Vivek Menon becomes the first Asian chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission [Interview]

By the late 1970s, rapid urbanisation and government construction plans for the national capital had put parts of the Delhi Ridge under threat. The northern extension of the Aravalli range, the Delhi Ridge, was the last reserve forest in the city. However, the Delhi Development Authority sought to develop it in the blueprint of Hyde Park in London and Central Park in New York.

“I remember leading a group of students from Delhi University and picketing the Delhi Development Authority building,” said Vivek Menon, co-founder of the Wildlife Trust of India, who was 20 years old when he, along with activists, students, and conservation groups mobilised to oppose deforestation of the ridge in 1987.

Menon founded the NGO Shrishti in the same year, which helped formalise and sustain advocacy for the Delhi Ridge, and contributed to the notification of some sections of the ridge as protected forests.

In the years that followed, over a career spanning nearly four decades, Menon earned the reputation of being one of India’s foremost wildlife conservationists.

On October 15, 2025, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., Menon was elected as the new Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission for 2025-2029, becoming the first Asian person to lead the commission in its 75-year history.

Mongabay: Congratulations on your election as the Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission! After 25 years with IUCN, how does it feel to lead its most venerable commission?

Vivek Menon: Over the years, I’ve come to know the IUCN from many different aspects. I’ve chaired the IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) for 10 years and been a member of the steering committee of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) during that time. Over the last four years, I’ve also served as Chair of the IUCN Governance and Constituency Committee, which primarily involved administrative responsibilities. So, it is good to return to my roots.

Biodiversity is my passion, that’s why I’m here. Apart from the conservation element, I’m an avid naturalist with a curiosity for all forms of life. Like people have been saying, I’m the first Asian to occupy this chair, and that is a matter of honour and pride. But more than that, I hope I can do something for the species.

Mongabay: What does it mean for the commission to expand its leadership to the Global South? How do you hope it will impact conservation in the region?

Vivek Menon: I suppose the most obvious impact is that with more connections and roots in the Global South, one could see more leadership emerging from these areas. An examination of SSC leadership will reveal poor representation in certain regions: Africa is abysmally low, and several parts of Asia too, though this does not necessarily include India. It goes without saying, but I’ll encourage the people in these regions to stand up and be counted.

When a person from this part of the world leads the commission, they will approach it with a mindset, a cultural connotation, and a political connotation different to someone from the West. I’ve seen, lived, and practised conservation in a developing nation; now an emerging economy. Between India and China, the region is home to three out of every seven people in the world! So if you are looking at the intersection of humans and the rest of life, it is something you can only understand when you work here.

It is equally important what the SSC can bring to this part of the world. It’s not just us contributing inwards, but what the mighty scientific machine of 11,000 minds can contribute to the region. A critical agenda for me is South-South cooperation. For example, I’ve tried in the past to bring together the 51 countries that have elephants, but even today, the three species are discussed separately. We need to find more common goals and solutions.

Mongabay: What is the governance structure of the SSC? What is the role of the commission in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species? 

Vivek Menon: Apart from the leadership — the Chair, the Deputy Chair, and the steering committee — the commission is divided into 220 working units, including specialist groups, Red List authorities, task forces, and action partnerships.

Specialist groups are the core working units of the SSC. There are specialist groups on everything from the Asian Elephant to soil microbiota. Being a volunteer commission, there is no even representation, as it is dependent on a group of experts wanting to form a specialist group.

One of the newer additions is the Parrot Specialist Group. The fact that one of the most showy, colourful, flagship birds has not had a group till now shows that there are still significant gaps. There are 20 or 30 groups already knocking on the door, wanting to form, and there will be more.

The Red List of Threatened Species is the IUCN crown jewel. Everyone knows the categorical words: critically endangered, endangered, threatened, and vulnerable, which scientifically describe and categorise the extinction risk status of species.

Its operations are led by the Red List unit of the SSC, in partnership with organisations from around the world, ensuring that the assessment processes remain unbiased. The Red List unit has its own technical committee and set of Red List authorities. Each specialist group will be provided an exclusive Red List authority or one that it shares with other groups.

Mongabay: What are your ambitions for the commission for its upcoming quadrennium (2025-2029)?

Vivek Menon: I was recently at the Zoological Society of London, where, in a terrarium, several snails of the genus Portula were clinging to the glass. They are the last of their species in the whole world. We cannot afford for these last individuals to die and for the species to go extinct. Hopefully, we can work to bring back at least a small percentage of these functionally extinct species — species that are extinct in the wild but survive in captivity.

Similar to the Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management has the Red List of Ecosystems. Even though conceptually framed by two different commissions, the two Red Lists should work in tandem. There is also the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas; we must bring all these commissions together. I’m still on the IUCN Council, and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to bring about these systematic improvements.

To my mind, the most important contribution of my predecessor, John Paul, or JP as he’s popularly called, is bringing the ‘act’ component to the SSC. Before that, the organisation focused on assessments and planning. They were the honest brokers for government and civil societies to come together. I want to expand this part of the SSC. The idea is to bring together action partnerships, where we can partner with NGOs, governments, and sub-governments that have boots on the ground, people who are actually doing the work.

Mongabay: Biodiversity loss is one of the defining crises of our time. Recently, however, it is the climate crisis that has thoroughly captured the public imagination. How would you work towards a unified approach to the two crises?

Vivek Menon: I can’t agree more! At COP28, in Dubai, we worked very hard to get the word ‘biodiversity’ into the climate treaty for the first time — not in one place, but 20-odd places. So, it wasn’t until 2023 that nature found a place in the treaty. Now it exists theoretically, but for it to be practically existent, more work is required.

First, the link between the climate negotiations and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) should be strengthened. Not only that, but we also need to build processes that enable them to talk to each other.

Second, to change the minds of delegations. Biodiversity experts are prominent in the delegations attending the biodiversity COP. However, when it comes to the climate COP, the people who deal with biodiversity are just not in the room. Negotiations are mainly handled by external affairs, and the environmental ministry is usually influenced politically to take certain stances.

Mongabay: How do you perceive species conservation in the subcontinent? What should be the focus today?

Vivek Menon: After nearly four decades in conservation, you may be surprised to know that I remain an optimist. Everybody likes a bad story, and I can tell you there are plenty of bad stories. But there are good stories too. If you look at some of the big species, 65 to 70% of tigers are in India, 75-80% of Asian elephants are in India, 80 to 85% of one-horned rhinos are in India, and 100% of Asiatic lions are in India. We have not done poorly in that respect. Overall, the political will to conserve species is not bad.

The issue comes when people disassociate species conservation from habitat conservation. There is a misconception that the two are independent of one another. For example, we put forth the idea of wildlife corridors 17 years ago, but it has yet to be implemented well. However, today, there’s a National Highway Authority of India circular stating that all new national highways should have a wildlife underpass or overpass.

Of course, you can’t have rose-tinted glasses; you must also see the issues. But on the days you’re feeling down, reset and start the fight all over again. Also, I believe in karma; I believe in continuing to do what I have to do without giving much thought to the results. As long as I get something out of it, I’ll continue knocking, knocking.

Mongabay: Do you have a message for the young conservationists of tomorrow?

Vivek Menon: The first thing is to start young and start leading young. I founded my first organisation when I was 20. I didn’t have any real mentors early on in life. I read a lot and learned from my mistakes, but I never stopped. I call myself a serial entrepreneur; the Wildlife Trust of India is the fifth organisation I founded.

One of the motions passed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi calls for at least 2% of IUCN leadership to be individuals under 35. Of course, it has to be an aspirational goal that we work towards. We are serious about it, and recently added someone under 35 from Nigeria to the steering committee.

I believe that youth have an important role to play. They can provide a different energy and optimism to the cynicism of older people. But they shouldn’t wait. That’s my message, really. They can do, they can act, they can make a difference.

Read more: Forest ecology cannot be reduced to arithmetic, says M.I. Varghese [Interview]

Banner image: Vivek Menon birding in Seinthuk town (now known as Shergaon) in Arunachal Pradesh. Image by Madhumay.