The group plans to use several programmes of work to increase research and conservation efforts for key species and areas. We will talk about high priority conservation areas, where there are particularly high densities of Globally Threatened species and the type of work we would like to conduct at these locations. One of the greatest challenges that the SMSG faces is how to address and reduce the large number of Data Deficient species, where there is inadequate basic ecological information to use a different Red List category. Here, we will provide some examples that show some of the challenges we face in addressing these, and how we can try to encourage organisations, research institutions, museums etc. to undertake activities such as expeditions that will target these specific places. The other main programme will be to identify key species using certain prioritisation systems and in this talk we will discuss potential candidate species. We will also explain how we intend to use species champions to support conservation actions on the ground for the nominated species.