, X., MA, K., WYNBERG, R. et al. (2023) Priorities for progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 15 ‘Life on land’. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 7, 1570–1575.
IUCN SSC & SECRETARIAT (2024) Species: Annual Report of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and Secretariat 2023. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
IVANDE, S., EGBE, S., ONOJA,J.&MANU,S.(2024) New National Species Specialist Group in Nigeria. Oryx, 58, 559.
KESSLER, M., BÖHM, M., GRIESE, K., POLLOM, R.A., CANTEIRO, C., HENRIQUES, S. et al. (2021) New Global Center for Species Survival launches programme of work. Oryx, 55, 816–817.
LUCAS,G.(1987) Caracas 1987—Reflections of the Chairman. Species: Newsletter of the Species Survival Commission, 9, 3–4.
REYNOLDS, S.A., BEERY, S., BURGESS, N., BURGMAN, M., BUTCHART, S.H.M., COOKE,
S.J.etal. (2025) The potential for AI to revolutionize conservation: ahorizonscan. Trends in Ecology&Evolution, 40, 191–207.
ROCHA, F. L., CORDERO-SCHMIDT, E., SUBIRÁ, R., CROUKAMP, C., JERUSALINSKY, L., MARCHINI, S. et al. (2021) Center for Species Survival Brazil. Oryx, 55, 496.
RODRÍGUEZ, J.P. (2017) The difference conservation can make: integrating knowledge to reduce extinction risk. Oryx, 51, 1–2.
RODRÍGUEZ, J.P. & FISHER,M.(2023) Assessment, planning and action for species conservation. Oryx, 57, 545–546.
RODRÍGUEZ, J.P., SUCRE, B., K. MILEHAM, K., SÁNCHEZ-MERCADO, A., DE ANDRADE, N., BEZENG, S.B. et al. (2022) Addressing the biodiversity paradox: mismatch between the co-occurrence of biological diversity and the human, financial and institutional resources to address its decline. Diversity 14, 708.
SHEHERAZADE, Kusrini, M.D., SUNARTO, V., OKTAVIANI, R., HADIPRAKARSA, Y., FELICITY, C.N. et al. (2023) Launching of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Indonesia Species Specialist Group. Oryx, 57, 689–690.
XIE,Y.&RODRÍGUEZ, J.P. (2023) China Species Specialist Group: piloting a new initiative for expansion of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. Oryx, 57, 418.
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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