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SCB AT THE WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS

With members from over 180 countries and 950 organizations, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) is perhaps the most important international conservation organization. Programs that contribute to IUCN's vision for a just world that values and conserves nature' are implemented through regional offices in many parts of the world and an international headquarters in Switzerland. Although SCB has been a member of IUCN for several years, until recently we have not been an active participant in its initiatives. But in October 2000, a formal SCB delegation of Dee Boersma, Sandy Andelman, and Jon Paul Rodriguez attended the Second World Conservation Congress in Amman, Jordan as official representatives of SCB. The World Conservation Congress is the regular triennial meeting of IUCN members. IUCN activities for the next few years are determined, and member organizations and governments discuss and pass resolutions on issues of topical interest in conservation. With delegates from over 100 countries participating, and a rich mixture of governmental and non-governmental organizations in attendance, this was a lively occasion! For detailed proceedings of the Congress and the passed resolutions, see http://www.iucn.org/amman/index.html.

The main reason SCB attended the Congress was to participate in a one-day interactive workshop, Integrating Science into Conservation Biology and Management, organized by the IUCN Species Survival Commission and SCB. We used the development of SCB's new initiative on research priorities in conservation biology as the starting point for a discussion about how practical conservation management can benefit from sound science. Board members Georgina Mace, John Robinson, and Gustavo Fonseca organized the workshop in collaboration with Simon Stuart and Sue Mainka from IUCN. One of 12 workshops held at the Congress, it attracted an audience of over 200, about one third of whom stayed to participate in working groups. Several speakers gave presentations on practical conservation problems including overharvest of species, marine protected areas, and economic considerations for conservation. One of the summary presentations at the workshop was contributed by Jan Plesnick, the new chair of SBSTTA, the technical advisory body to the Convention on Biological Diversity. We will be preparing a final product from the workshop, a report that addresses the information needs of managers, policy makers, and scientists. This summary will be published in SCB's new magazine, Conservation Biology in Practice.

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