Just last week I was over in the UK, in a very pretty little town called Bath which is famous for its Roman-built Baths. 
Unlike many of the people who stopped by for the day, I didn’t have time to sight see. There were far more important things to do. And it was a wonderful experience because I was very lucky to have an interview with Simon Stuart, someone who is a global authority in species conservation. Although he would probably be very humble and try tone it down a bit!
These days Simon is the Director of Strategic Conservation at an organisation called Synchronicity Earth which is really quite innovative – you can find out why at their website synchronicityearth.org
He’s also very, very much involved in the IUCN, which is probably one of the biggest organisations out there you may not have heard of.
IUCN stands for the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It’s been around since 1948, has 1,300 member organisations including governments, NGOs, indigenous people’s organisations, scientific institutions and business associations.
It also has 13,000 experts who provide input (more details in the full episode). And that input then turns into information, research programmes and sets the agenda for congresses that take place every 4 years. Now, at this congress there’s a members’ assembly and here decisions made by the members that make a big difference to conservation and sustainability globally.
Now, why was it especially interesting to speak with Simon? Well, he was chair of what’s called the Species Survival Commission. As he himself says in his biography, he had “in many senses the job of leading species conservation globally”.
And what a fascinating interview it turned out to be. It's really something to look forward to and so, I made this short trailer as we wait for the publication of the episode on 11 October 2018 because the perspectives Simon shared left me quite stunned during the interview!
So join us next week for the full episode but, for now, enjoy the words that Simon has shared.
About the people and the organisations mentioned in the episode
Simon Stuart, Director of Strategic Conservation at Synchronicity Earth and with over 30 year's involvement with IUCN on Twitter
Synchronicity Earth
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
The IUCN Species Survival Commission 
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

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