Simon Stuart

• Managing Director at Synchronicity Earth

The Red List Index (RLI) is an indicator of the average extinction risk of groups of species and reflects trends in this through time. It is calculated from the number of species in each category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with trends influenced by the number moving between categories when reassessed owing to genuine improvement or...

Averting human‐induced extinctions will require strong policy commitments that comprehensively address threats to species. A new Global Biodiversity Framework is currently being negotiated by the world’s governments through the Convention on Biological Diversity. Here we explored how the suggested targets in this framework could contribute to reduc...

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a “Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species’ progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 s...

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 s...

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 s...

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a “Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species’ progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 s...

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 s...

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will probably include a goal to stabilize and restore the status of species. Its delivery would be facilitated by making the actions required to halt and reverse species loss spatially explicit. Here, we develop a species threat abatement and restoration (STAR) metric...

The upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting, and adoption of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, represent an opportunity to transform humanity's relationship with nature. Restoring nature while meeting human needs requires a bold vision, including mainstreaming biodiversity conservation in society. We present a framework that...

In 2010, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 to address the loss and degradation of nature. Subsequently, most biodiversity indicators continued to decline. Nevertheless , conservation actions can make a positive difference for biodiversity. The emerging Post-2020 Global Biod...

Stopping human-induced extinctions will require strong policy commitments that comprehensively address threats to species. In 2021, a new Global Biodiversity Framework will be agreed by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Here we investigate how the suggested targets could contribute to reducing threats to threatened vertebrates, invertebrates,...

The upcoming meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity aims to agree a Global Biodiversity Framework, representing an opportunity to transform humanity's relationship with nature. Restoring nature while meeting human needs requires a bold vision, but this will only succeed if biodiversity conservation can be mainstreamed throughout society....

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, a species extinction risk assessment tool, has been guiding conservation efforts for over 5 decades. It is widely assumed to have been instrumental in preventing species from moving closer to extinction and driving recoveries. However, the impact of the IUCN R...

Much research and policy effort is being expended on ways to conserve living nature while enabling the economic and social development needed to increase equity and end poverty. We propose this will only be possible if policy shifts away from conservation targets that focus on avoiding losses towards processes that consider net outcomes for biodive...

A controversy at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress on the topic of closing domestic ivory markets (the 007, or so-called James Bond, motion) has given rise to a debate on IUCN's value proposition. A cross-section of authors who are engaged in IUCN but not employed by the organization, and with diverse perspectives and opinions, here argue f...

Abyssinian Crimsonwing Cryptospiza salvadorii and Red-faced Crimsonwing C. reichenovii occur in Tanzania and a few other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. C. salvadorii is found from Ethiopia south to northern Tanzania and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Zimmerman et al. 1996, Keith 2004, Payne 2010). C. reichenovii occurs in East Africa from...

Stopping declines in biodiversity is critically important, but it is only a first step toward achieving more ambitious conservation goals. The absence of an objective and practical definition of species recovery that is applicable across taxonomic groups leads to inconsistent targets in recovery plans and frustrates reporting and maximization of co...

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards , governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms.

Unique visitors per year to knowledge products’ websites. (DOCX)

Calculation of the cost of achieving pre-defined baselines by 2020. All extrapolations were derived through data from the sample compiled in the study and projections provided by each knowledge product team. (DOCX)

Currency conversions and accounting for inflation. Costs were provided in British Pounds (GBP), US Dollars (US$), Euros (EUR), Australian Dollars (AUD), and Swiss Francs (CHF) of the year when the investment took place. We accounted for inflation by calculating the value of the currency in 2014 and then we transformed all currencies to US Dollars (...

Extrapolated one-off costs costs per funding source between 1979 and 2013 for all four knowledge products. Extrapolated one-off costs costs per cost categories between 1979 and 2013 for all four knowledge products. (DOCX)

Summary of data collection for all four knowledge products. The table summarises which costs were collected for each of the four knowledge products and how much of the total number of assesments, available in December 2013, these represent. In cases where 100% of the costs were not collected, the total sum for each knowledge product was increased p...

A high proportion of plant species is predicted to be threatened with extinction in the near future. However, the threat status of only a small number has been evaluated compared with key animal groups, rendering the magnitude and nature of the risks plants face unclear. Here we report the results of a global species assessment for the largest plan...

For 50 years, the IUCN Commissions, Secretariat, Members such as BirdLife International and partners such as UNEP-WCMC have been mobilising biodiversity and conservation knowledge products, which are fundamentally important for tracking progress towards 10 of the 20 Aichi Targets, and should similarly become so for seven of the emerging 17 UN Susta...

Previous studies show that conservation actions have prevented extinctions, recovered populations, and reduced declining trends in global biodiversity. However, all studies to date have substantially underestimated the difference conservation action makes because they failed to account fully for what would have happened in the absence thereof. We u...

Governments have committed to conserving ≥17% of terrestrial and ≥10% of marine environments globally, especially “areas of particular importance for biodiversity” through “ecologically representative” Protected Area (PA) systems or other “area-based conservation measures,” while individual countries have committed to conserve 3–50% of their land a...

The world's governments have committed to preventing the extinction of threatened species and improving their conservation status by 2020. However, biodiversity is not evenly distributed across space, and neither are the drivers of its decline, and so different regions face very different challenges. Here, we quantify the contribution of regions an...

Ecosystem services—the benefits that ecosystems contribute to human well-being—have historically been provided free of charge, and demand for them is increasing. With biodiversity as their foundation, ecosystem services are provided both directly and indirectly by species from all branches of the tree of life and a variety of habitats around the gl...

Increasing the collective contribution of protected areas toward preventing species extinctions requires the strategic allocation of management efforts.

Climate change will have far-reaching impacts on biodiversity, including increasing extinction rates. Current approaches to quantifying such impacts focus on measuring exposure to climatic change and largely ignore the biological differences between species that may significantly increase or reduce their vulnerability. To address this, we present a...

The relationship between climate change vulnerability dimensions for families containing ten or more species (based on an optimistic scenario for unknown trait values). Graphs show the percentages of each family’s species that are highly sensitive vs. of low adaptive capacity (A–C), sensitive vs. exposed (D–F), and of low adaptive capacity vs. expo...

Geographic concentrations of bird species that are highly sensitive (A–B), exposed (C–D), have low adaptive capacity (E–F) and are highly climate change vulnerable overall (G–H), based on an optimistic scenario for unknown trait values. Parts A, C, E and G represent total numbers of species, while B, D, F and H show the proportions of total species...

Geographic concentrations of amphibian species that are highly sensitive (A–B), exposed (C–D), have low adaptive capacity (E–F) and are highly climate change vulnerable overall (G–H), based on an optimistic scenario for unknown trait values. Parts A, C, E and G represent total numbers of species, while B, D, F and H show the proportions of total sp...

Geographic concentrations of coral species that are highly sensitive (A–B), exposed (C–D), have low adaptive capacity (E–F) and are highly climate change vulnerable overall (G–H), based on an optimistic scenario for unknown trait values. Parts A, C, E and G represent total numbers of species, while B, D, F and H show the proportions of total specie...

Foci of highly climate change vulnerable birds under three IPCC SRES climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2090. Low range scenario B1, moderate A1B (used as the baseline for all other assessments in this study) and high range A2 are represented by A, C and E respectively for 2050, while B, D and F show the same scenarios for 2090. (TIF)

Schematic diagram showing the three dimensions of climate change vulnerability (sensitivity, exposure and low adaptive capacity) and the biological and environmental trait sets contributing to them. The three boxes explain the logic system used to classify species as high in each climate change vulnerability dimension. Species are considered highly...

Traits rendering bird species as of ‘high’ and ‘low/lower’ climate change vulnerability, and the number of species qualifying under these categories and as unknown according to each trait. (DOCX)

Summary of the 5 most and least climate change vulnerable bird families. Percentages represent the proportions of species qualifying as high under each climate change vulnerability dimension (i.e., sensitivity, exposure, low adaptive capacity and overall climate change vulnerability). Climate change vulnerability traits are listed where they charac...

Bivariate plots showing areas with highest logged proportions (relative to species richness) of species that are climate change vulnerable only in yellow, threatened only in blue, and both highly climate change vulnerable and threatened in maroon. Logged total numbers of birds, amphibians and corals are represented by A, B and C respectively (see F...

Foci of highly climate change vulnerable corals under three IPCC SRES climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2090. Low range scenario B1, moderate A1B (used as the baseline for all other assessments in this study) and high range A2 are represented by A, C and E respectively for 2050, while B, D and F show the same scenarios for 2090. (TIF)

Traits rendering amphibian species as of ‘high’ and ‘low/lower’ climate change vulnerability, and the number of species qualifying under these categories and as unknown according to each trait. (DOCX)

The number and percentage of bird, amphibian and coral families with significantly more and less highly climate change vulnerable species than expected from the observed overall frequency in each group (based on an optimistic scenario for missing data). (DOCX)

Summary of geographic focal areas (identified in Figure 2 (B, D and F)) that contain high proportions of species, relative to species richness, that are (i) highly sensitive and of low adaptive capacity, (ii) highly exposed and both (i) and (ii). (DOCX)

Traits rendering amphibian species as of ‘high’ climate change vulnerability, and the number of species qualifying under these categories and as unknown, according to three trait threshold scenarios, namely more lenient thresholds, the original or moderate thresholds (i.e., as used for the results presented in Table 2 and Figure 2) and stricter thr...

Foci of highly climate change vulnerable birds calculated using five trait threshold scenarios, namely: strict percentage thresholds (A), strict expert thresholds (B), a moderate scenario for percentage and expert thresholds (i.e., as used for the results presented in Table 2 and Figure 2) (C), lenient percentage thresholds (D), and lenient expert...

Geographic concentrations of species that are highly vulnerable under a pessimistic scenario (i.e., when unknown trait scores are assumed to be high climate change vulnerability scores) but not under an optimistic scenario (i.e., when unknown trait scores are assumed to be low climate change vulnerability scores), for birds, amphibians and corals (...

Foci of highly climate change vulnerable amphibians under three IPCC SRES climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2090. Low range scenario B1, moderate A1B (used as the baseline for all other assessments in this study) and high range A2 are represented by A, C and E respectively for 2050, while B, D and F show the same scenarios for 2090. (TIF)

Foci of highly climate change vulnerable amphibians calculated using five trait threshold scenarios, namely: strict percentage thresholds (A), strict expert thresholds (B), a moderate scenario for percentage and expert thresholds (i.e., as used for the results presented in Table 2 and Figure 2) (C), lenient percentage thresholds (D), and lenient ex...

Foci of highly climate change vulnerable corals calculated using five trait threshold scenarios, namely: strict percentage thresholds (A), strict expert thresholds (B), a moderate scenario for percentage and expert thresholds (i.e., as used for the results presented in Table 2 and Figure 2) (C), lenient percentage thresholds (D), and lenient expert...

Summary of the 5 most and least climate change vulnerable amphibian families. Percentages represent the proportions of species qualifying as high under each climate change vulnerability dimension (i.e., sensitivity, exposure, low adaptive capacity and overall climate change vulnerability). Climate change vulnerability traits are listed where they c...

Summary of the four families that have mean climate change vulnerability scores that are significantly greater than the mean for all corals, as well as the three with significantly lower mean susceptibilities. Percentages represent the proportions of species qualifying as high under each climate change vulnerability dimension (i.e., sensitivity, ex...

Summary of geographic focal areas (identified in Figure 2 (A, C, and E)) that contain high total numbers of species that are (i) highly sensitive and of low adaptive capacity, (ii) highly exposed, and both (i) and (ii). (DOCX)

The numbers and percentages of birds, amphibians and coral species with various combinations of threat status (according to the IUCN Red List) and high climate change vulnerability. Optimistic scores are based on climate change vulnerability scores calculated on the assumption that unknown trait values reflect ‘not high’ scores; pessimistic scores...

Summary of the geographic focal areas identified in Figure 3 that contain high total numbers of species that are threatened (according to the IUCN Red ListTM), climate change vulnerable and high numbers of both. (DOCX)

Summary of the numbers of species and size of geographic area uniquely identified by each of the biological traits used to assess overall climate change vulnerability of corals. Traits highlighted in yellow identify the five most influential traits for uniquely identifying numbers of species and those in red text identify these traits for geographi...

Traits rendering bird species as of ‘high’ climate change vulnerability, and the number of species qualifying under these categories and as unknown, according to three trait threshold scenarios, namely more lenient thresholds, the original or moderate thresholds (i.e., as used for the results presented in Table 2 and Figure 2) and stricter threshol...

Climate change vulnerability scores for bird species. (PDF)

Climate change vulnerability scores for coral species. (PDF)

Traits rendering coral species as of ‘high’ and ‘low/lower’ climate change vulnerability, and the number of species qualifying under these categories and as unknown according to each trait. (DOCX)

Summary of the numbers of species and size of geographic area uniquely identified by each of the biological trait used to assess overall climate change vulnerability of birds. Traits highlighted in yellow identify the five most influential traits for uniquely identifying numbers of species and those in red text identify these traits for geographic...

Summary of the numbers of species and size of geographic area uniquely identified by each of the biological traits used to assess overall climate change vulnerability of amphibians. Traits highlighted in yellow identify the five most influential traits for uniquely identifying numbers of species and those in red text identify these traits for geogr...

Traits rendering coral species as of ‘high’ climate change vulnerability, and the number of species qualifying under these categories and as unknown, according to three trait threshold scenarios, namely more lenient thresholds, the original or moderate thresholds (i.e., as used for the results presented in Table 2 and Figure 2) and stricter thresho...

Summary of the potential impacts of sources of uncertainty on numbers of climate change vulnerable coral species. These include scenarios of impacts of missing data (unknowns), the choice of percentage thresholds, the selection of thresholds by experts, the greenhouse gas emission scenario applied and the time frames considered. Percentages represe...

Summary of the geographic focal areas identified in Figure S6 that contain high relative numbers of species that are threatened (according to the IUCN Red List), climate change vulnerable and high numbers of both. (DOCX)

Summary of the potential impacts of sources of uncertainty on numbers of climate change vulnerable bird species. These include scenarios of impacts of missing data (unknowns), the choice of percentage thresholds, the selection of thresholds by experts, the greenhouse gas emission scenario applied and the time frames considered. Percentages represen...

Supporting Methods, Supporting Discussion, Figures S1–13, Tables S1–21 and Supporting Information References. (PDF)

Summary of the potential impacts of sources of uncertainty on numbers of climate change vulnerable amphibian species. These include scenarios of impacts of missing data (unknowns), the choice of percentage thresholds, the selection of thresholds by experts, the greenhouse gas emission scenario applied and the time frames considered. Percentages rep...

Climate change vulnerability scores for amphibian species. (PDF)

Effective and targeted conservation action requires detailed information about species, their distribution, systematics and ecology as well as the distribution of threat processes which affect them. Knowledge of reptilian diversity remains surprisingly disparate, and innovative means of gaining rapid insight into the status of reptiles are needed i...

Reducing the rate of biodiversity loss and averting dangerous biodiversity change are international goals, reasserted by the Aichi Targets for 2020 by Parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) after failure to meet the 2010 target ( 1, 2). However, there is no global, harmonized observation system for delivering re...

Global species loss during the present human-caused mass-extinction far exceeds background rates and is detrimental to human existence. Across the globe, vertebrate extinction risks are highest in South-east Asia. This region has among the world’s fastest recent habitat-loss rates. More of a determinant to the conservation status of many vertebrate...

Protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of conservation efforts and now cover nearly 13% of the world's land surface, with the world's governments committed to expand this to 17%. However, as biodiversity continues to decline, the effectiveness of PAs in reducing the extinction risk of species remains largely untested. We analyzed PA coverage and t...

Coverage of IBAs and AZEs by PAs and by internationally designated sites, and site-scale conservation under climate change. (DOC)

Red List Index of species survival for species triggering IBAs of which over 50% are completely protected, compared with those for which≤50% are completely protected. Shading indicates the 95% confidence intervals based on uncertainty around the estimated value that is introduced by Data Deficient species. (TIF)

Observed annual percentage declines in Red List Index (RLI) are significantly different from those expected by chance based on 10,000 randomisations for (A) bird species (during 1988–2008) with>50% of IBAs completely protected (N = 1,004, P<0.001), and (B) for bird (1988–2008), mammal (1996–2008) and amphibian species (1980–2004) restricted to sing...

Completely protected IBAs (n = 737) are significantly less threatened than partially/unprotected IBAs (n = 1,263; chi-squared test: χ2 = 19.0, df = 3, P <0.001), but almost half (47%) face ‘high’ or ‘very high’ threats. (TIF)

Annual percentage decline in Red List Index for bird species (during 1988–2008) with different proportions of IBAs completely protected. Numbers within each bar refer to the number of species. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals based on uncertainty around the estimated value that is introduced by Data Deficient species. (TIF)

List of countries excluded from the analysis of PA coverage of IBAs owing to incomplete data on IBAs and/or their PA coverage. (DOCX)

Trends in mean % area protected for IBAs in different (A) habitats and (B) regions. Shading shows 95% confidence intervals based on uncertainty around date of protection (and, for a small subset of IBAs, proportion protected). (TIF)

PA coverage (% area) for IBAs in different ecosystems, habitats, regions, and relevant to different Multilateral Environmental Agreements. (DOCX)

Costs of IBA management. (DOCX)

The IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) is a science-based network of more than 8,000 volunteer experts from almost every country of the world. SSC members include experts on plants, fungi, birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. The major role of the SSC is to provide information, advice and policy guidance to IUCN on bio...

The huge conservation interest that mammals attract and the large datasets that have been collected on them have propelled a diversity of global mammal prioritization schemes, but no comprehensive global mammal conservation strategy. We highlight some of the potential discrepancies between the schemes presented in this theme issue, including: conse...