Antarctica and the strategic plan for biodiversity

• Published in: PLOS Biology
• Main Authors: Chown, Steven L., Brooks, Cassandra M., Terauds, Aleks, Le Bohec, Céline, van Klaveren-Impagliazzo, Céline, Whittington, Jason D., Butchart, Stuart H. M., Höft, Robert, Coetzee, Bernard W. T., Collen, Ben, Convey, Peter, Gaston, Kevin J., Gilbert, Neil, Gill, Mike, Johnston, Sam, Kennicutt, Mahlon C., Kriesell, Hannah J., Le Maho, Yvon, Lynch, Heather J., Puig-Marcó, Roser, Palomares, Maria, Stoett, Peter, McGeoch, Melodie A.
• Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences Clayton, Monash University Clayton, Stanford University, Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Gouvernement Princier Monaco, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge UK (CAM), Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, University College of London London (UCL), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), University of Exeter, Antarctica New Zealand, Polar Knowledge Canada, Melbourne Law School Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Texas A&M University College Station, Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), University of British Columbia (UBC), Concordia University Montreal, Centre Scientifique de Monaco
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: geo; envir; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001656; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01511729/file/journal.pbio.2001656%20%281%29.pdf; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01511729

International audience The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, adopted under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides the basis for taking effective action to curb biodiversity loss across the planet by 2020 an urgent imperative. Yet, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, which encompass 10% of the planet's surface, are excluded from assessments of progress against the Strategic Plan. The situation is a lost opportunity for biodiversity conservation globally. We provide such an assessment. Our evidence suggests, surprisingly, that for a region so remote and apparently pristine as the Antarctic, the biodiversity outlook is similar to that for the rest of the planet. Promisingly, however, much scope for remedial action exists.