If the decline in biodiversity is a problem, why have efforts to conserve it been ineffective? Is there a more inherent problem in how ‘biodiversity’ is conceptualised and managed that undermines actions? Biodiversity Revisited is the first comprehensive review of the concepts, narratives, governance, science, systems and futures underpinning biodiversity science since the emergence of the term in the 1980s. The initiative aspires to spark – in future generations of researchers – a new and more interdisciplinary set of pathways for research toward regenerating just and diverse life on Earth, and has resulted in an innovative research and action agenda.
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Biodiversity Revisited is a Luc Hoffmann Institute initiative in collaboration with WWF, Future Earth, ETH Zurich Department of Environmental Systems Science, University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute and the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research at University College London, and exists thanks to generous funding from the NOMIS Foundation, the MAVA Foundation and WWF International. The journal Nature Sustainability endorses the initiative.
Collaborating institutions
Related SDGs
Explore the impacts
Ideation
“What’s wrong with biodiversity?”
The Biodiversity Revisited idea is born.
Incubation
The team, governance, themes and approach to Biodiversity Revisited are designed.
A robust governance is put in place for oversight and the #BiodiversityRevisited conversation thread is born on social media
Cambridge consultation: first response to the Biodiversity Revisited proposition from an international test group of early-career and diverse professionals
Expanding the debate – the Boston Biodiversity Talks take place.
“Biodiversity Revisited is an exciting project. It offers an urgently needed opportunity to reframe the research agenda and the debate. In a time of growing global commitment to action for nature, it could not be more timely,”
says Jim Leape, William and Eva Price Senior Fellow at Stanford Woods, Institute for the Environment; Co-director, Center for Ocean Solutions.
Provocative thought pieces are sourced from around the world.
Here is one example from Madhurya Balan, Collaborator at The Forest Way.
Acceleration
The Biodiversity Revisited Symposium takes place in Vienna, bringing together interdisciplinary thinkers including journalists and scientists from the natural and social sciences. This picture shows the early career essay competition winners who joined the symposium.
Biodiversity Revisited Symposium participants share their thoughts on the future of biodiversity conservation in short video interviews.
An article by journalist John Vidal appears in The Guardian, citing the Biodiversity Revisited Symposium and pressing for innovation and change in approaches to nature conservation.
We’re losing species at shocking rates – so why is conservation failing?
The #BiodiversityRevisited conversation skyrockets on social media. Luc Hoffmann Institute Twitter followers triple from 1000 to almost 3000 followers.
A core group of 18 members of the Biodiversity Revisited initiative meets at The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center to begin drafting an innovative, five-year research agenda in an environment that facilitates deep, creative thinking.
At the World Biodiversity Forum, 20 members of the Biodiversity Revisited initiative, including many early career essay contest winners, meet at The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center to advance the development of the research agenda.
The essay compilation Seeds of Change is published based on foundation questions for the discussions at the Biodiversity Revisited Symposium in September 2019. The essays explore new concepts, narratives, science, governance and systems for a diverse and just future for life on Earth.
A panel of three emerging, cross-sectoral leaders come together virtually with Melanie Ryan, Head of Programme, to discuss the development of the Biodiversity Revisited initiative as part of the WWF Fuller Science for Nature series.
The Biodiversity Revisited research and action agenda is published, rethinking the approach to biodiversity research for the coming years, with justice and diverse voices at the centre of our efforts.
Aspiration
In 2020, engagement grew across the media – especially digital and academic – building on existing Biodiversity Revisited narratives. As a Nature Sustainability article published in August 2020 gained traction in social media communities, Biodiversity Revisited’s principles and messages found new and different audiences. #BiodiversityRevisited has been mentioned thousands of times on Twitter to date, with journal citations including in Cambridge University’s Environmental Conservation further fuelling online conversations as well as a feature in the NOMIS Foundation’s SPARKS magazine.
In 2021 and beyond, fresh ideas, narratives and engaged networks continue to transform into action through research, policy and practice for nature and people. Networks of engaged partners and participants further embed the Biodiversity Revisited story, ideas and new framings into their activities of teaching, sharing knowledge and designing global networks and projects for research.
Related resources
Biodiversity revisited through systems thinking
A co-authored paper from Biodiversity Revisited contributors published in Environmental Conservation in January 2021.
Public Seminar – Sustaining Diverse and Just Futures: Insights from the Biodiversity Revisited Initiative
A November 2020 public seminar sharing insights from Biodiversity Revisited, led by Carina Wyborn at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Science.
Framing the Future of Environmental Conservation
Building on his August 2020 Environmental Conservation article, an October 2020 blog written by Professor Kevin Elliott.
The Need for Improved Reflexivity in Conservation Science
A co-authored paper from Biodiversity Revisited contributors published in Environmental Conservation in September 2020.
A Collaborative Process (subscription required)
An interview published in Nature Sustainability in August 2020 with the Luc Hoffmann Institute’s Director, Dr. Jon Hutton, and Head of Programme, Melanie Ryan.
Imagining Transformative Biodiversity Futures
A collaborative article published in Nature Sustainability in August 2020, imagined and written by a collective of authors from the Biodiversity Revisited initiative.
Research Agenda
On 1 July 2020, the Biodiversity Revisited research and action agenda was published. A culmination of the two-year Biodiversity Revisited collaboration, the agenda charts a course for more effective biodiversity research and action for the next five years and beyond, putting justice at the centre of our efforts.
Starting New Conversations to Re-think Biodiversity Research and Action
Five Future Earth scientists who participated in the Biodiversity Revisited initiative share their perspectives on the process and importance of rethinking biodiversity and collaborating to create the research agenda.
Fuller Seminar
In June 2020, a panel of three emerging, cross-sectoral leaders came together virtually with Melanie Ryan, Head of Programme, to discuss the development of the Biodiversity Revisited initiative as part of the WWF Fuller Science for Nature series.
Seeds of Change
A February 2020 compilation of provocative essays that formed the basis of the discussions at the Biodiversity Revisited Symposium in September 2019, Seeds of Change explores new concepts, narratives, science, governance and systems for a diverse and just future for life on Earth.
Biodiversity revisited – biodiversity accelerated
A March 2019 thought piece by Jon Hutton, Director at the Luc Hoffmann Institute.
The power of gathering
A September 2019 thought piece by Melanie Ryan, Head of Programme (ad-interim) at the Luc Hoffmann Institute.
Putting back what we’ve taken from the world’s forests
An independent thought piece brought to you by Colin Chapman (a Professor at George Washington University) and Claire Hemingway (a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation).
Blinded by our heroic fantasies?
An independent thought piece brought to you by Josie Chambers, a postdoc at Cambridge University and the Luc Hoffmann Institute.
Is what we’re doing working?
An independent thought piece brought to you by Victoria Pilbeam, a Senior Consultant at Clear Horizon Consulting.
Bridging aspirations and biodiversity conservation
An independent thought piece brought to you by Dr Santiago Izquierdo-Tort, a Consultant at Natura y Ecosistemas Mexicanos and a Senior Researcher at ITAM Centre for Energy. and Natural Resources.
When is growth good enough?
An independent thought piece brought to you by Natalie Knowles, a PhD Candidate at the University of Waterloo.
Does extinction matter?
An independent thought piece by Dr Niki Rust, a StrategicCommunications Adviser at the Luc Hoffmann Institute.
The concept of ‘palimpsest’ to reorient biodiversity
An independent thought piece brought to you by Tlacaelel Rivera Núñez.
Perceiving the livingscapes we are within
An independent thought piece brought to you by Madhurya Balan, Collaborator at The Forest Way.
Biotic diversity revisited
An independent thought piece by Daniel P. Faith of the Australian Museum Research Institute in Sydney, Australia.
Revisiting biodiversity in a village of mixed perspectives
An independent thought piece by Carina Wyborn and Jasper Montana.
An Open Letter to Conservation
An independent thought piece by Elliot Connor, founder of Human Nature.