In January 2023, a Parasite Specialist Group was created within the IUCN Species Survival Commission. This international group of researchers and practitioners will work to assess the conservation status of parasite biodiversity globally, develop recovery plans and best-practice protocols for parasite conservation, build networks and partnerships for parasite conservation, and communicate the intrinsic and functional importance of parasite species in ecosystems.
The Parasite Specialist Group faces a great challenge. Although approximately half of all animal species are parasitic during at least one life stage, few parasitic species have been assessed for the IUCN Red List or targeted for conservation efforts. Rather than considering all 15 hyperdiverse phyla of understudied and underprotected animal parasites, the Parasite Specialist Group will focus on a subset of parasite biodiversity: metazoan parasites that use vertebrate hosts. This group includes parasitic worms (Cestoda, Trematoda, Acanthocephala, Nematoda), insects (e.g. Phthiraptera, Siphonaptera, Hippoboscoidea, Oestridae, Polyctenidae, Cimicidae) and arachnids (e.g. Ixodida, Spinturnicidae, Trombiculidae). By 2025, the Parasite Specialist Group aims to have assessed the conservation status of at least one representative species of each taxonomic group.
Just as habitat conservation is critical for the conservation of free-living species, host conservation is critical for parasite conservation. Therefore, the Parasite Specialist Groups is seeking new partnerships with vertebrate conservation groups interested in finding ways to conserve parasites along with host species. For example, ex situ vertebrate conservation programmes have resulted in the extinction of some rare parasite species (e.g. the condor louse Colpocephalum californici), but they have also sustained some rare and endemic parasite species along with their threatened hosts (e.g. the chewing louse Ardeicola nippon on the crested ibis Nipponia nippon). An immediate priority for the new Parasite Specialist Group is to develop best practice guidelines for ex situ parasite conservation and work to with interested partners to begin new parasite co-conservation programmes.
The Parasite Specialist Group invites researchers and practitioners in the fields of parasitology, ecology, veterinary medicine and conservation to reach out with questions, requests for support or ideas for new collaborations.
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