News published: 13 January 2023

We were sad to learn of the passing of Gren Lucas at the end of 2022. Thanks to Sara Oldfield, IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group, for these words about his legacy.

We are sad to announce the death of Grenville “Gren” Lucas, who served as Chair of the Survival Commission (SSC) from 1981 to 1989. Gren was a globally respected conservationist and will be especially remembered for his hugely influential leadership of the conservation of plant species.

Gren was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1935 and was interested in wildflowers from childhood. He attended the University of Hull, where he developed an interest in plant taxonomy and phytogeography, graduating in 1958. He met his future wife Shirley at university and they married in Kenya during his first overseas assignment at the East African Herbarium in Nairobi.

Gren had previously worked in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a research student sponsored by the Colonial Office. The preparation of the multi-author Flora of Tropical East Africa continued throughout his time at Kew, whose staff he joined on returning from Africa in 1962; the project was completed in 2011. Gren’s field experience in Africa had heightened his commitment to plant conservation, and his subsequent career allowed him to play an increasingly prominent role in supporting international conservation initiatives.

Gren coordinated, inspired and mentored a growing team in the Conservation Unit at Kew, who recorded IUCN Red List assessments on a massive card index system then transferred onto a Wang database recording many thousands of threatened species globally. He encouraged us to take on big roles in the international conservation movement – recognising the huge needs and opportunities at the time. The Conservation Unit, included the Protected Areas Data Unit which together with the Threatened Plants staff, eventually moved to Cambridge to form core parts of what eventually the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Alongside the Red Listing work, Gren worked with other leading plant conservationists to encourage botanic gardens globally to play a part in plant conservation. Two major conferences on this theme were held at Kew in the 1970s. Calls at the second conference led to the establishment of the Botanic Gardens Conservation Co-ordinating Body in 1979. This body sent out lists of threatened plant species to botanic gardens and recorded the results of species in cultivation in the Wang database. The coordinating body became the independent organisation, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in 1987, with BGCI continuing to work on Red Listing and facilitating the management of ex situ collections of threatened plants.

Continue reading about his incredible life, here: https://www.iucn.org/news/202212/appreciation-gren-lucas-iucn