Dear Colleagues,
Biodiversity is central to human life, wellbeing, and health; to thriving societies and cultures; and to prospects for future development. However, the world is facing unprecedented biodiversity loss due to rampant ecosystem degradation that is further accelerated by climate change. An estimated 60% of the world's ecosystems have degraded in the last 50 years. Loss of biodiversity has ecological, economic, social, and cultural consequences, motivating conservation and, given the losses that have already occurred, restoration to the extent feasible.
Two recent reports, the Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review) and the IPBES 2022 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (https://ipbes.net/global-assessment), have set the stage and clarified the baseline for the next leg of the journey toward sustainability of natural systems. The UN Council on Biological Diversity has adopted a Global Biodiversity Framework (https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-cbd-press-release-final-19dec2022) that sets ambitious goals. With all of this as background, articles in this EBMs’ Collection will address the issues that humanity faces going forward.
The focus is on biodiversity as a natural asset to be sustained within the context of sustaining human society. Note that the concept of natural capital does not presuppose any particular concept of sustainability: for example, it is compatible with
- The inclusive wealth framework championed by P. Dasgupta,
- The planetary boundaries framework of strong sustainability, and
- K. Ott’s notion of constant natural capital evaluated in a discourse process among well-meaning citizens.
The scope of our inquiry
- Encompasses philosophical perspectives ranging from the ecosystem services paradigm to visions of harmony with nature;
- Ranges from local to global scale;
- Includes high- and low-income countries and regions;
- Respects indigenous knowledge, citizen science, and community governance;
- Addresses terrestrial, aquatic, estuarine, and marine biota and ecosystems; and
- Embraces innovative concepts for the protection of biodiversity and the restoration of ecosystems.
Contributions welcomed include reviews, assessments, original conceptual and empirical research, and evidence-based advocacy concerning
- Philosophical foundations;
- Management and implementation strategies;
- Policy and management frameworks;
- Monitoring methods and applications;
- Assessment methods and applications;
- Policy and management concepts and applications; and
- Effective communication of all of the above.
Prof. Dr. Jasmin Mantilla-Contreras
Prof. Dr. Alan Randall
Collection Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript.
The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs).
Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's
English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
