Center for Conservation Biology (the Center, or CCB) is a University of California Riverside (UCR) organized research unit. The Center for Conservation Biology’s mission is to assist in the conservation and restoration of species and ecosystems by facilitating the collection, evaluation, and dissemination of scientific information. The Center will proactively identify new research priorities in conservation biology and inaugurate new research programs. It will also develop research programs in response to existing needs in conservation biology. The Center will not create policy but will generate objective scientific information that may be used by others in developing policy. Many activities of the Center will be regional, centered on the diverse species and habitats that form the natural heritage of southern California, but other activities will extend far beyond this regional focus. The research and other activities of the Center ultimately will provide cultural, economic, and aesthetic benefits locally and globally. The Center will focus research efforts in the areas illustrated below: