UPSC Prelims 2023 Q13: Invasive Species Specialist Group — Explained
'Invasive Species Specialist Group' (that develops Global Invasive Species Database) belongs to which one of the following organizations?
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature
- The United Nations Environment Programme
- The United Nations World Commission for Environment and Development
- The World Wide Fund for Nature
Answer: (a) The International Union for Conservation of Nature
Statement-wise explanation
- a: correct — The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) was set up in 1994 under IUCN's Species Survival Commission (SSC), one of IUCN's six expert Commissions. Its full name is the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. It manages the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD), which it runs with the University of Auckland's Centre for Invasive Species Research. It also leads the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS).
- b: incorrect — UNEP was created in 1972 by UN General Assembly resolution 2997 (XXVII), after the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Its headquarters are in Nairobi. UNEP works on environmental policy and assessment, but it has no 'specialist groups' and does not run the GISD. 'Specialist Group' is SSC terminology.
- c: incorrect — The World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) was convened by the UN in 1983. It published 'Our Common Future' in 1987, which defined sustainable development. It was a time-bound commission that finished its work with that report. It never had standing specialist groups and never built a species database.
- d: incorrect — WWF was founded in 1961 as the World Wildlife Fund and renamed the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1989. It is an NGO that funds and runs field conservation projects. Its international headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland, the same town as IUCN's, which is a common source of confusion. Specialist Groups and the databases they run belong to IUCN's Species Survival Commission, not to WWF.
How to eliminate
You need one fact to answer this question: 'Specialist Groups' are the expert networks of IUCN's Species Survival Commission (SSC). Their full names carry the prefix 'IUCN SSC', as in IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group or IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. If you know this, the answer is immediate. Without it, you can still narrow the options. The World Commission for Environment and Development was a temporary UN commission that ended with the Brundtland Report in 1987, so it could not run a database that is still active. That leaves three options. IUCN is the most likely of the three because it is the body that produces standard global species datasets, such as the Red List, which lists threatened species, and EICAT, which classifies the harm alien species cause. WWF is mainly a fundraising and field-action NGO, and UNEP is a UN programme that works through governments. Remember: IUCN SSC Specialist Groups → Red List assessments, the GISD and the list of '100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species'.
Know more
IUCN and its expert network
IUCN (founded 1948, headquarters in Gland, Switzerland) is a union of more than 1,600 member organisations, both governments and NGOs. It draws on about 19,000 volunteer experts, organised into six Commissions:
| Commission | Focus |
|---|---|
| Species Survival Commission (SSC) | Species; runs most Red List assessments through its Specialist Groups |
| World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) | Protected areas |
| World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) | Environmental law |
| Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) | Ecosystems |
| Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) | Communication and learning |
| Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) | Policy, rights and livelihoods |
What the ISSG does (set up in 1994 under the SSC)
- GISD (Global Invasive Species Database): a free database on invasive alien species that covers every group of organisms, from micro-organisms to plants and animals.
- '100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species': a list drawn from the GISD. It includes species familiar in India, such as Lantana camara and water hyacinth.
- GRIIS (Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species): country-by-country checklists of introduced and invasive species.
Related IUCN tools
- EICAT: IUCN's global standard for classifying how much environmental harm an alien species causes.
- The Red List: about 1 in 10 species on the Red List is threatened by invasive alien species.
Why invasives matter
- IUCN counts invasive alien species among the main drivers of biodiversity loss and extinction.
- IUCN puts the minimum economic cost of biological invasions between 1970 and 2017 at about USD 1.288 trillion.
- Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD, December 2022) aims to cut the rate at which invasive alien species are introduced and become established by at least 50% by 2030. It gives priority to sites such as islands.
In the news
No single news event explains this question; it is mainly a static question about organisations. Invasive species had been in the news since December 2022, when the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework set Target 6: cut the rate at which invasive alien species are introduced and become established by at least 50% by 2030.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- IUCN: The question asks which organisation the Invasive Species Specialist Group belongs to, so you need to know what IUCN is and how it is structured.
- Invasive alien species: The Global Invasive Species Database records invasive alien species, so this definition tells you what the group studies.
- Exotic species: Exotic species are where invasives come from; knowing the difference sharpens questions on databases like the GISD.
- IUCN Red List: The Red List is the best-known product of the same expert-group system the question tests, which makes it a useful anchor.