IUCN WCC Panel discussion
In a celebration in all things weird and wonderful, a panel discussion was held at the IUCN WCC, Reverse the Red Pavilion on the 7th of September, 2021.
Chaired by Monni Bohm of the Indianapolis Zoo, the panellists shared theirs views on why we should concentrate conservation efforts on conserving the tree of life. The tree of life is a visual metaphor showing the interrelatedness of all species, which we can think of as our cousins through time. The evolutionary heritage is represented by species across the Tree of Life which is a critical and often overlooked aspect of biodiversity in its own right.
The panellists emphasised that we are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis with one million species threatened with extinction. Most of us are not aware that we stand to lose more than 50bn years of evolutionary history among terrestrial vertebrates alone and that the majority of Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species, around 9/10, are not receiving sufficient conservation attention.
Credit: Global Center for Species Survival
Our PDTF chair, Nisha Owen, shared the PDTF’s perspective that an urgent solution to the challenge is to incorporate evolutionary history in both species-focused and spatial conservation strategies, to complement existing conservation efforts, many of which focus on charismatic and well-known species. This is where the PDTF plays a key role that provides guidance and expertise on the inclusion of phylogenetic diversity in conservation strategies for practitioners, decision-makers, and the public.
Another PDTF member, Roseli Pellens stressed that we should be concerned about maintaining the options of nature for future generations, and that options from nature represent one important component of Nature Contributions to People. Roseli highlighted results from theoretical and empirical studies that show that phylogenetic diversity captures more variety, and so more of these potential options, than other methods. For example, she explained the importance of Amborella trichopoda, the sister species of all flowering plants, for our knowledge about the origin of flowers in vascular plants.
Andrew Terry of the Zoological Society of London highlighted the EDGE of Existence programme, producing priority EDGE lists of species on mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles, corals, sharks and rays, conifers and cycads, with ray-finned fish coming soon. The programme also supports early career conservationists to conserve EDGE species in their native countries, including his favourite species the pygmy hog.
Barney Long of Re:wild highlighted their variety of programmes and projects on lesser-known species around the world, including their hunt for Lost Species, the jewel-coloured frogs of the Atelopus Survival Initiative, and some of his favourite species - the saola, hirola and Sumatran rhino, all of which are on the brink of extinction.
Nisha and Roseli also mentioned the development of the PD and EDGE indicators to help monitor and track the success of conserving the Tree of Life, available at national and global scales, and which could be used by policymakers to understand the impacts of their conservation efforts, particularly in global commitments such as the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity.
