More about the Specialist Group

The CTSG is one of IUCN’s disciplinary groups, with member representation spanning all continents. CTSG is headquartered at the Wilder Institute in Canada in partnership with the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi. CTSG developed IUCN SSC Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, which are now available in 8 languages and have been integrated into government policy in many regions. These guidelines are applicable to all species on Earth, conservation translocations have been conducted for over 1500 species, and the diversity of objectives, species, and countries of application continues to increase. CTSG advances science, informs government policy, trains practitioners, and promotes the application of conservation translocations to benefit nature. Such activities acknowledge social, cultural, political, and economic considerations and often align to enhance tangible benefits to society.

Conservation translocations can be proactive to avert extinction, or reactive to return species that have been lost regionally or globally from the wild. CTSG’s mandate includes the planning, application, or evaluation of any human-mediated translocation for conservation purposes. Such activities span translocations among regions in the wild or any form of conservation breeding, propagation, or headstarting for release. Reinforcements or Reintroductions can be used to restore populations within their indigenous range. More risky applications include conservation translocations beyond such ranges including Ecological Replacements which introduced species to restore ecological functions lost through the extinction of other species, or Assisted Colonizations which involve translocations to mitigate against emerging or inescapable threats. The application of CTSG’s guidelines extends to Rewilding Efforts that attempt to restore larger ecosystems, as well as to the controversial topic of ‘De-Extinction’ which aims to resurrect proxies of extinct species for eventual release into the wild.