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.
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
Our Mission
Description
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
Description
We are a network of +1600 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
Description
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.
CEM membership
The Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) includes more than 1,600 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.
Featured Work
Information brief
2023
A significant proportion of carbon mitigation projects implemented through market mechanisms (e.g., trading and offset) have a focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, forestry, transport, and…
Publication
2024
Historically, droughts have caused extensive damage. Effective responses to drought remain a challenge, with reactive and crisis-oriented approaches dominating many interventions. The…
Publication
2024
The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems is the global standard for ecosystem risk assessment and a framework for monitoring the status of the world’s ecosystems. It is part of the growing toolbox…
Publication
2023
Indigenous and Local communities are keepers of valuable environmental knowledge accumulated over generations. This knowledge is held individually and collectively, often orally …
Commission leadership
VASSEUR, Liette
Chair, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management
Chair of the World Commission on Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2025. Dr. Vasseur is a full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University. She is a member of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre and a Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) fellow. Since 2014, she holds the UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global. Vasseur’s research program works at the nexus of several disciplines allowing her to develop transdisciplinary research that join issues such as conservation, sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation and resilience, community-based ecosystem management, and ecosystem governance. Her research is in Canada, China, Ecuador, and Africa (including Benin and Morocco). In Canada, major projects focus on sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation in rural and coastal communities, and conservation in the Niagara Biosphere. Aspects of gender, EDI, and cultural identities are important in her research in Canada and beyond (as a member of the UNESCO International Consultative Group of Experts for Closing the Gender Gap in Science). Stewardship also is part of the activities of her Chair where knowledge transfer and translation ensure accessibility of the research to all communities. Her community-research work with the City of greater Sudbury led her to receive in 2011 the Latornell Pioneers Award from Conservation Ontario. She has over 160 publications and more than 280 presentations as a researcher.
Chair, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management
Chair of the World Commission on Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2025. Dr. Vasseur is a full professor in ...
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.
