11/10/2025
14:00 - 15:00
IUCN Programme 2026-2029 Pavilion - R2
Why attend
This session will mark the launch of a 25-year update of the biodiversity hotspots concept. Attendees will learn about the concept’s history and importance, and join discussion of plans for the update to incorporate new data (eg from the IUCN Red List) and new metrics (eg STAR and EDGE).
Session Description
In the 1980s, the late Normal Myers published two influential papers establishing the concept of biodiversity hotspots, regions characterised simultaneously by exceptional plant endemism and devastating natural habitat loss. The concept was amplified in 2000, resulting a scientific paper in “Nature” (one of the most heavily-cited publications ever in the field of ecology & environment) and creation of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), which has invested >$296 million in hotspots conservation to date. Now, the Hempel Foundation is supporting a 25-year update of the concept, in collaboration with IUCN Members including BGCI, CI-CEPF, Re:wild, and ZSL, with coordination and underlying science and data input from IUCN and its SSC Biodiversity Targets Taskforce. This session will launch the update with review of its importance, presentation of the plans for incorporation of new data and metrics, and discussion of how the biodiversity hotspots concept can advance conservation in today’s world.Organized by
Headquarters
Partners
Headquarters
Conservation International ( United States of America )
Zoological Society of London ( United Kingdom )
Species Survival Commission