Science on Ecosystems and People to Support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

In December 2022, members of the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) (https://www.cbd.int/gbf/targets/) to guide international biodiversity conservation efforts until 2030 in order to be able to live ‘in harmony with nature’ by 2050. This framework addresses the implementation gap left after the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which were the previous global instrument for mainstreaming biodiversity conservation between 2010 and 2020 (IPBES, Díaz et al. Citation2019). As biodiversity continues to decline (IPBES, Díaz et al. Citation2019), the global scholarly community has been integrally involved in the development of the GBF, advancing crucial insights to support biodiversity strategies and action plans at different scales over time to ensure fair and effective conservation. In addition, the current situation demands that greater attention is paid to the diverse forms of human-nature connectedness and the co-production of knowledge and solutions by academia, governments, private sectors, alongside local communities and Indigenous Peoples to tackle issues of equity in biodiversity conservation, research, and management (Wyborn et al. Citation2021). Further research into the underlying political and justice dimensions of conservation and the recognition and inclusion of diverse knowledge systems and their holders (Pascual et al. Citation2022) is needed to support the actual achievement of the new Global Biodiversity Targets (for 2030) and Goals (for 2050). Since 2018, Ecosystems and People has positioned itself as an inclusive, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary journal publishing work on the linkages between nature and people’s quality of life, and the implications of these diverse relations for the development of governance arrangements, management and policy that are equitable and just (Martín-Lopez et al. Citation2019). Thus, the mission and scope of the journal align well with the intent of the GBF. For example, the GBF seeks to include more prominently Indigenous Peoples and local knowledge holders and their diverse worldviews and practices that are deeply tied to every element of their ecosystems, land, seas, kinship and cultural practices. This is a topic of increasing importance in Ecosystems and People (e.g. White and Lidskog Citation2023; Burke et al. Citation2023). The GBF also underlines the diversity of human-nature relationships, in particular the role of nature’s contributions to people (NCP, Díaz et al. Citation2018), as reflected on by Kadykalo et al. (Citation2019) and others. Moreover, the GBF’s emphasis on whole-of-society and other integrative approaches fits well with the journal’s aim to publish inter- and transdisciplinary work that provides practical solutions to real-world problems considering a diversity of actors, interests and knowledge systems. Finally, the GBF also underlines the role of women and girls as critical in achieving its Goals and Targets. Ecosystems and People has an editorial board that has for several years already achieved gender balance, exceeding the average across academic journals, cf. Liu et al. (Citation2023). Moreover, Ecosystems and People continues to develop a culturally diverse editorial board that appropriately covers the different regions of the world (we acknowledge that this is an ongoing journey). The aim of this editorial is to draw attention to the GBF targets that are most relevant to our readership, with two objectives: First, to suggest how Ecosystems and People may be a venue for emerging research insights in support of the GBF. Second, to highlight examples of recent research in Ecosystems and People that can contribute to enrich, or even challenge, the evidence and development of the GBF Targets.