The CTSS IPB University Hosts IUCN SSC Indonesia Species Specialist Group
The Center for Transdisciplinary and Sustainability Sciences (CTSS) IPB University hosted and served as the secretariat of the International Union for Conservation of Nature- Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) Indonesia Species Specialist Group (IdSSG).
Dr Mirza Dikari Kusrini, Co-Chair of IdSSG and Fellows of CTSS IPB University explained, IdSSG is one of the group specialists under the IUCN Species Survival Commission. She explained that the group consisted of educated volunteers. This team tries to conduct and analyze the status of wild life and plan for better wild life management.
“Under the Species Survival Commission there are numerous specialists group. There are those based on taxon such as the amphibian specialist group, snake specialist group, orchid specialist group, but there is a new one, which is the national specialist group," said Dr Mirza Dikari Kusrini, a lecturer from the Faculty of Forestry and Environment of IPB University.
She continued that the organization is fluid because it is more about the network. Therefore, in addition to learning, the team can also perform assessment related to the threatened status of wildlife known as a redlist assessment.
As a new specialist group, Dr Mirza and her team open as many opportunities as possible for the community, experts and researchers to become members. She hopes that the existence of the IdSSG will become a platform that can raise researchers and observers as well as activists in the field of wildlife conservation on the global stage.
"So in the future we want to have capacity building and training related to the tools used by the IUCN to analyze wildlife, such as creating red lists, or conserving a certain species," she said.
In the future, she said, her team will conduct similar training so that they could perform their own assessments and not rely on assessments from foreigners.
In a seperate occasion, Prof Damayanti Buchori, Head of CTSS IPB University, expressed her gratitude to the team that initiated IdSSG. Shee also expressed his gratitude to the Directorate of Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia for their support in making CTSS IPB University the secretariat of IdSSG.
"For us, this is an extraordinary honor because this is the first time there is a group specialist at the national level and CTSS IPB University as the secretariat are involved," said Prof Damayanti Buchori.
Prof Damayanti mentioned that this position is suitable for CTSS IPB University as a research center that focuses on sustainability issues. "We all really understand how important species are for the sustainability of life," she said.
He hopes that in the future CTSS can contribute with IdSSG in conservation efforts for species in Indonesia and the world. "Hopefully we can help each other and carry out this sustainability together," concluded Prof Damayanti Buchori. (*/Rz) (IAAS/DSR)
