Major players driving species conservation are the world’s national governments. Most human and financial resources available to conservation are not invested at the global level, but targeted at communities ranging from local to national, and administered by countries. In contrast, the SSC and many IUCN knowledge standards are primarily organized globally. This disconnect creates an opportunity for realigning global sources of knowledge, expertise and partnerships with needs of conservation knowledge, plans and action at the national level.
New SSC National Species Specialist Groups and nationally focused partnerships are being created to bring together experts focused on implementing IUCN methods and approaches nationally. They will also allow more emerging leaders to join the SSC network, grow professionally and join the global conservation community, while contributing to improvement of the status of biodiversity in their countries.