WTI founder Menon becomes first Asian to chair key IUCN panel, Pg12.

Key Highlights:

• Vivek Menon, founder of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), was elected as the new chair of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) on Wednesday.
• The announcement was made at the World Congress of IUCN in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
• Menon is the first Asian to hold the chair position in SSC.
• The SSC advises the IUCN on biodiversity and species conservation and plays a key role in preparing the IUCN's red list of threatened species.

Detailed Insights:

• The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is one of the six expert commissions within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• SSC provides guidance to the IUCN secretariat on issues related to biodiversity and species conservation, contributing significantly to the IUCN Red List.
• Menon aims to include leadership from the Global South in the SSC and drive policy in the region, focusing on scaling up recovery for threatened species.
• He plans to leverage technology and data-driven tools to translate science into policy, ensuring measurable and lasting conservation impact to counter anthropogenic threats.

Key Concepts Involved:

• IUCN: A global authority on the status of the natural world and measures needed to safeguard it.
• Species Survival Commission (SSC): A science-based network of experts contributing to biodiversity conservation.
• IUCN Red List: A comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species.