In a major initiative, the first-ever regional Center for Species Survival (CSS) in South Asia has been established in India.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have partnered to establish the centre.
This will be the 10th Centre for Species Survival in the world and the first of its kind in South Asia, a press statement issued here said.
The center hopes to provide a platform for conservation practitioners to network and share best practices, as well as to contribute to species status assessments using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and amplify the impact of species recovery efforts across the country. The centre will further act as a bridge between national and international efforts to save species.
With India being home to numerous iconic and endangered species, the need for such a center has become more crucial than ever.
An MoU was signed between Prof. Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair, IUCN-SSC and Vivek Menon, Executive Director, WTI for this purpose.
“This partnership between IUCN SSC and WTI will ensure greater ground-level coordination amongst conservationists and scientists in India who are working on species survival. I am thrilled that WTI is able to host this initiative,” said Menon.
“The initiative will bring together the expertise and knowledge of 400-plus SSC members in India to support species conservation at the national level, and provide a platform for younger, emerging conservation talent to join the SSC network,” said Rodríguez.
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