The role of the scientific community
Incorporating GD and PD in the draft post-2020 GBF results from recent advances in knowledge, technology and databases on GD and PD, and from an unprecedented mobilisation of the scientific community in both academia and NGOs in bringing this information to the attention of policymakers. Indeed, these scientists have organised themselves into groups – the Coalition for Conservation Genetics \citep{Kershaw_2022} for GD and the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s PTDF for PD – that supported the post-2020 GBF by providing feedback on its drafts, advocating for the importance of recognising GD and PD as important biodiversity components and for the benefits to humanity, as well as developing and proposing indicators for its monitoring approach. This is a great achievement, but the role of the scientific community should not end here.
First, the scientific community needs to keep advocating for the inclusion of GD and PD into the post-2020 GBF, to ensure that these two biodiversity facets are actually included in the final GBF to be adopted in December 2022 – and we hope that this paper will contribute to reach that goal. Second, assuming that GD and PD are included in the post-2020 GBF, the scientific community will need to transform this policy opportunity into actual conservation practice by applying the associated metrics into operational conservation and monitoring actions, working with and for the practitioners. The good news is that research on how to best conserve GD and PD is flourishing (e.g. \citealt{Robuchon_2021,Gumbs_2022,Kershaw_2022}; and references therein), and concrete conservation or monitoring programs have already been developed, whether it is for GD (e.g. Mapping and monitoring genetic diversity in Sweden) or for PD (the Zoological Society of London’s EDGE of Existence Programme). The scientific community must also make specific, pragmatic and clear policy recommendations (see \citealp{Frankham_2022} for an example, or IUCN’s recent “Selecting species and populations for monitoring of genetic diversity”). These efforts need to be increased to ensure that these two fundamental facets of biodiversity are no longer overlooked. Hence, we conclude that the scientific community must engage, collaborate, and leverage the opportunity offered by the new post-2020 GBF to improve the conservation of species’ evolutionary potential and history!
Box 1 – Hierarchical structure of the post-2020 GBF and its monitoring system
The post-2020 GBF has four 2050 Goals related to the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity: “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people”, and 22 or 23 2030 Action Targets for urgent action over the decade to 2030[1]. To track and assess progress towards the 2050 Goals and 2030 Action Targets, a monitoring system with three types of indicators has been developed[2]Headline indicators are high-level indicators which capture the overall scope of the 2050 Goals and 2030 Action Targets of the post-2020 GBF, which must be used for tracking national progress, as well as for tracking regional and global progress. They are nationally relevant indicators for use by all Parties, and at regional and global levels. In addition, headline indicators could constitute one of the main reporting elements of the national reports and support national planning processes. Components indicators are for monitoring each component of each 2050 Goal and 2030 Action Target of the post-2020 GBF (rather than directly the 2050 Goals or 2030 Action Targets) at national, regional and global level. Parties are encouraged to use these indicators for national reporting and relevant planning processes. Complementary indicators are for thematic or in-depth analysis of each 2050 Goal and 2030 Action Target. They may be applicable at global, regional and national levels[3] .
Table 1. Progress regarding the proposed genetic and phylogenetic indicators in the preparation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.