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A global research coordination programme is urgently needed for biodiversity

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Current biodiversity research and science–policy interfaces are fragmented, poorly coordinated, underfunded and geographically biased, which limits their ability to address the scale and severity of the rapidly accelerating biodiversity crisis1,2,3. To close this gap, a new global organization is needed to coordinate biodiversity research, funding, and policy implications, reduce global inequities, and enhance implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)3.

The GBF offers a global multilateral platform for addressing the biodiversity crisis4, which makes it one of the most ambitious international agreements of the 21st century5,6. This year, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will issue a global review of collective progress in the implementation of the GBF7. Despite its many successes, additional progress towards GBF goals is curtailed by a lack of internationally coordinated research and funding, bias towards the Global North, and being disconnected from other societal needs, all of which perpetuate persistent knowledge and implementation gaps and inequities3,8.

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Fig. 1: A WBRP is needed to coordinate global biodiversity research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Mark C. Urban

  2. Center of Biological Risk, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Mark C. Urban

  3. Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Damaris Zurell

  4. School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    Greta Bocedi

  5. Department of Biology, Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Andrew Gonzalez & Katie L. Millette

  6. Instituto de Biología Subtropical, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

    Santiago J. E. Velazco

  7. Center for Open Geographical Science, Department of Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Santiago J. E. Velazco

  8. Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, South Africa

    Bezeng S. Bezeng

  9. Flyway Conservation Programme, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, UK

    Bezeng S. Bezeng

  10. School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Natalie J. Briscoe

  11. CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

    Lluís Brotons

  12. CSIC, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

    Lluís Brotons

  13. Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Lauren B. Buckley

  14. Graduate program in Neotropical Biodiversity, Federal University of Latin-American Integration, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

    Admir Cesar de Oliveira Junior

  15. UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK

    Rob Cooke & Nick J. B. Isaac

  16. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK

    Rob Cooke

  17. Department of Statistics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Lucas da Cunha Godoy

  18. Department of Ecology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiás, Brazil

    Paulo De Marco Júnior

  19. Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research, School of Fisheries, Fisheries & Marine Institute, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

    Tyler D. Eddy

  20. CSIRO Environment, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Simon Ferrier

  21. Pyrenean Institute of Ecology, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Jaca, Spain

    Gurutzeta Guillera-Arroita

  22. Senckenberg-Leibniz Institute for Biodiversity and Earth System Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Cornelia B. Krug

  23. Central Queensland University, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia

    Carolyn J. Lundquist

  24. University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Carolyn J. Lundquist

  25. National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq, Brasília, Brazil

    Marisa Mamede

  26. Department of Ecology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jean Paul Metzger

  27. Institute of Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jean Paul Metzger

  28. Marine and Antarctic Research for Innovation and Sustainability, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Kelly Ortega-Cisneros

  29. Natural History Museum, London, UK

    Andy Purvis

  30. Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK

    Andy Purvis

  31. Ecological Modelling, Bonner Institute of Organismal Biology – Dept. Plant Biodiversity, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Juliano Sarmento Cabral

  32. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Halle, Germany

    Josef Settele

  33. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig – iDiv e. V., Leipzig, Germany

    Josef Settele & Marten Winter

  34. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, Philippines

    Josef Settele

  35. Conservation Ecology Group, Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Justin M. J. Travis

  36. Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Justin M. J. Travis

  37. Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C. – INECOL, Xalapa, México

    Fabricio Villalobos

  38. Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences affiliated to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, Nanjing, China

    Haigen Xu

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  1. Mark C. Urban
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  2. Damaris Zurell
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Mark C. Urban.

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Urban, M.C., Zurell, D., Bocedi, G. et al. A global research coordination programme is urgently needed for biodiversity.
Nat Ecol Evol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03123-0

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