A mid-term analysis of progress toward international biodiversity targets
A new study published in Science reveals that, despite some progress, more needs to be done to reach the internationally agreed set of biodiversity targets by 2020. The study was conducted by 51 experts including Neil Burgess from the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen.
In 2010 the international community, under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, agreed on 20 biodiversity-related “Aichi Targets” to be achieved within a decade. The study provides a comprehensive mid-term assessment of progress toward these global targets using 55 indicator data sets. The study projects indicator trends to 2020 using an adaptive statistical framework that incorporated the specific properties of individual time series. On current trajectories, results suggest that despite accelerating policy and management responses to the biodiversity crisis, the impacts of these efforts are unlikely to be reflected in improved trends in the state of biodiversity by 2020. The study highlights areas of societal endeavor requiring additional efforts to achieve the Aichi Targets, and provides a baseline against which to assess future progress.