• India
  • Oct 18

Vivek Menon elected as new Chair of IUCN Species Survival Commission

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Members elected Vivek Menon as the new Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) for the 2025-2029 quadrennium during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi.

Who is Vivek Menon?

• Vivek Menon is a leading Indian wildlife conservationist, environmental commentator, author and photographer with a passion for elephants. 

• Through expert guidance to premier organisations, participation in landmark initiatives, and training of enforcement personnel across more than 50 countries, Menon has advanced solutions to critical challenges like illegal wildlife trade and species protection. 

• His impact stretches from establishing reserves in Myanmar to helping shape international conservation policies through active roles in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), UNESCO, and national advisory boards.

• With a career spanning over three decades and visits to more than a hundred countries, his hands-on commitment represents the power of expert collaboration, community-driven advocacy, and bold strategic action.

• Menon has been part of the founding of five environmental & nature conservation organisations in India, including the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) where he is also the Executive Director. 

• He has been the winner of 2019 Clark R. Bavin Award, the 2018 Whitley Continuation Award, the 2017 Samskara Round Glass Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2001 Rufford Award for International Conservation for his work to conserve the Asian elephant. 

• Menon is the Councillor of the IUCN, and Chair of the SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group. 

• With experience of over 25 years of work with the IUCN, he has served at various earlier times on the Asian Rhino Specialist Group, Cat Specialist Group, Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group and the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group. 

• He is the author or editor of 10 wildlife books including the bestselling Indian Mammals- A Field Guide.

• The WTI that has been founded and headed executively by Menon for over 25 years has pioneered several conservation initiatives.

IUCN Species Survival Commission

• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) was established on October 5, 1948 in the French town of Fontainebleau. 

• As the first global environmental union, it brought together governments and civil society with a shared goal to protect nature. 

• Its aim was to encourage international cooperation and provide scientific knowledge and tools to guide conservation.

• IUCN is the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network.

• The Species Survival Commission (SSC) was established by IUCN in 1949. 

• It is one of IUCN’s seven Commissions.

• Since that time, SSC has grown into a global, science-based network of thousands of volunteer experts.

• The SSC works together with the Secretariat and Members to deliver the IUCN Programme and Species Strategic Plan. 

• It is a science-based network of more than 10,500 volunteer experts from almost every country of the world.

• Working in close association with IUCN Secretariat, SSC’s major role is to provide information to IUCN on biodiversity conservation, the inherent value of species, their role in ecosystem health and functioning, the provision of ecosystem services, and their support to human livelihoods. 

• This information is fed into the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

• The SSC network also provides scientific advice to conservation organisations, government agencies and other IUCN members, and supports the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.

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