Dear Center for Plant Conservation Forum,

I am delighted to share with you all links to the 2023 online course program from the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group (http://www.cpsg.org), which I hope you find relevant to support your plant conservation work. Included are details for the Ex Situ Conservation Assessment course which we are excited about launching this year! If you’d like to find out more about any of the three courses advertised, please email jamie@cpsg.org.

I’d also be hugely grateful if you could distribute this information to your networks.

CPSG online course program

Facilitating Species Conservation Planning Workshops

(11 September-3 November 2023- closing date for applications is 11 August 2023)

This course introduces you to the Species Conservation Planning Principles and Steps, providing you with the knowledge and skills required to design and facilitate collaborative species conservation planning processes. This course is relevant to all organizations and individuals that are responsible for developing conservation plans for threatened species at local, national, regional, or global levels. By the end of the course, participants will be able to: apply the CPSG Species Conservation Planning Principles and Steps to the design and facilitation of species conservation planning processes; demonstrate the role of the facilitator in consensus-based decision making; and select facilitation tools to help groups solve problems, make decisions, and develop plans.

Click here to find out more about the course and how to apply to an upcoming session, and watch a short course introduction.

Wildlife Disease Risk Analysis

(28 August-27 October 2023- closing date for applications is 4 August 2023)

This course explains how to put the IUCN Guidelines for Wildlife Disease Risk Analysis (WDRA) into practice. If you are concerned with how infectious and/or non-infectious disease might impact species and how to engage others in planning for their management, then this course is for you! Government wildlife agency staff, IUCN SSC Specialist Group members, and other conservation professionals and veterinarians working in zoos, aquariums, universities, or field programs, responsible for planning for disease management at the interface between people, places and wildlife are the core target audience for this training. By the end of the course, participants will be able to: recognize and justify situations where a WDRA process can contribute to a) wildlife conservation, b) domestic animal health care, and c) public health protection; explain how the principle of One Health and the science of epidemiology are applied to a WDRA; and design a workshop to effectively engage multiple stakeholders in completing a WDRA.

Click here to find out more about the course and how to apply to an upcoming session, and watch a short course introduction.

Ex situ Conservation Assessment            !!NEW !!

(Self-paced so no deadline)

We are excited to announce the release of CPSG’s new, self-paced, online training course on how to conduct an Ex situ Conservation Assessment (ECA). This course will give you the knowledge and skills to guide a diverse group of in situ and ex situ experts and relevant parties through a systematic evaluation of potential ex situ management activities, to decide if and which are recommended for inclusion in a species’ conservation plan. The course is a critical resource in the implementation of Target 4 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and Motion 94 of the IUCN World Conservation Congress and demonstrates how to put the IUCN SSC Guidelines on the Use of Ex Situ Management for Species Conservation into practice. Ex situ Conservation Assessment is relevant to anyone involved with species conservation planning or the implementation of ex situ conservation activities.

Click here to find out more about the course and how to apply to an upcoming session, and watch a short course introduction.

Please reach out to Jamie Copsey if you have any questions.

Jamie Copsey

Director of Training

IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group