Species Survival Commission

About & how we engage

With over 9,500 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.

Data from DNA or RNA can be stored digitally. This is known as Digital Sequence Information (DSI). International agreements are unclear on how to administer DSI and share the benefits arising from…

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.

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.

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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 ...

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.

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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.

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IUCN calls for halt to species decline by 2030

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… View press release