IUCN Members elect Vivek Menon as the new Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission

Vivek Menon is a leading Indian wildlife conservationist, environmental commentator, author and photographer with a passion for elephants. A conservation leader whose lifelong dedication has created positive, global change for wildlife and natural habitats. Through expert guidance to premier organizations, participation in landmark initiatives, and training of enforcement personnel across more than 50 countries, Menon has advanced solutions to critical challenges like illegal wildlife trade and species protection. His impact stretches from establishing reserves in Myanmar to helping shape international conservation policies through active roles in CITES, UNESCO, and national advisory boards.

With a career spanning over three decades and visits to more than a hundred countries, his hands-on commitment represents the power of expert collaboration, community-driven advocacy, and bold strategic action.

My goal is to strengthen the SSC into a more resilient, inclusive, and globally impactful network that drives action and shapes policy. I believe in the power of this global network of over 11,000 experts, united by a shared passion for life on Earth, and as Chair, I will lead it with integrity, transparency, and dedication, said Vivek Menon.

Vivek Menon has been part of the founding of five environmental & nature conservation organizations in India, including the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) where he is also the Executive Director. He has been winner of the 2019 Clark R Bavin Award, the 2018 Whitley Continuation Award, the 2017 Samskara Round Glass Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2001 Rufford Award for International Conservation for his work to conserve the Asian elephant. Recently he was made both a Fellow of the Linnaean Society and inducted into the Freedom of City, London by its Lord Mayor. 
 

In the international arena, Menon is the Councillor of the IUCN, and Chair of the SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, Chair of the IUCN Governance and Constituency Committee, a Member of the Advisory Board of the IUCN Strategic Initiative on the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, a Steering Committee member of the SSC and a member of the Conservation Translocation Specialist Group. With experience of over 25 years of work with the IUCN, he has served at various earlier times on the Asian Rhino Specialist Group, Cat Specialist Group, Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group and the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group. Apart from his work on species specific matters, he has also served on the Motions Working Group and Review Committees of the World Conservation Congress for the IUCN.

He is the author or editor of ten wildlife books including the bestselling Indian Mammals- A Field Guide, scores of technical reports and more than 250 articles in various scientific and popular publications. Indian Mammals is a landmark publication, being the first of its oeuvre in independent India to be written by an Indian. It has been translated into several languages and printed in several editions around the world.

The WTI that has been founded and headed executively by Menon for over 25 years has pioneered several conservation initiatives, including documenting, prioritising and securing the first elephant corridors in India, setting up the country’s first wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre, training over 20,000 forest guards in anti-poaching, creating ‘rainbow’ products as alternatives to wildlife consumption and creating ‘green livelihoods’ for those involved in community based conservation. In his capacity as the Executive Director of WTI Menon has raised millions of rupees for conservation in India and has a built a team of over 150 professionals. Vivek Menon lives in New Delhi, a city of which he was the Honorary Wildlife Warden for over 20 years.