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Candidate info

Particular qualifications to be the IUCN President:
I have a long history of involvement with IUCN, and I endorse the mission and understand the opportunities and constraints of IUCN’s organizational structure and capabilities. I have worked closely with IUCN members, both governmental and non-governmental, throughout the world. I have long been active in the Species Survival Commission (SSC), originally joining as a member of the Primate Specialist Group in 1985, and serving on the Steering Committee (1991-2000, 2003-2010). I represented IUCN on the TRAFFIC Board (1998-2009). I chaired the Sustainable Use Advisory Group (1994-1997), a special IUCN task force, which helped draft IUCN Sustainable Use Policy. I participated in the Sustainable Use Specialist Group (1992-2009) as member of the Executive Committee and Vice Chair. I joined the IUCN-US Board in 2012, and served as its President through 2016. I was elected by the 2012 World Conservation Congress to the IUCN Council. I have served on the Search Committee for the last two IUCN Director Generals. I have been a member of the Programme and Policy Committee since 2012, and participated in the Congress Preparatory Committee in the lead up to the Congresses in Hawai’i and France. I have been active on a number of IUCN Task Forces, including the Private Sector Task Force (which I currently chair), the post 2020 Task Force, and the IUCN Urban Alliance. Today I remain the IUCN Councillor for North America and the Caribbean, a member of Bureau, and as a Vice President for the Council.
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:

I have been active in the field of conservation throughout professional career. I oversaw the programs of the Wildlife Conservation Society in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and the Marine realm from 1990 until the end of 2019, when I retired from the position. Today WCS has programs in 64 countries, a staff of about 4000, and an annual budget approaching $125 million. With a Ph.D. in Zoology, I joined the Smithsonian Institution in 1977, then moved to the University of Florida in 1980 where I established a graduate program to train students from tropical countries. In over 200 books, book chapters and journal publications, I have written extensively on conservation research, practice and policy. I have extensive board experience, serving among others with the Christensen Fund (2001-2011, the last year as Chair), Foundations of Success (from 2001-2012 as Chair), the Tropical Forest Foundation (2000-2015), World Parks Endowment (1994-2004). I have served on the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology (1999-2010), and as its President (2005-2007). In recognition of my contributions to conservation, I was inducted into the Royal Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 2003, in recognition of lifetime achievement and service to conservation. In 2016, I was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Zoological Society of London, England. I am a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. Presently I am a 2020 Finalist for the Indianapolis Prize, a biennial prize for ‘extraordinary contributions to conservation efforts’.

Acceptance of Nomination
PDF icon declaration_of_willingness_to_serve_-_john-edited.pdf
Manifesto
PDF icon robinson_manifesto_2020.docx_.pdf

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