2014 Annual Report to the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi Framework Support for Implementing the Strategic Plan of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cover image: Sand gecko Stenodactylus doriae © Phil Bowles 2014 Annual Report to the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi Framework Support for Implementing the Strategic Plan of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Contents 4 Introduction 6 Activity Reports 8 Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group 14 The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2014 26 Carnivorous Plants on The IUCN Red List 32 Crop Wild Relatives on The IUCN Red List 42 Slipper Orchids on The IUCN Red List 46 Reptiles on The IUCN Red List 52 Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles on The IUCN Red List 56 Amphibians on The IUCN Red List 62 Bumblebees on The IUCN Red List 70 The Amazing Species Project 76 IUCN SSC Species Conservation Planning Sub-Committee 84 Asian Species Action Partnership 90 Key Biodiversity Areas: End-user Application Report 94 Invasive Species Specialist Group 100 Climate Change Specialist Group 104 SSC at the 6th World Parks Congress and Implications for a Global Species Forum Introduction Simon N. Stuart, Chair, IUCN Species Survival Commission The IUCN Species Survival Commission’s (SSC) was privileged to receive generous support through a framework agreement from Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) for a three-year period (2011-2013). The reports of the many activities supported through this funding can be found here for 2011, 2012 and 2013. This framework agreement has now been renewed by EAD for 2014-2016, and this report for 2014 is the first from the SSC under the new agreement. Under the Memorandum of Agreement signed in December 2013, it is stated that “the funds will be used for the imple- mentation of the SSC Strategic Plan, as adopted and agreed by the SSC Steering Committee in 2012. The funds will be allocated to particular items of work in the Strategic Plan at the discretion of the Chair of the SSC, in consultation with EAD and the Global Species Programme, focusing in particular on high-priority activities that are poorly funded from other sources”. The Strategic Plan is detailed in Annex 1 of the Memorandum of Agreement, and the sixteen activities selected for funding in this first year were chosen based on this plan. The Activity Reports that follow cover a very broad range of issues. EAD support has been instrumental in helping to launch or grow six major global initiatives within the SSC. These are on: • Sustainable use and livelihoods • Red List training • Plant Red List assessments • Reptiles Red List assessments • Invasive species • Species conservation planning In addition to these, EAD support has also been given to: Red Listing work on amphibians and bumblebees; surveying end-user needs for Key Biodiversity Areas; planning the work of the SSC Climate Change Specialist Group; advancing the Asian Species Action Partnership (focused on saving Critically Endangered terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates in Southeast Asia); increasing the number of popular Amazing Species profiles (as part of the celebrations of the 50th an- niversary of the IUCN Red List); and supporting SSC engagement with the 6th World Parks Congress. As is clear from all of the following reports, the implementation of this work is progressing very well. We have recently carried out an analysis of progress on all 414 targets in the SSC Strategic Plan, and the results are summarized in the figure below. Of the 414 Targets, implementation is as follows: Not started, not a priority (40) Not started, not a priority (40) Not started, still a priority (35) Not started, still a priority (35) Behind shedule, likely Btoe bheind shedule, likely to be completed by 2016 (39c)ompleted by 2016 (39) Behind shedule, unlikeBlye thoi nbde shedule, unlikely to be completed by 2016 (69c)ompleted by 2016 (69) Not started, likely to beNot started, likely to be completed by 2016 (1)completed by 2016 (1) Started, likely to be completed Started, likely to be completed by 2016 (230) by 2016 (230) • 65% of targets likely to be implemented by 2016; • 72% of priority targets should be implemented by 2016; • 144 targets still a priority but behind schedule. While there are obvious improvements to be made, we are very pleased with the overall progress, especially given that SSC is largely a voluntary network. The main causes for delayed implementation in some of the targets are shown in the figure below. Essential, resource limitations (funding or people), are the most common reasons for failing to keep to time targets. Of the 144 Priority Targets currently behind schedule, funding and personnel contstraints are the most common reasons for delayed implementation. 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 No 40 Yes 20 0 It is very clear from this report that the most generous EAD support to SSC is one of the most important factors enabling the SSC to advance its work on some of our most important targets. We are hugely grateful for this, and, on behalf of the entire SSC, I would like to express our deepest appreciation and thanks to the EAD, and especially to its Secretary General, HE Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak. Simon N. Stuart Activity Reports The sand gecko Stenodactylus doriae ranges through much of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. While locally threatened by habitat loss in some areas, it remains locally abundant within its Arabian range © Phil Bowles Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group Rosie Cooney, Chair, IUCN CEEP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group Mike Murphree, Interim Chair, CEEP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group Sarah Doornbos and Dan Challender, Programme Officers Key achievements • The Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi) organized an international symposium “Beyond En- forcement: Communities, Governance, Incentives and Sustainable Use in Combating Wildlife Crime”. • SULi developed an Analytical Framework for understanding how and where legal, sustainable wild resource trade can contribute to biodiversity conservation and to community livelihoods. • SULi is representing IUCN in The Collaborative Partnership on Wildlife. • SULi has continued to work on the Saker Falcon, seal management and policy, wildmeat, trophy hunting, and fisher- ies. • SULi organized several sessions at the 6th Worlds Parks Congress. 8 2014 Annual Report SULi Mission Promote both conservation and local livelihoods through enhancing equitable and sustainable use of wild species and their associated ecoystems. Objectives SULi’s objectives are to: • Improve understanding and guidance on management of use of wild resources; • Enhance equitable and effective governance of use; and • Increase understanding of trade and markets for wild products and their implications for conservation and liveli- hoods. These objectives are pursued through work across a number of thematic areas as set out below. Highlights • Lead organiser of an international symposium “Beyond Enforcement: Communities, Governance, Incentives and Sustainable Use in Combating Wildlife Crime”, Muldersdrift, South Africa, February 2015. This symposium brought together representatives of UN bodies, development agencies, community organisations, conservation NGOs, and researchers and developed path-breaking recommendations on the role of communities in combating global wildlife crime. • Developed internationally relevant Analytic Framework for understanding how and where legal, sustainable wild resource trade can contribute to biodiversity conservation and to community livelihoods, working with International Trade Centre of the United Nations (UN). • Played key role in the development of the work of the international Collaborative Partnership on Wildlife, including development and launch of factsheets to provide authoritative information on key topical wildlife management issues. • Highlighting the importance of sustainable use of wild resources in supporting livelihoods and conservation at the World Parks Congress, through workshops, panel discussions, side-events, field trips, and publications. Key activities and achievements 1. Trade in wildlife, conservation and local livelihoods Exploring the role of communities in combating wildlife crime Wildlife crime, or illegal wildlife trade (IWT), is at the top of the international conservation agenda. A surge in poaching for international trade is ravaging populations of iconic animals like rhinos and elephants and a host of lesser-known species of wildlife are also being decimated, such as pangolins, some birds, reptiles, primates, medicinal plants and timber species. However, the role of the local communities who live close to wildlife is currently being largely overlooked in the global policy responses to this threat. A major current focus of work for SULi is highlighting and exploring the role of communities that live close to wildlife in responding to this threat. Our major activity in this period was convening an international symposium called “Beyond Enforcement: Communities, Governance, Incentives and Sustainable Use in Combating Wildlife Crime”, which took place in February 2015, with partners the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED), TRAFFIC, the Austrian Ministry of the Envi- ronment, and the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre for Excellence in Environmental Decisions at the University of Queensland (see Box for more details). 2014 Annual Report 9 International Symposium BEYOND ENFORCEMENT: COMMUNITIES, GOVERNANCE, INCENTIVES AND SUSTAINABLE USE IN COMBATING WILDLIFE CRIME Muldersdrift, South Africa, February 2015, SULi, IIED, TRAFFIC, Austrian Ministry of the Environment, CEED SULi was the lead organiser of this international symposium, which brought together over 70 researchers, commu- nity representatives, government officials, UN agencies and NGOs from five continents. The meeting was opened by the South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and was attended by represen- tatives of key international organisations, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the United Nations Develop- ment Programme (UNDP). The symposium explored analyses and case studies from around the world on communities and wildlife crime, including the drivers and motivations for IWT, the problems with enforcement-driven responses, the economics of IWT, and many positive examples of successful community-based interventions that led to strong community support for conservation, community engagement in enforcement, and reduced poaching levels. The symposium generated a set of key conclusions and recommendations, which SULi and partners are now taking forward in a number of policy and decision-making arenas. The symposium was generously supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Austrian Ministry of the Environment. Left: The symposium organising team, drawn from many organisations and all SULi members: standing - Nick Ahlers, Roland Melisch, Diane Skinner, Dan Challender, Mike Murphree; sitting - Max Abensperg-Traun, Rosie Cooney, Dilys Roe, Duan Biggs, Holly Dublin. Right: Dilys Roe of IIED (left) and SULi Chair Rosie Cooney (right) meet Minister Edna Molewa, South Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs (centre). © Kim Gordon EPA.