Target 4 in focus

Ensure urgent management actions to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species, to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimize human-wildlife conflict for coexistence.

Aims | Actions | Assessment

Priorities

  • Halting the extinction of known threatened species
  • Reducing extinction risk through recovery and conservation efforts, particularly directed to threatened species
  • Restore and maintain genetic diversity to support adaptive potential (within and between populations)
  • Support and encourage coexistence by managing and minimising human-wildlife conflict

SSC Webinar Series 2024. 1st Ed. Global Biodiversity Framework

This webinar was hosted by the IUCN Species Survival Commission to discuss the links between the Global Biodiversity Framework and the SSC Network and presented the species-focussed ambitions within Goal A and Targets 4, 5, and 6.

Speaker line-up:

Together these talks clarify the concepts and terms within each target and highlight routes for effective management approaches and policy interventions by drawing on the presenters’ extensive and diverse expertise developing resources, national reports, and toolkits.

Take a look at the recording below:

Presentation Overview:

Phil McGowan, from Newcastle University and chair of the IUCN SSC GBF Task Force, starts off the webinar with an overview of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and highlights how the SSC Post-2020 Biodiversity Targets Task Force (now the SSC GBF Task Force) was instrumental in ensuring a focus on the need for targeted recovery actions for threatened species during the negotiations for Target 4.

Sean Hoban, a memeber of the IUCN SSC GBF Task Force and the Coservation-Genetics Specialist Group, then zooms in on Target 4’s focus on genetic diversity and species management actions and discusses the guidance and support tools available to track progress on the genetic component of Target 4.

Anastasiya Timoshyna, who co-chairs the IUCN SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group and is the European Programme Director at TRAFFIC, then introduces Target 5 (sustainable, safe, and legal wildlife use). She also outlines the 5-Dimensional sustainability assessment framework, along with other measures, that can assist in regulating and measuring the sustainability of wildlife use.

Aileen Mill, also of Newcastle University and a member of the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group, then guides us through Target 6 (managing and reducing the impact from invasive species) and gives a sneak preview of the Invasive Alien Species Toolkit which is currently under development.