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Commission on Ecosystem Management

A network of professionals whose mission is to act as a source of advice on the environmental, economic, social and cultural factors that affect natural resources and biological diversity 

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IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology closes major gap in...

As the world is set to adopt a landmark treaty to halt the loss of biodiversity later this year,…

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 About & How We Engage

CEM promotes ecosystem-based approaches for the management of landscapes and seascapes, provides guidance and support for ecosystem-based management and promotes resilient socio-ecological systems to address global challenges.

 

 

 

Our Mission

To develop and share expert guidance on ecosystem-based approaches to management and use of natural and modified ecosystems to achieve biodiversity conservation, address climate change impacts, contribute to human wellbeing and promote sustainable development.

Our Members

We are a network of +1500 members from around the globe who volunteer their time and talent in pursuit of sustainability and finding solutions for issues on ecosystems and their relationship with people and cultures. We encourage diversity in terms of experience, disciplines, cultures, languages, ages and gender.

Our structure

We have over 30 groups divided into Thematic Groups, Specialist Groups and Task Forces. Each network is focused on building and strengthening communities to achieve specific goals the different regions worldwide.

Link to the list of groups read more

CEM membership

The Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) includes more than 1,000 volunteer ecosystem management experts from around the globe.

Membership in the Commission on Ecosystem Management is open to any individual who has earned an academic degree (Bachelors, MSc or PhD) in a field relevant to Ecosystem Management or has substantial experience in managing an ecosystem and has skills determined important to the work of a Thematic Group, Task Force, Region or the Commission as a whole.

The candidate must be open and respectful in collaboration with partners from within and outside IUCN.

  • If asked to represent the Commission in a meeting or discussion, they are obliged to be supportive of IUCN policies and agreements.
  • As a general guideline, membership in the Commission requires 4-8 hours per month of volunteer service (e.g., reviewing/contributing to policy work, contributing case study documentation, assessing/evaluating case material, communicating Commission information, etc.).
  • All members of Commission Thematic Groups, Task Forces or any other working groups that may be established must meet the standards for membership in the Commission and be appointed to the membership per the procedures described above.

After applying for membership, the relevant Regional Vice Chair will review the application and where additional information is required, will be contacted. 

Apply to become a CEM member
Featured Work
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Publication | 2022
Aquaculture and Nature-based Solutions
Aquaculture production has very significantly increased in tonnage and value over the last decades. It is seen as a potential solution to replace the declining wild fishery stocks. This publication…
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Publication | 2021
Using ecosystem risk assessment science in ecosystem restoration
Recent global initiatives in ecosystem restoration offer an unprecedented opportunity to improve biodiversity conservation and human health and well-being. Ecosystems form a core…
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Publication | 2021
Critical approaches to gender in mountain ecosystems
Women play a key role in nature conservation, yet they often lack the inputs, technologies, training and extension services, and various enablers and linkages that can enhance the effectiveness of…
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Publication | 2021
The conservation status of marine biodiversity of the Western Indian Ocean
The Western Indian Ocean is comprised of productive and highly diverse marine ecosystems that are rich sources of food security, livelihoods, and natural wonder. The ecological…
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Commission leadership

Angela Andrade, CEM Chair

Angela ANDRADE PEREZ

Chair, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management

Chair of the World Commission on Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2016. Senior Director of Climate ...

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Chair, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management

Chair of the World Commission on Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2016. Senior Director of Climate Change and Biodiversity Policy at Conservation International Colombia, since 2009. She previously served as Director of Ecosystems at the Ministry of Environment and Deputy Director of Geography at the Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzí in Colombia. She is an Anthropologist from the Universidad de los Andes, specialised in Geography and Rural Surveys and Msc in Ecology from ITC in the Netherlands. She has more than 25 years of research experience in territorial ecology, land use planning and environmental policies. In recent years she has been promoting globally the issues of Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Nature-based Solutions as a response to the biodiversity crisis and climate change, among others.

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EXPERTISE: Assessing ecosystems, Ecosystem restoration, Ecosystem-based adaptation, Ecosystem-based mitigation, Managing ecosystems
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Everything we do or stop doing in this decade that begins, to face the crisis of biodiversity and climate change, will have a significant impact on the future of our civilization, its well-being and the integrity of our planet. To address it, today more than ever, ecosystem-based approaches become increasingly relevant.

Deputy Chair, Liette Vasseur

Liette Vasseur

Deputy Chair for CEM and co-lead of the Climate change and Biodiversity Policy and Practice group

Dr. Vasseur is a full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University where ...

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Deputy Chair for CEM and co-lead of the Climate change and Biodiversity Policy and Practice group

Dr. Vasseur is a full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University where she is also a member of the Women and Gender Studies program and the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, one of the five transdisciplinary spaces at the university. Since 2014, she holds the UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: form local to global at Brock. She currently leads the thematic group on Climate Change Adaptation of the Commission for Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Her interest for women in science and higher education stems from various involvement at the national and international levels. She is currently the President of the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) and the President-Elect of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES). Her research program is highly interdisciplinary and links issues such as community-based ecosystem management, climate change adaptation and resilience and sustainable agriculture. Her community-research work with the City of greater Sudbury led her to receive in 2011 the Latornell Pioneers Award from Conservation Ontario. She is currently in the codirection committee of a large project on Coastal Communities Challenges in the face of Climate Change, funded by the Social and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She has done over hundred publications and more than 200 presentations as a researcher. Her work focuses not only on Canada but also internationally such as in China, where she is a Minjiang Scholar at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University.

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CEM's Steering Committee Members