Wilson, S., P. Smith, E. Kenchington, M. Ballard, R. Buxton, K. Bobiwash, S. J. Marshall, E. Gilmore, É. Abergel, J. Allison, D. Arbuthnott, S. Avery-Gomm, N.C. Ban, K.F. Beazley, J.R. Bennett, E. Bennett, A.D. Binley, L.K. Blight, L. E. Bortolotti, D. Browne, E.K. Cameron, K.M.A. Chan, C. Chisholm, C. Chu, S.J. Cooke, F. Di Palma, D. Duplisea, C. Edge, B. Frei, L.W. Gomes, C. Hart, S. Hayne, M. Houde, A.L. Jacob, S. Javorek, H. Kharouba, D.R. Lapen, T.G. Martin, M. Mitchell, I. Naujokaitis-Lewis, E.A. Nyboer, M. O’Connor, A. Olive, S. Otto, B. Pickering, R. Pither, G. Pritchard, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, J. Rice, D.G. Roche, E. Rubidge, M. Ryckman, J.M. Saarela, K.D. Sadler, C. Shulman, I. Siboo, K.A. Solarik, F. Soulard, C. Sponarski, D. Stralberg, E. Ubalijoro, A. Ventimiglia, and C.D. Ziter. 2024. Science and knowledge needs to support Canada’s implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Report prepared for Environment and Climate Change Canada, 62 pp. Available at: https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/2214
Biodiversity continues to decline in Canada despite significant efforts to halt losses. There is increasing recognition that direct drivers of biodiversity loss, such as resource exploitation and pollution, are perpetuated in part by conflicting goals and values across economic, social, political, and technological sectors, and inequity on many scales. Addressing these issues is necessary to create the transformative change required to reverse biodiversity decline. The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) aims to build on the lessons learned from previous multilateral attempts to halt biodiversity loss. The framework is supported by 23 targets, to be achieved by 2030, that fall under the themes of reducing threats to biodiversity, sustainable resource use to meet human needs, and implementing tools and solutions to support biodiversity.
We consulted with biodiversity experts from diverse fields and sectors including natural-, social- and Indigenous scientists from academia, non-governmental organizations, and government. Here we present this expert community’s perspectives on key knowledge and science needs that will strengthen Canada’s ability to achieve the KMGBF goals and targets. It outlines 78 target-specific needs that range from specific gaps in biodiversity monitoring to suggested research priorities. Eight key concepts were also identified that will support transformative change to address biodiversity loss including 1) more effectively transforming biodiversity knowledge into action, 2) centering Indigenous Peoples and knowledge systems, 3) broadening the lens through which we understand and approach conservation through social science and humanities research, 4) improved collaboration across and within sectors, 5) conservation planning and management with on-the-ground resource users, 6) improved data management, 7) holistic integration across KMGBF targets, 8) understanding how to scale biodiversity information from local to national scales.
In addition, we suggest cross-cutting areas of research that could generate important information 1) evaluating the effectiveness of current biodiversity management actions, 2) developing Indigenous biodiversity initiatives to enable the full participation of Indigenous peoples in biodiversity management, 3) enhancing efforts to include social science research in conservation, and 4) identifying how societies and cultures value natural capital and ecosystem services.