New species extinction target proposed for global nature rescue plan

The upcoming future strategy for conserving biodiversity must include a prominent target to lower extinction rates, according to group including UCL scientists. Biodiversity loss has continued unabated at an alarming rate, and so far, action to deliver on the global agreements in place has failed to prevent further declines. Strong science-based action is needed, the scientists argue, driven through the recognition of a prominent biodiversity target, comparable to that of the two-degree climate target. In proposals published today in the journal Science , conservation experts are suggesting a long-term goal to reduce species extinctions towards natural rates, with an easily measurable objective of fewer than 20 extinctions a year. It would apply to all described species across the major taxonomic groups (fungi, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates) and ecosystem types, whether freshwater, marine or terrestrial. Report co-author Professor Dame Georgina Mace (UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research) said: "There are many ways to record biodiversity loss but we argue here that extinction is special. Once a species has gone, it has gone forever, and with it goes all the exquisite adaptations and interactions that it has developed, often over millions of years." This target is proposed as a prominent target of the post-2020 strategy to be adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international treaty tasked with producing the global plan for biodiversity.