IUCN Species Survival Commission and Colossal Foundation Launch $4 Million Partnership to Accelerate Global Species Conservation

Four-year initiative expands Red List assessments, funds work on overlooked species, and strengthens a global network of more than 11,000 conservation experts.

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the Colossal Foundation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm of Colossal Biosciences, today announced a four-year, $4 million partnership to expand the responsible use of advanced technologies in global species conservation. The collaboration pairs more than 11,000 IUCN SSC experts, working through 210 groups in 186 countries, with scientific and technological capabilities from across the Colossal ecosystem, while preserving IUCN SSC's scientific independence and established Red List standards.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, the world's most comprehensive source of information on the conservation status of species, currently reports more than 175,900 assessed species, with more than 49,500 threatened with extinction, representing 28% of those assessed. The vast share of the world's biodiversity, however, has yet to be evaluated.

The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework built around four shared goals:

• Modernizing Red List assessments and conservation technology: developing, evaluating and deploying AI-enabled tools, large datasets and emerging technologies, beginning with the formation of an IUCN SSC Innovation Taskforce.
• Support for overlooked species: a dedicated grants program for IUCN SSC groups focused on fungi, plants, invertebrates, fishes, reptiles and other species that receive limited conservation attention or funding.
• Global species-survival communications campaign: a global effort to strengthen informed public understanding of species conservation, restoration and biodiversity.
• Strengthening the IUCN SSC network: direct support for the IUCN SSC Chair's Office and Steering Committee, enabling the global network to assess, plan and act for species.

"What we have often lacked is the capacity to move at the scale the crisis demands. This partnership with the Colossal Foundation gives our network access to tools and resources that can help us direct this knowledge to threatened species and slow down the threat of extinction," said Vivek Menon, Chair, IUCN Species Survival Commission.

The partnership builds on several years of shared work, including the Colossal Foundation's support for Reverse the Red, multi-year support for the IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, and a collaboration with the IUCN SSC Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group and the Samoa Conservation Society to locate and conserve the Manumea, Samoa's critically endangered national bird, using field surveys and AI-assisted bioacoustics.

ABOUT THE COLOSSAL FOUNDATION The Colossal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to supporting the use of cutting-edge technologies for conservation efforts globally to help prevent the extinction of keystone species. Learn more at www.ColossalFoundation.org.

ABOUT IUCN SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION With over 11,000 members in 186 territories, the Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of the seven expert Commissions of IUCN, recognized by Guinness World Records® as "the world's largest volunteer conservation-science network." Learn more at www.iucn.org/ssc.

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