New IUCN fund supports rapid response to invasive alien species in Europe

The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, or Conservation Standards (CS) for short, are a set of principles and practices that bring together common concepts, approaches, and terminology for conservation project design, management, and monitoring. They were developed by the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP), have been widely adopted, and are updated regularly in collaboration with the wider conservation community. The Conservation Standards are open-source (Creative Commons license) and can be shared, used, and adapted as users wish to fit their context.

The Standards describe ideal practices for doing effective conservation work, using a mutually defined vocabulary and focus on a rigorous approach to project management. Recognising that adequate resources are lacking, a draft “Cookbook” for Lighter Approaches to the Conservation Standards and a supporting video are also provided.

The FairWild Foundation’s mission is to enable transformation of natural resource management and business practices to be ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable along the value chains of wild-collected products. The FairWild Standard

includes principles and guidance for use throughout these value chains. Together with its system of certification, it provides assurance of ethical and responsible practices across three dimensions of sustainability – ecological, socio-cultural, and business. The FairWild Standard 3.0 contains 7 Principles and 24 Criteria. Adherence to the FairWild Principles ensures that businesses in value chains for wild harvest ingredients act ethically and sustainably and make a positive contribution to the conservation of biodiversity. The FairWild Standard Performance Indicators outline the factors that contribute to the risk of unsustainable wild collection of target species.

The Zero Poaching Toolkit helps national and state agencies, protected area managers, rangers, and other frontline protection staff in anti-poaching efforts. The toolkit contains resources on assessment, crime prevention strategies, community involvement, technology, capacity, and cooperation. The tools are freely available and well supported by a wide range of organizations including IUCN and many international NGOs. The tools provide the most practical ways to identify and close gaps in protection activities at the field level. The Training Guidelines for Field Rangers is the first of a series of guidelines to provide a standard for training field rangers.

SCTI is a partnership initiative between  several NGOs and ex situ organizations to ensure that new innovations and tools needed for species risk assessment, conservation planning, and population management are developed, globally available, and used effectively. SCTI combines expertise in population biology, computer programming, and planning to build modelling tools essential to guide conservation actions for threatened species in the wild, to facilitate the intensive management of species in ex situ programmes, and to integrate conservation efforts across all types of management approaches.

UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) is an intergovernmental programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is an interactive network of sites of excellence that foster harmony between people and nature for sustainable development, respect for cultural values, and society’s ability to cope with change. There are 748 biosphere reserves in 134 countries, including 23 transboundary sites. Sites can be proposed by all Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO. Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and designated under the intergovernmental MAB Programme following the decisions of the MAB International Coordinating Council.

How to use

To obtain further information on the MAB programme and existing MAB sites, or to download the  Requirements and Nomination forms, visit: https://en.unesco.org/biosphere

We support developing countries’ work to address the world’s most pressing environmental issues. We organize our work around five focal areas – biodiversity loss, chemicals and waste, climate change, international waters, and land degradation – and take an integrated approach to support more sustainable food systems, forest management, and cities.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (the Red List) is the globally recognised standard on assessing extinction risk. Red List assessments are used by the Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, other inter-governmental agreements, national governments, and conservation planners.  The Red List assigns species into one of 8 categories based on 5 criteria, all with quantitative thresholds. The three highest categories of threat – Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable – are collectively considered ‘Threatened’. The Red List process has been formalized to support objectivity and scientific rigour. Red List assessments are carried out by SSC Red List Authorities, Red List Partners, IUCN staff, and regional and national agencies. In addition, Red List assessments provide a compendium of information on species, (taxonomy, geographic range, population, habitat and ecology, threats, conservation actions). The Red List operates at global, regional, and national levels. Guidelines for application at national or regional levels have been developed and the National Red List Working Group provides additional support.

Red List Authorities have been established for all major taxonomic groups included on the IUCN Red List. In most cases, the RLA is a sub-group within an IUCN SSC Specialist Group responsible for the species, groups of species or species within a specific geographic area. There are some exceptions; for example, BirdLife International is the designated RLA for all birds.

The process is guided by Rules of Procedure, supported by guidelines on application of the Red List Categories and Criteria, the Species Information Service (SIS) data entry and management system, and certification for assessors and RL trainers. All these materials can be downloaded, free, from the Red List website. A free, online training course for Red List assessors, is available.

Species can be assessed for the Red List at global, regional, and national levels. Guidelines for the Regional (and national) Application of the Categories and Criteria have been developed and support for development of national Red Lists is available from the National Red List Working Group.

How to use

• To check the global Red List status of a species and access the supporting information, visit the species assessment page on the Red List website
• To download the Red List Categories and Criteria, Guidelines, Rules of Procedure, and Guidelines for Application at Regional Level go the Red List resources
• To initiate or to contribute to a global assessment, contact the Chair of the relevant IUCN SSC Specialist Group or Red List Authority, for birds, see BirdLife International
• For taxonomic groups not listed, contact the relevant IUCN SSC Conservation Committee: Marine, Invertebrate, Plant, Fungi, Freshwater, Red List, Standards and Petitions.
• To develop a National Red List for a species or group of species visit the National Red List Working Group
• To obtain details or register for an online Red List training course: https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/online

BIOFIN was initiated ten years ago at CBD COP 11 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the European Commission in response to the urgent global need to divert more finance from all possible sources towards global and national biodiversity goals. BIOFIN demonstrates how nature-positive economies can work for people and the planet. Now present in 40 countries, BIOFIN is working with governments, civil-society, vulnerable communities, and the private sector to catalyse investments in nature protect and promote biodiversity. The BIOFIN Report: How Can Biodiversity Finance Plans Support NBSAPs? assists countries to develop, update, and implement national Biodiversity Finance Plans (BFPs) in support of their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

BIOFIN does not provide funds directly. However, BIOFIN has partnered with several other organisations to set up the Finance Resources for Biodiversity (FIRE) platform to collate funding sources for all types of biodiversity projects, including for species. Over 300 funding opportunities for biodiversity conservation, both public and private, are listed. FIRE functions as a one-stop-shop, where a project leader can find a multitude of different opportunities matching specific criteria (country, range of funding, type of entity, etc.). Sources can be sorted using filters. Within the “ecosystems” filter there is an option to select Wildlife / Endangered Species.

How to use

Information on BIOFIN can be accessed at: https://www.biofin.org/

The BIOFIN brochure can be downloaded at: https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/biofin-brochure-0

The Report: How Can Biodiversity Finance Plans Support NBSAPs? can be downloaded at: https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/how-can-biodiversity-finance-plans-support-nbsaps

The FIRE platform can be accessed at: https://fire.biofin.org/

To obtain information on funding resources for species use the link:  https://fire.biofin.org/?ecosystems=Wildlife++Endangered+Species&name=

The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems is a global framework for monitoring the status of ecosystems. It is part of the growing toolbox for assessing risks to biodiversity and aims to support conservation, resource use, and management decisions by identifying ecosystems most at risk of biodiversity loss. The basis of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems is the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Categories and Criteria, a set of eight categories and five criteria that provide a consistent method for assessing the risk of ecosystem collapse. These Guidelines assist correct implementation of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Categories and Criteria by providing information on the development of the protocol and a detailed overview of the scientific foundations supporting the categories and criteria.

The OECD Environmental Policy Committee, through its unique database of Policy Instruments for the Environment (PINE), collects quantitative and qualitative information on policy instruments from more than 120 countries worldwide. This brochure presents statistics on the biodiversity-relevant economic instruments and the finance they mobilise, based on
currently available data. The brochure also includes information on payments for ecosystem services (PES) and on biodiversity offsets, two other types of economic instruments that provide incentives for biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use.

This checklist provides the official list of species listed on the CITES appendices and associated information, including scientific names and synonyms; common names in English, French and Spanish (where available), the CITES Appendix in which they are currently listed, distribution, and history of listings. Over 4000 Identification resources sourced from the CITES Identification Manual and the CITES Virtual College are also available. Users can search and filter by name (including higher taxa), CITES Appendix and country/territory/region of occurrence (“All locations”).

How to use

• The checklist, CITES listing information, and Identification materials can be viewed or downloaded in different formats at: https://checklist.cites.org
• A full guide to all the materials can be found on the “About” page of the CITES Checklist at: https://checklist.cites.org/#/en/about

A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention (The Convention on Wetlands). The convention provides for national action and international cooperation on the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Sites are identified according to any one of nine criteria. The Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Types has been developed by the Ramsar Convention. There are currently more than 2,400 Ramsar Sites around the world, covering over 2.5 million km².  The Ramsar Sites Information Service (RSIS) provides online information on wetlands that have been designated as internationally important.

How to use

• For further information on the Convention visit: https://www.ramsar.org
• For an overview of the Ramsar Sites network or to obtain information on a specific Site, visit
• https://rsis.ramsar.org/
• The Administrative Authority of a Contracting Party can submit or update Ramsar Site information using the new online RIS by logging in or registering – instructions at: https://rsis.ramsar.org/sites/all/modules/custom/rsiswp_main/data/RSIS_Instructions_E.pdf