BES-Net pools the strengths of three consortium partner agencies and its vast network of organizations to translate the global IPBES assessment findings into nationally and locally led solutions.
Thematic Areas
BES-Net aligns its work with the themes highlighted in the IPBES assessments. Over the years, our work has revolved around the following themes:
Pollinator Conservation
Pollinator-dependent crops contribute to 35 per cent of global crop production volume. Yet, with increasing threats to pollinator populations – particularly bees and other wild species – and nearly 16.5 per cent of vertebrate pollinators facing extinction, immediate action is needed.
Land Degradation Neutrality
Human activities, habitation patterns and climate change are exacerbating soil erosion, deteriorating soil quality and causing long-term loss of natural vegetation. Up to 40 per cent of the world’s land is now degraded, and on current trends a further 11 per cent could be degraded by 2050.
Food Security and Productivity
Globally, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are disappearing. This loss of diversity poses a serious risk to global food security by undermining the resilience of many agricultural systems to threats such as pests, pathogens and climate change.
Ecosystem Services and Policymaking
Rapid decline in biodiversity, ecosystem functions and many of nature’s contributions to people is rooted in causes that sit deeper than any single sector: the disconnection of people from nature, the inequitable concentration of power and wealth, and the prioritization of short-term individual and material gains. Reversing it requires deliberate shifts in the views, structures and practices that shape decisions across society.
Biodiversity and Climate Change
Climate change and biodiversity loss, both caused largely by anthropogenic drivers, are mutually reinforcing and posing significant threats for human livelihoods, food security and public health. Given the inseparable nature of climate, biodiversity and human quality of life, resolving either issue will require tackling the other.
Invasive Alien Species
Invasive alien species disrupt ecosystems, outcompete native species and cause significant economic damage. Effective prevention and management are essential to mitigate these impacts and achieve the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal of reducing their introduction and establishment by 50% by 2030.
Sustainable Use of Wild Species
Sustainable use of wild species ensures biodiversity and supports livelihoods. Effective management practices, interweaving scientific and traditional knowledge, are essential to maintain ecosystem balance and achieve global conservation goals.
Business and Biodiversity
Every business depends on biodiversity, directly or indirectly, and every business impacts it. Yet the conditions in which businesses currently operate reward activity that drives nature’s decline, making biodiversity loss a pervasive systemic risk to economies, financial stability and human wellbeing. Aligning what is profitable with what is beneficial for nature and people requires change well beyond the private sector alone.
Cross-Cutting Areas
In supporting national-level evidence-based decision-making for biodiversity management, we interweave Indigenous and local knowledge and prioritize gender inclusion and youth participation.
Indigenous and Local Knowledge
At least a quarter of the world’s land area is owned, managed, used or occupied by Indigenous Peoples and local communities. BES-Net’s work prioritizes the inclusion of Indigenous and local voices into biodiversity-related decision-making, promoting their participation in Trialogues and national ecosystem assessments.
Gender
BES-Net is committed to upholding gender equality and leaving no one behind in its work. Amplifying women’s voices in the Trialogue process and including gender perspectives in its work, BES-Net also benefits from the wealth of experience that local biodiversity and gender organizations bring to its Network.
Youth
BES-Net engages young people as partners in biodiversity decision-making, from Trialogues to BES Solution Fund activities. We make space for them to speak on their own terms, featuring their perspectives and storytelling across our network.
The Sailing Boat Metaphor
