Tanzania's reptile biodiversity : Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability

Assessments of biodiversity patterns and threats among African reptiles have lagged behind those of other vertebrate groups and regions. We report the first systematic assessment of the distribution, threat status, and climate change vulnerability for the reptiles of Tanzania. A total of 321 reptile species (including 90 Tanzanian endemics) were assessed using the global standard IUCN Red List methodology and 274 species were also assessed using the IUCN guidelines for climate change vulnerability. Patterns of species richness and threat assessment confirm the conservation importance of the Eastern Arc Mountains, as previously demonstrated for birds, mammals and amphibians. Lowland forests and savannah-woodland habitats also support important reptile assemblages. Protected area gap analysis shows that 116 species have less than 20% of their distribution ranges protected, among which 12 are unprotected, eight species are threatened and 54 are vulnerable to climate change. Tanzania's northern margins and drier central corridor support high numbers of climate vulnerable reptile species, together with the eastern African coastal forests and the region between Lake Victoria and Rwanda. This paper fills a major gap in our understanding of the distribution and threats facing Tanzania's reptiles, and demonstrates more broadly that the explicit integration of climate change vulnerability in Red Listing criteria may revise spatial priorities for conservation

Analysing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products to support regional environmental assessments

Two processes for regional environmental assessment are currently underway: the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Both face constraints of data, time, capacity, and resources. To support these assessments, we disaggregate three global knowledge products according to their regions and subregions. These products are: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Key Biodiversity Areas (specifically Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas [IBAs], and Alliance for Zero Extinction [AZE] sites), and Protected Planet. We present fourteen Data citations: numbers of species occurring and percentages threatened; numbers of endemics and percentages threatened; downscaled Red List Indices for mammals, birds, and amphibians; numbers, mean sizes, and percentage coverages of IBAs and AZE sites; percentage coverage of land and sea by protected areas; and trends in percentages of IBAs and AZE sites wholly covered by protected areas. These data will inform the regional/subregional assessment chapters on the status of biodiversity, drivers of its decline, and institutional responses, and greatly facilitate comparability and consistency between the different regional/subregional assessments

Pathways towards a sustainable future envisioned by early-career conservation researchers

Scientists have warned decision-makers about the severe consequences of the global environmental crisis since the 1970s. Yet ecological degradation continues and little has been done to address climate change. We investigated early-career conservation researchers' (ECR) perspectives on, and prioritization of, actions furthering sustainability. We conducted a survey (n = 67) and an interactive workshop (n = 35) for ECR attendees of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (2018). Building on these data and discussions, we identified ongoing and forthcoming advances in conservation science. These include increased transdisciplinarity, science communication, advocacy in conservation, and adoption of a transformation-oriented social–ecological systems approach to research. The respondents and participants had diverse perspectives on how to achieve sustainability. Reformist actions were emphasized as paving the way for more radical changes in the economic system and societal values linked to the environment and inequality. Our findings suggest that achieving sustainability requires a strategy that (1) incorporates the multiplicity of people's views, (2) places a greater value on nature, and (3) encourages systemic transformation across political, social, educational, and economic realms on multiple levels. We introduce a framework for ECRs to inspire their research and practice within conservation science to achieve real change in protecting biological diversity.Additional co-authors: Thijs Fijen, Heather Hemmingmoore, Sara Hocevar, Liam Kendall, Jussi Lampinen, Emma-Liina Marjakangas, Jake M. Martin, Rebekah A. Oomen, Hila Segre, William Sidemo-Holm, André P. Silva, Susanna Huneide Thorbjørnsen, Miquel Torrents-Ticó, Di Zhang, Jasmin Ziemack

EU BON’s contributions towards meeting Aichi Biodiversity Target 19

The EU BON (“Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network”) project has made important contributions towards the achievement of global conservation targets. This infographic illustrates EU BON's contributions towards the achievement of Aichi Biodiversity Target 19 "By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied.

Data from: Analysing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products to support regional environmental assessments

Two processes for regional environmental assessment are currently underway: the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Both face constraints of data, time, capacity, and resources. To support these assessments, we disaggregate three global knowledge products according to their regions and subregions. These products are: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Key Biodiversity Areas (specifically Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas [IBAs], and Alliance for Zero Extinction [AZE] sites), and Protected Planet. We present fourteen Data citations: numbers of species occurring and percentages threatened; numbers of endemics and percentages threatened; downscaled Red List Indices for mammals, birds, and amphibians; numbers, mean sizes, and percentage coverages of IBAs and AZE sites; percentage coverage of land and sea by protected areas; and trends in percentages of IBAs and AZE sites wholly covered b y protected areas. These data will inform the regional/subregional assessment chapters on the status of biodiversity, drivers of its decline, and institutional responses, and greatly facilitate comparability and consistency between the different regional/subregional assessments

Data from: Analysing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products to support regional environmental assessments

Two processes for regional environmental assessment are currently underway: the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Both face constraints of data, time, capacity, and resources. To support these assessments, we disaggregate three global knowledge products according to their regions and subregions. These products are: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Key Biodiversity Areas (specifically Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas [IBAs], and Alliance for Zero Extinction [AZE] sites), and Protected Planet. We present fourteen Data citations: numbers of species occurring and percentages threatened; numbers of endemics and percentages threatened; downscaled Red List Indices for mammals, birds, and amphibians; numbers, mean sizes, and percentage coverages of IBAs and AZE sites; percentage coverage of land and sea by protected areas; and trends in percentages of IBAs and AZE sites wholly covered by protected areas. These data will inform the regional/subregional assessment chapters on the status of biodiversity, drivers of its decline, and institutional responses, and greatly facilitate comparability and consistency between the different regional/subregional assessments