Outgoing SCB President Vanessa Adams passes the Society's historic board gavel to incoming President Mwesi Mugerwa at the SCB Global Network Board Meeting held immediately prior to ICCB at University of Queensland's Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island just outside of Brisbane, Australia. Vanessa became SCB President in 2023, guiding the Society through the pivotal first two years of its transition into a global network with empowered regions. Mwesi is the Society's first president from the Africa Region.
I want to thank SCB members and leaders for allowing me the opportunity to lead the Global Network Board during this exciting time of transition. In 2023, Tony Lynam successfully led the approval of our new governance structure as a network and then passed the baton to me. The motivation behind this change was to acknowledge and harness the power of our many groups, delivering on our mission to advance the science and practice of conserving Earth’s biological diversity.
It’s been a busy two years seeing the approved network structure come to life. The Global Network Board and Councils have worked hard to revise our strategic intents to align with this new structure and to give voice to each group in leading on core values and goals. This revised strategic approach positions our Region Council as the geographic interface of our organization for members, and our Programs Council as the leadership body driving our conservation science and practice goals.
While it is still early days for the new structure, ICCB 2025 already stands out as a key signal of our success. This was the first ICCB to be co-led through a purposeful governance model between SCB Oceania and SCB Global. It retained all the important elements of our flagship global conference while weaving in the distinctive perspective of Oceania’s conservation science. I hope those who attended agree that it was an exciting and energizing conference—a clear signal that our global network is continuing to grow in strength.
As we approach 2026 and the opportunity to take stock of our guiding Vision 2026, I look forward to seeing continued progress as a thriving network. It is with the greatest pleasure that I now pass the baton to Mwesi Mugera as SCB’s President.