IUCN launches call for proposals for SOS Lemurs

The IFC Performance Standards (PS) provide standardised guidance on identifying risks and impacts of major infrastructure and development projects. The standards are designed to help avoid, mitigate, and manage the risks and impacts of such projects in a sustainable way, including stakeholder engagement and disclosure obligations. Application of the IFC Performance Standards is required by many multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, for projects they are financing.

PS 6  covers Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources, PS 1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts, and PS 7 Indigenous Peoples.

The IFC Performance Standards are available in several languages.

As habitats and ecosystems become increasingly altered and populations evermore impacted by human activities, a growing number of species will require some form of management of both individuals and populations to ensure their survival. Ex situ management is one possible option that can contribute to the conservation of threatened species. The aim of these guidelines is to provide practical guidance on evaluating the suitability and requirements of an ex situ component for achieving species conservation objectives.

These guidelines offer an approach for developing a corporate-level biodiversity strategic plan, including measurable goals and objectives and a set of core linked  indicators, that will allow companies to measure their biodiversity performance across their operations. The Guidelines can be used by any company in any sector that has impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, whether large or small, national or multinational. They are aimed at sustainability teams, managers and other company staff whose roles include strategic planning and reporting related to biodiversity. The focus is on a full-cycle, results-based management approach (not just risk analyses, goal setting or indicator development), since assessing pressures on biodiversity, and planning and developing measurable goals, are key prerequisites for monitoring. They also explain how, by choosing and using appropriate core indicators and building internal capacity and partnerships, companies can aggregate and use biodiversity data at the corporate level in a meaningful way.

The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund The Fund was established in 2008 with an initial endowment of €25,000,000 to: Provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives; Recognize leaders in the field of species conservation; and Elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate. The Fund provides small grants to boots-on-the-ground, in-the-field species conservation projects for the world’s most threatened species.

The Fund is open to applications for funding support from all parts of the world for direct conservation projects focused on threatened plant, animal, and fungus species. Grants are awarded according to criteria set by the Species Fund, and are for a maximum of $25,000.

The Group on Earth Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) developed the concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to advance the collection, sharing, and use of biodiversity information to aggregate, harmonise and interpret biodiversity observations collected by different methods such as in situ monitoring or remote sensing. EBVs can be visualised as biodiversity observations at one location over time, or in many locations, aggregated in a time series of maps. Essential variables to understand climate, biodiversity, and other environmental changes have already been developed (e.g. Essential Climate Variables, Essential Ocean Variables).

How to use

Details of the method, the EBVS already developed, and results are available at: https://geobon.org/ebvs/what-are-ebvs/

Several methods have been developed for climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) of species. There is no single ‘correct’ or established way to carry out CCVA of species and these guidelines aim to assist conservation practitioners to interpret and use the complex and often inconsistent CCVA literature. The guidelines indicate sensible and defensible approaches, in the context of the current state of knowledge and available resources.

The guidelines outline some of the terms commonly used in climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) and describe three dominant CCVA approaches, namely correlative (niche-based), mechanistic, and trait-based approaches. Advice is provided on setting clear, measurable objectives and selecting CCVA approaches and appropriate methods. Guidance on using and interpreting CCVA results includes suggestions on data sources and their use, working with knowledge gaps and uncertainty, approaches for use in challenging contexts, and incorporating indirect climate change impacts such as habitat transformation.

It is hoped that the guidelines will promote standardization of CCVA terminology and provide a useful resource for those wishing to carry out CCVA at species, site, or site-network scales.

The guidelines are structured to provide (i) background information on definitions and metrics associated with CCVA; (ii) a discussion on identifying CCVA objectives; (iii) core guidance on selecting and applying appropriate methods; (iv) sections on interpreting and communicating results; (v) using results in IUCN Red List assessments; (vi) ways to address the many sources of uncertainty in CCVAs. A final section explores future directions for CCVAs and research needs. The guidelines also highlight 10 case studies that provide worked examples of CCVAs covering the range of methods described.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has 10 principles that are relevant to different kinds of forest ecosystems and in diverse cultural, political, and legal settings. These require management of certified forests to be legal, maintain or improve the social and economic well-being of workers and local communities; uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples; maintain, conserve, or restore the ecosystem services and environmental values of managed forests; establish a management plan; and maintain or improve high conservation values. The FSC label verifies sustainable sourcing of products from the forest to store shelves.

How to use

Complete descriptions of the FSC principles, criteria, and certification can be accessed and downloaded at: https://connect.fsc.org/document-centre/documents/resource/392

To register for the FSC newsletter: https://fsc.org

KBAs are sites that ‘contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems’. KBAs are identified on the basis of species or ecosystems, according to five criteria and 11 subcriteria, all supported by quantitative thresholds. The KBA Global Standard details the criteria and subcriteria. KBA sites must meet one of the criteria and be clearly delineated. Proposed sites are independently reviewed and once accepted are included in the World Database of KBAs.

KBAs are normally identified by a KBA National Coordination Group (NCG). However, anyone with appropriate data may propose a site as a KBA, but they are they are encouraged to work with the NCG if one exists and consultation with relevant stakeholders at the local and national level is required and needs to be documented in the proposal. Where a KBA NCG has not yet been established, proposers submit a site proposal directly.

The Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership is composed of 13 leading international organizations including IUCN. It maintains a KBA Committee, Secretariat, a Technical Working Group, a KBA Consultative Forum, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. An independent KBA Standards and Appeals Committee has been established under the authority of the elected SSC and WCPA Chairs.

How to use

• To download the KBA Standard, criteria, and guidelines, and for further information: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/home
• To explore maps and site details on the World Database of KBAS: https://wdkba.keybiodiversityareas.org
• For guidance on the role of KBA National Coordination Groups and how to establish them: https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/working-with-kbas/programme/national-coordination-groups

The Fonseca Species Conservation Fund (FSCF) was established in 2024 by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Re:wild to honor the passion of the late Gustavo Fonseca, long-standing GEF director of programs, for species conservation and building capacity of the next generation of conservationists.

The FSCF draws on the expertise of IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups and other key partners to ensure all funding goes toward priority projects. Through the FSCF, grantees will access funding support, the expertise of the selection committees, and connections with partner organizations.

The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund The Fund was established in 2008 with an initial endowment of €25,000,000 to: Provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives; Recognize leaders in the field of species conservation; and Elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate. The Fund provides small grants to boots-on-the-ground, in-the-field species conservation projects for the world’s most threatened species.

The Fund is open to applications for funding support from all parts of the world for direct conservation projects focused on threatened plant, animal, and fungus species. Grants are awarded according to criteria set by the Species Fund, and are for a maximum of $25,000.

As human-wildlife conflicts become more frequent, serious and widespread worldwide, they are notoriously challenging to resolve, and many efforts to address these conflicts struggle to make progress. These Guidelines provide an essential guide to understanding and resolving human-wildlife conflict. The Guidelines aim to provide foundations and principles for good practice, with clear, practical guidance on how best to tackle conflicts and enable coexistence with wildlife. They have been developed for use by conservation practitioners, community leaders, decision-makers, researchers, government officers and others. Focusing on approaches and tools for analysis and decision-making, they are not limited to any particular species or region of the world.

Ecosystems are critically important components of Earth’s biological diversity and as the natural capital that sustains human life and well-being. Yet all of the world’s ecosystems show hallmarks of human influence, and many are under acute risks of collapse, with consequences for habitats of species, genetic diversity, ecosystem services, sustainable development and human well-being. The IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology is a hierarchical classification system that, in its upper levels, defines ecosystems by their convergent ecological functions and, in its lower levels, distinguishes ecosystems with contrasting assemblages of species engaged in those functions. This report describes the three upper levels of the hierarchy, which provide a framework for understanding and comparing the key ecological traits of functionally different ecosystems and their drivers. An understanding of these traits and drivers is essential to support ecosystem management.