The Wilder Institute is set to begin important work towards improving conservation locally and globally at the Internation Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Abu Dhabi this week.
As part of their attendance at the congress, the Wilder Institute is set to showcase its new Centre for Species Survival (CSS), which was announced in May of this year.
The first-of-its-kind centre incorporates human dimensions into conservation work, ensuring that human health, sustainability, livelihoods, and rights are incorporated into conservation work.
Dr. Gráinne McCabe, Chief Conservation Officer at the Wilder Institute, said that conservation only works if local communities see a benefit.
“We do need to consider that people have needs. People need to feed their families. People need access to medicine. People want their kids to go to school, and we can’t put wildlife above people. We have to think of benefits for both,” she said.
“Really, our focus is saying, if we work with local communities and they can see a benefit from conservation, they can get an income in a way that benefits conservation, then we can start to turn the tide a little bit on some of the challenges that are facing animals around the world and plants around the world.”
Dr. McCabe said the CSS would allow for smaller conservation organizations to access the wealth of knowledge and resources that the Wilder Institute has, but that would be otherwise unaffordable for those small organizations to create or access on their own.
She used the example of a small owl recovery program in northern BC, not having the time or resources to access the IUCN.
“We’re launching this Centre for Species Survival to really be that go-between, between this big member organization that operates globally, and practitioners on the ground who need access to accessible information and tools to be able to implement solutions for conservation,” said Dr. McCabe.
She said attending the congress reflected the growing international work that the Wilder Institute has been taking on in the past several years to ensure more species survive in the wild.
“I’ve been working really diligently with my team here to see how we can grow what we’re doing, but in a way that gives us the opportunity to share our skills with other people and bring more people into the conservation space,” said Dr. McCabe.
“By being at the World Conservation Congress, we’re really helping to network and meet those individuals that maybe could use our support, or that we could learn from and also to grow some collaborations in the global conservation space.”
The newly launched CSS will be the focus of two sessions during the congress on Oct. 9 and 11.
For more details, see iucncongress2025.org.
