Our people: members & leadership

These photos were taken over many years. 

ABOVE: TOP ROW: Group at the 2005 World Parks Congress: Standing, left to right: Xola Mkefe, South Africa; Keith Cooper, SA; Ted Trzyna, US; Zwai Peter, SA; John Davidson; UK; sitting: George Davis, SA. // Other photos: Ted Trzyna, US. Adrian Phillips, UK. Jeff McNeely, US/Thailand.

BOTTOM ROW: Joe Edmiston, US. Pedro da Cunha e Menezes, Brazil. Louise   

Lézy-Bruno, France. David Goldstein, US.

BELOW: TOP ROW:  Brett Myrdal, South Africa. Judy Ling Wong, UK. Mike Paparian, US. Fook Yee Wong, Hong Kong. 

BOTTOM ROW: Tanya Layne, South Africa (at her desk in the Edith Stephens Wetlands Park on the Cape Flats of Cape Town). Gideon Amboga, Kenya (center, with a fellow Kenya Wildlife Service ranger and Brett Myrdal of South Africa at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya; the lake, which has no outlet, is challenged by urban runoff). Yoav Sagi, Israel (at a remnant of coastal dunes between Ashdod and Ashkelon that has been protected from urbanization thanks to efforts of an NGO). 

MORE PHOTOS FOLLOW THESE

BELOW: TOP ROW: David Welch, Canada. Jim Barborak, US. Pete Frost, UK.

BOTTOM ROW: Karen Treviño, US. Glen Hyman, US/France/Brazil. Elisabeth Kersten, US with Mark Bouman, US. 

People in all these categories are sent newsletters and circular emails. Please contact the Specialist Group Chair, listed above, if you have questions about them.  

FULL MEMBERSHIP

Full membership in the IUCN WCPA Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group is by invitation. Anyone may ask to be included, but preference is given to those directly involved in connecting conservation of nature with urban people, urban places, and urban institutions, either as practitioners or researchers.  

Although expertise and willingness to contribute are most important, we strive for gender balance and wish to include younger professionals and people from all world regions. The specialist group is deliberately kept small to encourage interaction among its members. At any given time it has about a hundred members from some 30 countries. Members must contribute in some way; see How you can contribute, below. Member involvement is assessed at the end of each year.

Full members of the IUCN WCPA Urban Conservation Strategies Specialist Group are required to be members of the parent organization, the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. This is a straightforward process, but it can be facilitated by the Specialist Group Chair if necessary. Click here for information about WCPA membership.

Specialist Group members are listed as such in the IUCN Union Portal (once in the Portal, go to Commissions, then enter urban in the search box). The Portal is accessible to IUCN member organizations, IUCN staff, and members of IUCN Commissions.   

LISTING IN THE URBAN CONSERVATION STRATEGIES NETWORK

The Portal also has a list called Urban Conservation Strategies: Network, which includes members of the seven IUCN Commissions who have expressed interest in urban matters through the IUCN Secretariat.

HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE AND BENEFIT FROM INVOLVEMENT

• Tell us what you are doing in relation to the purposes of the Specialist Group. Give us information about events, publications, new organizations and projects, and other resources that will be of interest to others.  
• React to information and requests that we send you. Newsletters and circular emails provide news about resources, events, and opportunities to contribute. 
• Bring up issues you believe need to be addressed. Members' suggestions have resulted, for example, in a workshop on cities and conservation in the world's Mediterranean-type regions, and a working group on biosphere reserves in urban areas. 
• Help make connections. The Specialist Group's leadership puts a high priority on making connections among people with similar goals and interests. Much of this goes on behind the scenes.  
• Inform others in your own networks about the Specialist Group and the resources on our website.
• Help organize and participate in meetings and conferences. 
• Set up an informal network within the specialist group, including as appropriate members of other IUCN Commissions, to facilitate contact among people interested in similar issues. 
• Offer your assistance to leaders of projects and advisory groups.
• Request co-sponsorship of an activity by the Specialist Group. Examples are  Urban Nature, an event in Cape Town organized by the South African National Biodiversity Institute; and the Paris-based Urban Protected Areas Network.
• Arrange for exchanges of leaders and experts. Several such exchanges have taken place, for example, between managers of urban protected areas in Kenya and Brazil. 
• In your country or region, make contact with fellow members of the Specialist  Group. For their email addresses, visit the IUCN Union Portal, see circular emails, or contact the chair.
• Get in touch with an IUCN Regional or Country Office near you (see www.IUCN.org) to help support its work and encourage its staff to include an urban dimension in their activities. 
• When traveling, consider visiting with fellow Specialist Group members. On several occasions, this has led to speaking opportunities and joint activities.
  

A word about funding. IUCN's Commissions are volunteer networks. Their members' time and expenses are covered by their employers, or by grants members secure on their own. In many cases, Commission members donate their time and pay for their own expenses. Occasionally IUCN or other organizations cover travel expenses to meetings at which Specialist Group members are asked to participate.