National Species Specialist Groups are a new type of group promoted by the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) for the development of national species expert networks to help reverse biodiversity loss and tackle new nature-related sustainability challenges. The Spain Species Specialist Group was established in February 2024. It is the first National Species Specialist Group in Europe and the eighth globally.
The new Species Specialist Group will coordinate expertise across taxonomic groups and disciplines to support governments and other stakeholders and facilitate evidence-based decision-making and the development of policies for reversing species decline. The participatory establishment process in 2023 involved wide representation of stakeholders. The resulting group will be the nexus of diverse national scientific societies, conservation organizations, NGOs, other SSC regional specialist groups, the SSC Centre for Species Survival Macaronesia, IUCN national and regional entities, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, conservation practitioners and taxonomic specialists.
We have aligned the Group's programmes with the IUCN Species Strategic Plan 2021–2025, to support the implementation of the Species Conservation Cycle (Assess–Plan–Act, Communicate and Network). The initial membership of the Specialist Group comprises 132 experts, working on bryophytes, algae, lichens, vascular plants, cave invertebrates, hexapods, lepidopterans, spiders, molluscs, continental and marine fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. We hope to extend expertise membership to other taxonomic groups. The Spain Species Specialist Group is hosted by the Spanish Committee of IUCN. We hope the establishment of this new Specialist Group will encourage similar initiatives across Europe.
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