Just under a decade ago, a target was set by the world’s governments: to slow the decline in biodiversity within 10 years. But by 2010 it was clear that global efforts had largely failed. The state of biodiversity had worsened and the ecosystem services that we rely on for food and water, a stable climate, and protection from natural disasters continue to be in jeopardy.
As plans were drawn up for a new strategic plan for the next decade, the Secretary-General of the United Nations stated that conservation efforts are all too often undermined by conflicting policies; yet, “conserving biodiversity,” he said, “cannot be an afterthought once other objectives are addressed.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Professor Andrew Balmford, who helps lead the University of Cambridge’s Conservation Science Group in the Department of Zoology: “Conservation has to be mainstreamed. It can’t be on the margins. It has to be part of policy and practice across a whole range of sectors if we are to have a chance of counteracting the rapid declines in the extent and condition of natural ecosystems.”
With this in mind, he and Professor Rhys Green, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)’s Principal Research Biologist and also based in the Department of Zoology, have created a series of highly effective partnerships with conservation practitioners and policy makers. These in turn have developed a suite of tools aimed at helping decision makers make informed judgments.
Image: Trees Credit: Sassan Saatchi/JPL CALTECH
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge