Candidate info
Particular qualifications:
If elected I bring to the Commission and Union close to four decades of conservation experience, the founding and running of five non-governmental organisations, having been an active member of five of the specialist groups, chairing one (AsESg) for 10 years and being Deputy Chair previously of the Species Survival Commission. I am currently a Councillor of IUCN and Chair its Governance and Constituency. I am on the board of the Wildlife Trust of India (an IUCN member) for 25 years and have proven fundraising and management skills. As Executive Director (and past CEO) of WTI I have grown a three member staff to over 250 with a multi-million-dollar budget. Currently I serve as Chair Amphibian Survival Alliance global council showing diversity in taxa and international management skills of networks which is required for SSC. I bring considerable experience at international MEAs having represented national NGO (WT), international NGO (IUCN) and state member (India) at CITES, CMS, UNESCO, CBD and bilateral and multilateral biodiversity fora for several decades besides serving as committee member or advisor to several Indian governmental and ministerial initiatives. I am committed to bringing in diversity of thought and participation from all corners of the globe and serving the Union as a whole. Finally, if elected I would be the first person from the old world of Asia and Africa to be in the post and would represent the South as well as Asian cultures and conservation ethics.
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:
I have been an active member of several SSC Commissions showing my familiarity with and expertise in species conservation. I am the Chair of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group for 10 years and was a member of the Indian governments Elephant Task force. I have led the committee that produced the new IUCN Conservation Translocation Guidelines for Displaced Organisms and been member of that group as well as threatened waterfowl SG, Asian rhino SG, Cat SG and Medicinal Plant SG at various times. In the past I have been a steering committee member of the Global tiger Forum, chaired subcommittees of the CITES and been part of Heads of State tiger conservation initiatives. All this gives me a solid basis to IUCNs species conservation agenda. Having chaired the GCC in the current council I am extremely aware of the Union and the role that commissions and IUCN members can play with Secretariat and the delicate balance between the various Union constituents. Having travelled across the globe (120 plus countries) trained government staff in more than 50 of them (CITES and wildlife Crime) departments understand global needs especially of small island states, Africa and parts of the Middle East and Central Asia to be better integrated into IUCNs functioning.