IUCN SSC Skink Specialist Group

More about the Specialist Group

The core roles and aims of the SSG are to:

Complete Red List assessments for all described skink species to identify species with high extinction risk;
Co-ordinate conservation management for threatened skink species worldwide;
Foster collaborative research on skinks, including studies of the factors influencing their extinction risk;
Promote research on Threatened and Data Deficient skink species;
Initiate and facilitate communication and collaboration among ...

MISSION

The IUCN SSC Skink Specialist Group aims to complete Red List assessments for all skink species to identify species with high extinction risk, determine the factors underlying high extinction risk, develop strategies to manage risk, and improve the status of threatened skink species, and co-ordinate conservation management for threatened skink species.

Specialist Group work

The SSG is responsible for developing strategies to manage extinction risk and improve the status of threatened skink species, and co-ordinating conservation management for threatened skink species.

Understanding threats to skinks

By the end of 2024, we anticipate having assessed all remaining non-assessed species, coordinating the re-assessment of species as their assessments expire, and coordinating the assessment of newly described species.

SSG on the IUCN Red List

As a speciose group with a cosmopolitan distribution, a suite of conservation issues threaten the group (e.g. habitat loss, invasive species, climate change). Given this global distribution of skinks, the SSG plans to work directly with the government, non-government, and the corporate sector across the world to achieve positive conservation outcomes. At present, one of the primary challenges that the SSG faces is a lack of knowledge, in terms of the true species diversity that exists, and of the biology, ecology, distribution and conservation status of species.