This is a training session designed for annual meeting participants who are new to the principles and practice of designing and facilitating effective meetings. It is an introductory session designed as a springboard into further training in how to design and facilitate more complex species conservation planning processes.

Insights and trends concerning the state of the world’s wildlife can be found in publications such as the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the Living Planet Report, as well as in online resources such as Our World in Data. These resources influence national and international policy directions. At the heart of these resources are two databases and their associated indices: the IUCN’s Red List Database and Index; and the ZSL Living Planet Database and Index.

This Working Group will explore the case for developing an equivalent index associated with the Species360 database as the basis for a periodic “State of the World’s Ex Situ Conservation Resources Report”. Such a report would tell the evolving story of the composition and condition of the world’s ex situ wildlife resources, using innovative data analysis, evocative imagery, and compelling infographics.

The success of species conservation relies on the well-being of the communities coexisting with wildlife. The Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) emphasizes “holistic, human-centered approaches”. A critical yet under-addressed dimension of conservation is human health—specifically reproductive health. As championed by the IUCN Task Force on Family Planning and Biodiversity, removing barriers to reproductive healthcare empowers communities, improves women’s educational and economic outcomes, and fosters more resilient, sustainable natural resource management. The population, health, and environment (PHE) programming approach addresses these challenges in an equally integrated manner through cross-sectoral partnerships as evidenced by the Healthy wetlands for the cranes and people of Rukiga, Uganda project.

What are some tools and resources that the IUCN Centre for Species Survival on Human Dimensions could design to effectively help the global community of conservation professionals integrate human dimensions, including health, into their work? How can experiences from the field and policy engagement operationalize the human-centered focus of the GSAP?

Describing and addressing human – wildlife conflict and coexistence, especially in the context of endangered species management, is receiving greater attention in the global community of conservation scientists and practitioners. Consulting with known experts in this field is an important next step in exploring how we can better incorporate issues around human – wildlife interactions into our analyses and conservation planning processes. In this working group, we aim to develop a shared understanding of the topic and its terminology; to discuss how to measure the nature of these interactions and how they impact wildlife populations; and to critically assess our ability to include tools created by topic experts in our planning processes.

This working group builds off the momentum generated by the conservation planning for plants working groups organized at the past several CPSG Annual Conferences. In this session, we will share the experiences and tools that have been applied to conservation planning for plants around the world. We will also provide an opportunity to discuss successes as well as key issues that are particularly challenging in planning for plants.

The landscape of artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace.. In skilled hands, generative AI tools can already produce rudimentary draft species recovery plans in a few hours. Using conventional, people-centered methods, these plans might otherwise take months or years to produce. But what are the pitfalls and limitations of an AI-centered approach? How can we get access to all the data necessary to generate credible plans? What protocols should be used to enable AI models to generate these reports? 

A US-led international collaboration is exploring some of these questions and will share draft protocols and findings to date and explore these and other questions with the group. An interactive lab session, focusing on 2-3 species, will allow participants to experience the capabilities and limitations of selected AI tools firsthand.

The IUCN SSC Animal Biobanking for Conservation Specialist Group (ABCSG) will convene a working group to discuss the opportunities and challenges in establishing biobanking expertise and facilities across the three sample-type task forces in regional collaborations across the globe. This follows on the CSS-Biodiversity Biobanking workshops in Vietnam and Kenya and initiatives in Latin America that will be discussed. As the synergistic and symbiotic relationship between biobanking and global efforts in genomics, such as the Earth Biogenome Project (EBP) and their relationship to meeting Targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity is increasingly being recognized, the working group will collect and share information to the SSC network and WAZA. Zoos and aquariums can play a special role in this global enterprise for benefitting all of life.