The recent IPBES Nexus Assessment highlights the potential of nexus approaches to deliver co-benefits across systems. Nexus approaches identify synergies, minimize trade-offs, and support more holistic, equitable and sustainable solutions. From Indigenous food systems and green infrastructure to nature-based solutions and integrated governance, diverse strategies are emerging across regions and sectors. However, operationalizing such approaches presents analytical, institutional and governance challenges.
This session invites contributions that advance understanding of nexus interlinkages; assess trade-offs and synergies; evaluate response options; and propose integrated tools that can support systemic transformation. We welcome contributions from the IPBES Nexus Assessment that provide a deep dive into aspects of the report and aligned interdisciplinary research from diverse contexts.
By bridging theory and practice, this session encourages ecologists, systems scientists, public health researchers, climate experts, social scientists and practitioners to share insights and explore how nexus thinking can be turned into action. Outcomes will include identifying key research gaps and showing how integrated science can inform more coherent, just, and sustainable responses to global crises.
Coordinated ecosystem interventions and enabling governance are needed to address the interlinked crises of biodiversity loss, water and food insecurity, increasing health risks, and climate change. Biodiversity supports all other nexus elements through the supply of nature's contributions to people (NCP), yet policy and decision-making often neglects biodiversity or prioritizes other elements. We present fourteen response options aimed at biodiversity conservation actors which were described in Chapter 5.1 of the IPBES Nexus Assessment. These options include area-based conservation, agroecology, urban nature-based solutions, restoration of various ecosystems, rewilding, and enablers like multilateral environmental agreements, rights-based approaches, land and sea planning and reconnecting people to nature. Synthesis of available evidence shows that these response options positively impact at least four of the five nexus elements, with agroecology, ecosystem-based adaptation and integrated landscape and seascape approaches showing particularly broad benefits. In this presentation, we provide practical examples of the response options and discuss insights into key enablers and barriers to successful implementation including the key role of power distribution among multiple actors. Biodiversity response options involve multiple actors and institutions in their implementation. While such implementation promote various forms of social equity, the pre-existence of social equity provides a conducive environment for implementation success. Response options involving participatory processes and associated social innovation also show an important potential for transformative change. In many cases, but particularly for rights-based approaches, response options demonstrate evidence of multiple dimensions of transformation. Nevertheless, there exist significant data gaps in understanding the social and economic effectiveness of response options for biodiversity, which may impact their ability to be carried out at scale. We conclude that response options such as those presented here have the potential to reach the balance between multiple goals, contributing to the achievement of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2050 Vision of living in harmony with nature as well as the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
How to cite: Hill, S., Lavorel, S., Dunnett, S., and Alonso Roldan, V. and the IPBES Nexus Chapter 5.1: Biodiversity Response Options for sustainably managing the Biodiversity–Water–Food–Health Nexus, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-356, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-356, 2026.
The restoration of ecosystems, including through rewilding, has received considerable attention as a measure to promote biodiversity and benefit the fight against climate change by increasing carbon uptake. However, reducing land-use activities in intensively managed regions such as Europe is expected to affect the entire agricultural and forestry system, resulting in benefits and drawbacks relating to the impact on various ecosystem services. Changes to land use will affect the climate-food-water nexus in various ways, from intensifying food and timber production in regions unaffected by rewilding, to directly impacting the restoration of trophic chains in rewilded forests. Using simulation results from a variety of process-based models (Brown et al., 2019; Ferretto et al., 2025; Krause et al., 2025), we will explore the impact of rewilding 1-2% of the European land area (corresponding to the top 10% of the area identified as having rewilding potential, Kloibhofer et al., 2025) on land-use change in Europe over the coming decades for a number of climate change scenarios, and how these in turn affect carbon uptake and storage in rewilded and non-rewilded areas, as well as other relevant ecosystem services such as crop and timber yields, runoff, and other greenhouse gas emissions (nitrous oxides).
Brown, C., Seo, B., & Rounsevell, M. (2019). Societal breakdown as an emergent property of large-scale behavioural models of land use change. Earth Syst. Dynam., 10(4), 809-845. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-809-2019
Ferretto, A., Anthoni, P., Pugh, T. A. M., Gregor, K., Thurner, M., Natel, C., Wårlind, D., Lindeskog, M., & Arneth, A. (2025). The impact of changing forest composition in Europe - longest carbon turnover time in unmanaged and broadleaved deciduous forests. Plos One, 20(10), Article e0334118. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334118
Kloibhofer, J., Prestele, R., Leitinger, G. F., & Rounsevell, M. D. A. (2025). Where could climate-smart rewilding be located in Europe? . Journal of Environmental Management, 380(125084).
Krause, J., Anthoni, P., Harfoot, M., Kupisch, M., & Arneth, A. (2025). Modelling Herbivory Impacts on Vegetation Structure and Productivity. EGUsphere, accepted, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1646
How to cite: Arneth, A., Ferretto, A., Krause, J., Kloibhofer, J., Prestele, R., Alvarez, H., Bampoh, D., Damseaux, A., Laimer, T., Natel, C., Rounsevell, M., and Wittenbrink, M.: The impact of rewilding on European ecosystems, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-721, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-721, 2026.
Biodiversity is inextricably linked to water, food and health, with climate change influencing all three. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires integrated policies and a landscape-level approach that embraces multifunctionality, protects high-value areas, and strengthens ecosystem restoration, sustainable agricultural practices, and reforestation. Conservation and restoration must also be accompanied by reductions in pollution. This creates a strong case for biodiversity policy that delivers landscape restoration in a way that maximises multiple benefits.
Scotland’s ambitious biodiversity strategy illustrates the urgency and scale of the response required. Land and freshwater environments have experienced long-term biodiversity loss, with agricultural practices covering nearly 70 percent of Scotland’s land and contributing to habitat fragmentation, soil erosion, GHGs emissions, and diffuse pollution. Transformative change is therefore needed, especially through landscape-level planning that recognises multifunctionality and the trade-offs and synergies across different land uses.
To support this, we developed a Scotland-wide, multi-functional priority zonation to identify areas for conservation and restoration. The analysis was based on an extensive spatial database and a transparent mapping framework incorporating dozens of datasets, many from national-scale ecosystem service models. These include species distributions, habitat condition, connectivity metrics, land cover, soils, grazing pressure, freshwater status, woodland potential, peatland condition, and existing ecological value. All layers were combined through multi-criteria analysis at 100-metre resolution, allowing fine-scale identification of where land-use change can deliver the greatest biodiversity gains and ecosystem-service benefits.
Separate opportunity maps were produced for areas to prioritise for conservation and for key land use transitions such as woodland expansion, agroforestry, hedgerow enhancement, reduced grazing pressure, riparian woodland and peatland restoration, and high-nature-value grassland management. High-priority zones for each theme were then combined into a final national zonation, revealing where multiple benefits align and where trade-offs may emerge. We then assessed expected improvements in greenhouse gas emissions, diffuse pollution, soil erosion, and ecological connectivity relative to current conditions.
This spatially explicit framework provides a robust evidence base to guide strategic planning, target public and private investment, and minimise ecological trade-offs. It supports the development of integrated policies capable of delivering the transformative, multifunctional landscape restoration needed to halt biodiversity loss and build long-term ecosystem resilience.
How to cite: Gimona, A. and Castellazzi, M. and the co-authors: Transformative landscape change to tackle the "Nexus" : a Scotland-wide zonation for landscape conservation and restoration , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-895, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-895, 2026.
Marine and estuarine ecosystems provide essential contributions to people, from coastal protection and biodiversity support to cultural and economic well-being. Due to the changing climate, these ecosystems are increasingly exposed to extreme storms, floods, droughts, and marine heatwaves, threatening not only the ecosystems themselves but also their contributions. To identify the direct impacts on ecosystem conditions that these extremes can have and their cascading impacts on the social-ecological system, impact webs have been developed with different actors. Impact webs are a conceptual modelling approach for assessing systemic risks that have been employed in diverse cases. However, the impact web methodology has not yet been applied to focus on ecosystem conditions and their cascading impacts on Nature’s Contributions to People. Using the Elbe estuary and its adjunct German Bight as a case study, nine ecosystems have been used as an analytical focus for the impact webs, corresponding to IUCN ecosystem functional groups and Natura 2000 habitats commonly found in the case study area. Actors contributing to the co-creation of the webs included ecologists, experts from federal and local agencies responsible for the management of these ecosystems, as well as actors representing local interests, like tourism.
This contribution to the World Biodiversity Forum presents the methodological approach to identify systemic ecosystem risks and discusses the direct and cascading impacts on ecosystem conditions and their contributions to people, considering the different biodiversity nexus elements. It pays particular attention to the similarities and differences of impacts across the different ecosystems in relation to extreme events. This is critical for identifying compound risks, e.g., when storm surges and river floods occur simultaneously. Compound risks have been found to accelerate the impact on ecosystems beyond the sum of the impacts in individual events.
Building on the various identified direct, compounding, and cascading impacts, entry points for the development of adaptation options, including nature-based solutions, to protect marine and estuarine ecosystems and their contributions to people will be presented and discussed.
How to cite: Rackelmann, F., O'Connor, J., Dekker, G., and Amundsen, A.: Risks to Marine and Estuarine Ecosystems and Nature's Contributions to People under Extreme Events, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-781, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-781, 2026.
Although the arid and semi-arid world faces pressing interrelated challenges (i.e., biodiversity loss, water scarcity, food insecurity, climate stress), responses continue to occur in isolation across sectoral boundaries and scales. However, this presentation will illustrate how biodiversity nexus thinking can be made practical through a place-based, Indigenous-led approach to integrating ecological restoration, agricultural resilience, and community governance.
This project is based on the co-design of green corridors connecting isolated farms in the hyper-arid landscape of South Sinai, Egypt. The project has utilised a combination of the Indigenous Bedouin ecological knowledge, biodiversity science, geospatial analysis, and participatory governance to create a flexible corridor design that links together ecological processes while supporting local livelihoods. In addition, the approach has integrated biodiversity conservation, water-smart agricultural production, food production, and climate adaptation into one cohesive socio-ecological system.
A multi-criteria GIS-based suitability analysis was conducted to determine optimal locations for corridor placement across the complex desert landscape, considering water availability, soil conditions, topography, land use, infrastructure, and vegetation connectivity. In addition, a comprehensive framework was developed to select species for inclusion in the corridors, focusing on native, drought-, and salt-tolerant plant species that would provide multiple ecosystem services, such as pollination support, biological pest control, soil stabilisation, microclimate regulation, and carbon sequestration. The corridors have been designed as layered systems to enhance their ability to adapt to extreme environmental conditions and to maximise functional diversity and resilience.
In addition to their ecological functions, the corridors serve as shared social infrastructure. Governance arrangements focus on community ownership, Indigenous stewardship, and inclusive approaches for all genders, and on adaptive management to address the institutional and power aspects of implementing a nexus approach. Furthermore, by linking biodiversity restoration to Indigenous food systems and daily land-use activities, the strategy identifies synergies among the objectives of water, food, climate, and ecosystems while also addressing trade-offs.
How to cite: Hatim, M. Z.: Indigenous-Led Green Corridors for Biodiversity Nexus Solutions, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-970, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-970, 2026.
Projected changes in climate and disturbances will impact nearly every aspect of Indigenous community health, wellbeing, and lifeways. These outcomes increase the importance of understanding (1) how ecosystems may function as carbon sinks or sources in coming decades, and (2) how Indigenous communities are affected by these ecological impacts. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe (northern Idaho) has long had a goal of restoring the critically-endangered native prairie encompassing the Hangman watershed, and more recently, seeks to regenerate healthy forests. The Tribe’s goal focuses on how to manage its lands to ensure that key culturally and ecologically significant species are protected, while also restoring Tribal first foods and biodiversity. I present how the Coeur d’Alene Tribe is meeting this challenge by implementing a two-pronged Nature-based Climate Solutions (NbCS) approach on the Reservation. First, the Tribe seeks to restore the critically endangered Palouse Prairie ecosystem, which provides many culturally significant medicinal and food plants for the regional tribes and dominates the western region of the reservation. Managing the largest intact remnant prairie in Idaho and converting recently acquired agricultural land back to prairie supports the tribe’s broader biodiversity and first foods restoration goals with great potential for enhanced carbon sequestration. Second, the Tribe is converting annual grain production that uses conventional tillage practices to perennial grain production (Kernza). As a deep-rooted plant, Kernza production leads to soil carbon accumulation, and is much more climate-smart than currently grown regional crops with multiple co-benefits, including water quality and biodiversity impacts. Taken together, this approach utilizes a framework that measures baseline carbon stocks and implements a long-term monitoring program of carbon fluxes and stock changes to ensure these practices lead to measurable carbon emissions reductions or additional drawdown. This is completed in conjunction with the established Salmon-Safe certification program to ensure other co-benefits will still be achieved. Our work highlights the importance of Tribal community involvement in the development and deployment for successful NbCS implementation.
How to cite: Ignace, D., Laumatia, L., and James, A.: Centering Community Priorities and Traditional Ecological Knowledge to Restore Biodiversity and Build Resilience on Tribal Lands, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-843, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-843, 2026.
Achieving sustainable and just biodiversity outcomes in the future requires moving beyond treating biodiversity in isolation. Instead, it is essential to account for potential synergies and trade-offs with other key sectors and nexus elements, namely water, food, human health, and climate. These interdependencies are particularly important under conditions of global polycrisis. In this context, scenario analysis offers a powerful tool to systematically explore future interactions within the nexus, as well as the complex interplay among underlying drivers, governance strategies, and specific response options that shape nexus outcomes.
This study builds on an extensive review and analysis of over 180 nexus scenarios conducted within the IPBES Nexus Assessment. We cluster the identified scenarios into six distinct nexus scenario archetypes, reflecting different configurations of relationships among the nexus elements, ranging from scenarios with broadly positive outcomes across all elements ("balanced” nexus scenarios) to scenarios dominated by negative outcomes due to siloed approaches prioritising a single sector or goal at the expense of others. In addition, we systematically assess the policy decisions and response options associated with positive and negative outcomes across the scenarios, showing that scenarios based on integrated, cross-sectoral (nexus) approaches tend to produce more equitable and sustainable co-benefits across the domains of biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation and adaptation, water security, food systems, and public health. In contrast, current policy trajectories, characterised by fragmented and siloed decision-making, are associated with compounding risks, including biodiversity loss, climate instability, water stress, food insecurity, and deteriorating health outcomes.
Crucially, the scenarios underscore that reaching positive outcomes across nexus elements is possible if leveraging integrated nexus governance. For instance, climate mitigation strategies that combine a holistic mix of interventions, such as nature-based solutions, dietary shifts, and inclusive governance, can simultaneously enhance biodiversity and improve health outcomes, thus delivering co-benefits across multiple nexus dimensions.
Our findings highlight the importance of understanding interlinkages among nexus elements and incorporating diverse visions of the future and notions of a good quality of life. Such integrative, scenario-based approaches are essential for informing today’s policy and management decisions, enabling more synergistic and equitable outcomes for both people and nature in the future.
How to cite: Selomane, O., Harmáčková, Z., and Rounsevell, M. and the IPBES Nexus Assessment Chapter 3 author team: Future nexus interactions among biodiversity, food, water, health and climate change: assessing trade-offs and synergies, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-260, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-260, 2026.
Addressing interconnected global challenges—biodiversity loss, climate change, land degradation, water scarcity and food insecurity—requires integrated approaches that capture the complex interactions linking human and natural systems. Nexus approaches offer a powerful means of understanding these interdependencies, yet their implementation is often limited by modelling tools that treat sectors independently or fail to represent key feedbacks, synergies and trade-offs influencing sustainability outcomes.
The IPBES Nexus Assessment highlighted two major gaps in current modelling capabilities: (1) the need for tools that better account for interlinkages among multiple nexus elements and can simulate pathways toward sustainable outcomes, and (2) the need for scenarios and models that represent diverse policy response options and their interactions across three or more nexus elements.
This presentation introduces a nexus modelling framework designed to address these gaps. It integrates three complementary models: a regional integrated model quantifying cross-sectoral dynamics in land, water, biodiversity and ecosystem services; a system dynamics model capturing non-linear interactions among biodiversity, food, water, energy, climate, transport and health; and an agent-based model representing land system dynamics and land-management decisions in the provision of food, energy, biodiversity, climate, water and health-related services. Together, these models form a coherent platform for exploring how transformative actions propagate across interconnected nexus elements.
Within the BIONEXT project (www.bionext-project.eu), this framework is being applied to evaluate the effectiveness of just transition pathways aimed at delivering nature-positive visions for Europe. These pathways are co-developed through an iterative, participatory process involving stakeholders from multiple sectors, including policymakers, industry and civil society. Repeated cycles of engagement, pathway refinement and modelling support mutual learning, transparency and alignment of scientific evidence with stakeholder priorities. The modelling assesses the efficacy of response options within three pathways grounded in the value perspectives of the Nature Futures Framework, examining their system-wide impacts, co-benefits, trade-offs and potential unintended consequences.
By embedding modelling within a participatory process, BIONEXT strengthens the relevance, legitimacy and robustness of transformative pathways. The resulting insights provide a stronger evidence base for European decision-making and advance the role of nexus modelling in supporting integrated, equitable and solution-oriented transitions toward nature-positive futures.
How to cite: Harrison, P., Brown, C., Cojocaru, G., Díaz-General, E., Ioannou, A., Kasiteropoulou, D., Kim, H., Lazurko, A., Linney, G., Raymond, J., and Rounsevell, M.: A multi-model nexus framework for assessment of the systemic impacts and efficacy of nature-positive transformative pathways, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-262, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-262, 2026.
Biodiversity loss, resource stress, and climate impacts interact in ways that demand integrated and systems-based approaches. This study operationalises the “biodiversity nexus” by applying the JUNIPER system dynamics model to quantify interlinkages between Βiodiversity and the Water - Energy - Food - Transport - Health - Climate Nexus in Greece from 2000 -2019. By embedding species-level threats, ecosystem vulnerability, and cumulative pressures within a unified modelling environment, JUNIPER offers an actionable framework consistent with the IPBES Nexus Assessment for understanding how biophysical, socio-economic, and infrastructural drivers shape biodiversity outcomes.
The results reveal persistent biodiversity stress, reflected in gradually declining Red List Index and Red List of Ecosystems Index values. While changes are subtle, they indicate the slow but cumulative deterioration characteristic of ecological systems under multiple interacting pressures. Agriculture emerges as a major source of biodiversity risk, particularly livestock intensity, nutrient loading, pesticide use, and irrigation demand, which together link water scarcity, land-use pressures, and agricultural emissions. Agriculture accounts for ~90% of freshwater withdrawals, demonstrating how water - food linkages strongly mediate biodiversity vulnerability.
Energy and transport systems further contribute through air pollution, GHG emissions, and spatial infrastructure expansion. Despite progress toward renewables, continued fossil-fuel use and road-transport dependence generate sustained pressures on both biodiversity and public health. Climate change acts as a compounding stressor through rising temperatures and increased extremes. The Health module illustrates how environmental degradation undermines physical and mental wellbeing, reinforcing the interdependence of ecological integrity and human health.
By highlighting the slow biodiversity response relative to more dynamic indicators such as GHG emissions or Quality of Life, this study underscores the need for governance approaches that minimise trade-offs, harness synergies, and support systemic transformation. JUNIPER identifies leverage points, including sustainable irrigation, dietary shifts, decarbonisation pathways, and greener mobility, that can deliver co-benefits across systems. As such, it provides a concrete tool for advancing integrated nexus thinking and informing more coherent, equitable, and sustainable responses to interconnected crises.
How to cite: Ioannou, A., Kasiteropoulou, D., Ziliaskopoulos, K., and Laspidou, C.: The Biodiversity Nexus - interlinkages with Water, Energy, Food, Transportation, Health and Climate using the JUNIPER model: the case study of Greece , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-225, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-225, 2026.
Argentina is a relevant producer and exporter of food for near 400 million people. It is nowhere near as relevant as a GHG emitter, it emits 400 MTCO2eq per year (0.77% of the global total); near 41% (166 MtCO2eq) are emitted by food systems and land-use change. Paradoxically, this enormous amount of food does not correlate with a healthy diet for children and adolescents who will be the adults of 2050, and its production causes deforestation, pollution, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, water stress and an unbalanced redistribution of GDP. We have created the One Health Hub to model a trajectory inspired by the IPBES’ Nexus approach, which is much more comprehensive than the "carbon-centrism" of the dominant paradigm. Using a multi-model package, we have developed three future trajectories for Argentina: the current trend trajectory (CT), the National Commitments trajectory (NC), and the trajectory we propose in this work (GAPA1800). To this end, the team's doctors and nutritionists developed a healthy diet prescription for children and adolescents, (the so-called GAPA1800), modified from EAT-LANCET 2025 and the Dietary Guidelines for Argentina (GAPA), including a reduction in daily caloric food intake to 1800 kcal/day/person and intermittent afternoon and night fasting. We have assumed that these foods come from healthy production (agroecological, hydroponics, organic agriculture) and also from the stock from the discarding of food in the field for marketing reasons, approximately 30% of the harvested volume. In terms of biodiversity, we have carried out ecological niche models of 349 species of vertebrates threatened with extinction in Argentina, delimiting the Area of Habitat (AOH) using Maxent. We then calculate the number of hectares that are gained and lost in the AOH of each species in each trajectory to 2050. The trajectory GAPA1800, apart from being healthy, is the most beneficial for climate and biodiversity, contributes to improving SDG indicators 1, 2, 3, 10, 12, 13, and 15; between 60 and 100 Mt CO2eq/year are reduced; near 100 million hectares are gained in the AOH in comparison to the CT scenario and 40 million hectares are gained in comparison to the NC scenario.
How to cite: Monjeau, A., Frank, F., Garcia-Martinez, P., Zuliani, M., Travesino, M., Di Blasi, M., Boretski, G., Magnoni, J., Boer, M., and De Lusarreta, G.: Three futures for Argentina: modelling the Nexus approach to harmonize decarbonation with biodiversity, ecosystem services and human health, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-101, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-101, 2026.
Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems provide services important for human well-being, for example, biomass provisioning, carbon sequestration and pollination. While land use and land use change provides food and materials for society, it is also one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. Additionally, climate change is projected to be a major issue for biodiversity loss. Consequently, there are opportunities within these sectors for transformation towards sustainability and bending the curve of biodiversity loss. Improving our understanding of the results of different actions on biodiversity is crucial for addressing and ultimately halting this decline. In this work, our aim is to identify leverage points for biodiversity conservation and restoration and to assess the interdependencies with and between biodiversity, climate change, climate and biodiversity policies. To that end we have developed a set of global scenarios that explore the implications of climate change, and various climate and biodiversity protection policies on biodiversity.
The scenarios describe different levels of transformative interventions and have been formulated with stakeholder input and guided by the Nature Futures Framework [Kim et al., 2023]. Each of the narratives stress a different aspect of possible transformative change: increasing protected areas, altering consumption patterns (including diets), ambitious climate mitigation and a combination of all three. Two variants for each of these transformations are explored: a low variant, assuming full implementation of existing policies and goals, and a high variant, projecting maximum technical potential of transformation.
These scenarios have been assessed quantitively using the IMAGE-GLOBIO modelling framework. The impacts on land use and climate derive from the IMAGE integrated assessment model [Stehfest et al., 2014], whose outputs are linked to the GLOBIO model to determine biodiversity loss [Schipper et al., 2016]. By comparing and contrasting the outcomes of the scenarios we aim to provide insights into the possible contributions of different interventions and identify appropriate leverage points for biodiversity conservation. These scenarios show that while each of the separate approaches contributes to slowing down biodiversity loss, the only scenario that manages to significantly improve biodiversity compared to current day is the scenario that combines the high variants of all measures.
How to cite: Bos, C., Daioglou, V., and Marques, A.: Exploring Pathways for Biodiversity Conservation: A Global Scenario Perspective, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-825, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-825, 2026.
The interconnected nature of global challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change requires moving from single-focus, siloed strategies to integrated approaches involving multiple actors, interventions and sectors to achieve sustainable outcomes. However, assessing the effectiveness, trade-offs and synergies of such integrated approaches is often difficult and requires significant time and resources. Global models can help to explore long-term, cross-sectoral impacts of various interventions that cannot be captured through isolated or short-term analyses. Consequently, they can be valuable tools to assess interventions related to different elements of the Nexus.
We compiled a database of model-based intervention scenarios (policy-screening and target-seeking) providing an overview of the interventions applied within the scenarios, targeted sectors and resulting impacts. Using this database, we identified current research gaps in the analysis of global-scale intervention scenarios. Furthermore, we performed a meta-analysis to identify interventions with the potential for a synergistic impact on climate and biodiversity.
Next to well-known single-focus interventions such as greenhouse gas emission markets or nature protection, addressing climate change or biodiversity loss respectively, we identified circular economy approaches, such as dietary changes or reduced food waste, as promising interventions with synergistic effects. However, global integrated scenarios envisioning multi-sectoral change towards a more sustainable world deliver the highest biodiversity outcomes and also benefit the climate. By contrast, scenarios that focus on fewer sectors, often climate-first approaches, improve climate outcomes, but can lead to trade-offs for biodiversity. A key instrument of the latter is carbon pricing, which could cause problems with public acceptance as prices increase. However, we found that implementing additional interventions could limit carbon prices, thereby reducing total carbon costs. This highlights the effectiveness of combining carbon pricing with other complementary measures to reduce potential trade-offs and maximize positive impacts.
Our meta-analytical approach enables us to emphasize the importance of integrated, cross-sectoral action. It also highlights additional interventions that can accompany well-known ones, helping us to achieve the most effective synergistic outcomes for a nature-positive world.
How to cite: Neumann, C., Alkemade, R., van Vuuren, D., Burian, A., Aschi, F., and Seppelt, R.: Global intervention scenarios reveal the need for integrated cross-sectoral transformations to address biodiversity and climate challenges, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-719, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-719, 2026.
The IPBES Nexus Assessment on the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food and health within the context of climate change, provided definitive evidence that the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change must be considered concurrently. In addition, these environmental changes will have profound implications for human health and well-being worldwide, resulting in increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as heatwaves, storms and floods, the disruption of food systems, increases in zoonoses and food, water and vector-borne diseases and declining mental health. However, to-date these crises are often tackled independently, with biodiversity loss often considered as the poorer cousin to climate change, receiving much less media coverage and direct funding, whilst health is considered completely independently to either of these challenges. This talk will present the task of addressing environmental change through the lens of justice and equity. Health impacts from climate change and biodiversity loss will be felt unequally, with certain groups at greater risk from these negative health outcomes, such as the elderly or young, pregnant women and socio-economically disadvantaged. We investigated how social groups are differentially influenced by several negative health outcomes resulting from environmental change, including extreme temperatures and loss of biodiversity and resultant ecosystem services. Age, sex, and socio-economic status were important factors influencing the impact of environmental change on health. This talk will blur the boundaries between disciplinary silos, drawing on knowledge from across the natural, social, and medical sciences – arguing that to ensure the success of international agreements and programmes such as the SDGs or the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, we must account for intersectionality as well as indigenous and local knowledge (ILK). We will make the argument that new and novel research and policy approaches to managing environmental change must take into consideration the intersectionality to ensure that they minimise and reduce inequalities rather than exacerbate them.
How to cite: Howe, C.: Biodiversity and climate change as seen through the lens of equity and justice: implications for human health, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-784, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-784, 2026.
The importance of more than 53,000 medicinal plant (MP) species—mostly vascular—for human health is globally recognized (FAO, 2022), particularly in the context of global pandemics (Alston et al., 2025). However, critical gaps persist in their conservation, the safeguarding of which is primarily attributed to Indigenous Knowledge (Alum, 2024). It is well documented that Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are deeply rooted in place and passed down through generations, often exhibiting a non-local or translocal dimension, extending beyond immediate geographical boundaries. This non-locality manifests in the circulation of knowledge through oral traditions, migration patterns, trade networks, and shared cultural practices (Ijatuyi et al., 2025). While IKS is inherently tied to specific ecosystems, ancient cultures, and territories, its principles and applications can be adapted and applied in diverse contexts, as the Tukuypaq System (TS) case (Peredo Albornoz et al., 2024). From authors embodied experience TS is a healing system build it on 200 years wisekeep experience from the author C.P. on health and vegetalist management knowledge and his 40 years grounded experience as Quechua traditional medicine man on spiritual, mental and physical fields. In this time range, C.P. safeguards, share, teach and applies the principles of our Andean Cosmovision through many documents. This work focus on reviewing -by consilient transdisciplinary techniques: Network Medicine Analysis (Barabási et al., 2010) and Two-Eyed Seing (Illes et al, 2025; Kutz et al, 2019)- the book of C.P. "Memory of Traditional Andean-Amazonian Medicine" (2023) which contains over 382 plant species, approx. 1136 medicinal recipes for 235 conditions (between illness and health improving) to explore potentialities of this knowledge as anticipatory system (Rosen, 2012) for emerging pathogens with potential future pandemic (Ukoaka, 2024).
How to cite: Peredo Albornoz, G. and Prado Mendoza, C.: Reviewing Pandemic Preventive Andean Traditional Medicine KNowledge from a Consilient Transdisciplinary Methodology, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-575, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-575, 2026.
Inland waters and their biodiversity represent a vital natural resource with profound economic, cultural, aesthetic, scientific, and educational value. Yet freshwater biodiversity is declining at a rate far exceeding that of terrestrial or marine ecosystems. Addressing this crisis requires holistic frameworks such as the One Health paradigm, which links the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems and considers how communities perceive the connection between nature and well-being. In rapidly growing communities across Sub-Saharan Africa, lakes, rivers, and wetlands are indispensable sources of water and livelihoods, yet these systems face escalating pressures from climate change and anthropogenic exploitation. Ensuring their sustainable management requires robust, continuous monitoring protocols that reflect biological, environmental, and social realities.
The AfroWetMaP project applies this integrated perspective by combining parasitological insights with bioindicator-based assessments of ecosystem health focusing on wetlands in Central Africa. By incorporating parasites and their macroinvertebrate hosts into water quality monitoring, AfroWetMaP promotes a more ecologically comprehensive and One Health–aligned strategy for ecosystem and public health management. Central to this effort is the co-production of knowledge with local stakeholders. AfroWetMaP advocates for coordinated, One Health–driven action to safeguard Africa’s freshwater ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
Freshwater macroinvertebrate communities are widely used to assess wetland ecosystem health, and AfroWetMaP aims to refine these methods through improved barcoding protocols to enable reliable eDNA-based monitoring. To support this development, we present a comprehensive review of the freshwater invertebrate fauna of the Lake Tanganyika region, one of the world’s most species-rich freshwater systems and a classic natural laboratory for evolutionary and limnological research. Our synthesis reveals a profound knowledge gap: more than 50% species have been recorded only once, rarefaction curves fail to reach a plateau across all major taxa, and baseline data needed, for biomonitoring such as species distribution along the environmental gradient remain critically incomplete. High taxonomic resolution is essential in such diverse systems, yet current limitations hinder the deployment of non-invasive, high-throughput approaches like eDNA.
These findings underscore the urgent need for integrated monitoring frameworks, enhanced taxonomic research, and sustained capacity building in biodiversity-rich regions under intense anthropogenic pressure.
How to cite: Kmentova, N., Cools, L., Janssens de Bisthoven, L., Schön, I., Sibomana, C., Abwe, E., Martens, K., and Vanhove, M. P. M.: Monitoring the status of African wetlands using macroinvertebrates and parasites with traditional and modern tools: balancing ecosystem and societal needs, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-648, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-648, 2026.
Background: Climate change and anthropogenic land use contribute to global biodiversity loss, yet growing evidence suggests that biodiversity exposure positively influences human health. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. Epigenetic modifications, which respond to environmental exposures and influence health outcomes, represent a promising pathway to explain how biodiversity may affect health. This study investigates the biodiversity–epigenetic–health nexus by: (1) conducting a scoping review to identify associations between exposure to biodiversity or vegetation and epigenetic variation; and (2) analysing reported epigenetic markers and biological pathways to explore their health implications.
Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines across four databases: Embase, Web of Science, MEDLINE (Ovid), and Google Scholar. Eligible studies included primary human research published between 2000 and 2025, examining biodiversity or greenness exposures alongside epigenetic markers, including DNA methylation profiles and epigenetic clocks. Extracted data were synthesized to develop a framework describing associations of the selected studies and identifying overlapping genes between them. Additionally, pathway enrichment analyses were performed using genes annotated to identified CpG sites.
Results: Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, fourteen reported at least one association between a biodiversity indicator and an epigenetic marker, although health implications were not always explicitly stated. Notably, greenness exposure was consistently correlated with reduced epigenetic age acceleration based on epigenetic clock analyses, suggesting a protective effect. Although no CpG site was shared across studies, 19 genes annotated to these CpG sites were identified in at least two studies. These genes have been associated with ageing, multiple cancer types, metabolic disorders including obesity and type 2 diabetes, and neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline, and schizophrenia. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant associations with eating disorders and bulimia, as well as asthma onset, allergic diseases, intraocular pressure, and haematological factors.
Conclusions: This review demonstrates a potential link between biodiversity exposure and human health outcomes mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, although this field remains largely underexplored. The consistent inverse association with epigenetic age acceleration highlights the utility of epigenetic clocks as biomarkers in future biodiversity-health research. Further research is needed to elucidate causal mechanisms and to establish how biodiversity exposures influence health outcomes through epigenetic modifications.
How to cite: Belmadani, K., Tran, N.-T., Senn, N., and Gonseth Nusslé, S.: Linking biodiversity to human health through epigenetics: a literature review and pathway analysis , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-440, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-440, 2026.
Context
Nature’s positive impact on health is well documented, yet the more specific role of biodiversity for food security, health, and climate preservation remains underrepresented in public discourse and insufficiently emphasized by healthcare professionals as an important health determinant. This research, conducted in Switzerland and Belgium, explores patients’ perceptions of biodiversity, its preservation, and links to health. High-resolution biodiversity maps are produced and used to assess gaps between individual perceptions and actual biodiversity levels near their homes.
The presentation addresses patients’ perceptions of biodiversity and the differences/similarities between their perception of biodiversity around their living environment and the objective view provided by maps and tools specifically developed to describe biodiversity.
Objective
The study investigates how patients perceive the relationship between contact with biodiversity and health and well-being. It aims to develop arguments and communication strategies to raise awareness among the public, general practitioners, and policymakers about biodiversity–health links from a co-benefit perspective.
Using biodiversity description maps in exchanges with patients has prompted reflection on biodiversity measurable components and how they can be presented to resonate with patients’ lived experiences, fostering meaningful dialogue in clinical practice.
Methods
Qualitative methods include 40-50 semi-structured interviews with patients in Switzerland and Belgium, focus groups to identify communication strategies, and biodiversity description maps (observed biodiversity and its density) to compare perceptions with ecological data. Data are transcribed and analyzed thematically.
Results
Preliminary findings highlight the need to make biodiversity description understandable for patients. Patients often do not distinguish biodiversity from “nature” or “environment,” and their perceptions rest on personal experiences. While biodiversity maps provide objective description, they are difficult to interpret, and patients show little awareness of biodiversity’s variations direct effects on physical/mental health. However, they emphasize the benefits of contact with nature—especially for mental health and well-being—based on subjective and empirical experiences rather than scientific metrics.
Discussion & Conclusion
Findings underline the need to better translate biodiversity measurements into accessible concepts that resonate with patients’ lived experiences and integrate biodiversity into health communication. Developing tools based on subjective experiences could support primary care practices and promote co-benefits for health and biodiversity.
How to cite: Sigrist, A., Bréda, C., Guisan, A., Collart, F., Schweicher, M., Sinigaglia, J., Wagner, D., and Senn, N.: Exploring the biodiversity–health nexus: how to present biodiversity characteristics to patients in order to foster dialogue in clinical practice?, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-450, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-450, 2026.
The recently approved and published IPBES Nexus Assessment, focuses on the interactions and interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, health and climate. This assessment, requested by member states signatory to IPBES, defines nexus approaches, scenarios for nexus interactions and response options to each of the nexus elements with particular focus on cascading effects beyond a single nexus element. Within this context, we reviewed the literature, developed, analyzed and examined the response options for water and their percolation to the other nexus elements. In this presentation, we will show (i) our process to identify the water response options which included multiple knowledge systems, (ii) their evaluation through assessing enablers and barriers, feasibility, context and scale and governance, and (iii) the robustness of our knowledge on the effectiveness of these response options to deliver on water quantity and quality. Currently, ~80% of humanity’s freshwater demand is used to meet food production, 75% of the global population in 2005 is dependent on forest for accessible freshwater, and at least 50 diseases are attributable to poor water supply, quality and sanitation. A total of 111 response options were identified through the screening of literature, governmental and other actor's reports, expert knowledge and consultation with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) representatives. These then went through a triangulation and clustering process to a final set of 15 response options, which were examined in depth by conducting a systematic literature review and consulation with experts and IPLC representatives, and underwetnt extensive review during the assessment process. We find that the 15 response options that we examined cut across more than two nexus elements, yet we found no response option that would deliver benefits to all nexus elements concurrently. Particularly, stronger or more robust trade-offs emerge when water, biodiversity and food systems are considered. Future scenarios show that a nature positive nexus will concurrently deliver on all nexus elements, and for water specifically, the strongest impacts emerge if food systems are prioritized as well as nature overexploitation.
How to cite: Santos, M. J., Kouame, A. A., Minaverry, C. M., Kulmala, S., Sandin, L., Simatele, M., Rafa, N., Embke, H., Gupta, A., Mason D'Croz, D., Chian Phang, S., van Huysen, T., Kumar, R., and Paukert, C.: IPBES Nexus assessment Options for delivering sustainable approaches to water, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-844, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-844, 2026.
Climate change and biodiversity loss are inextricably linked, and together they profoundly impact societal systems. The hazards they generate pose existential threats to human well-being, livelihoods, and security. Yet, their combined influence on the emergence and dynamics of armed conflict has received remarkably little attention.
While most existing research emphasizes climate impacts, we propose a novel conceptual framework that explicitly integrates biodiversity loss and Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs) into the environment–climate–conflict nexus. Unlike earlier approaches that focus mainly on how climate affects conflict pathways, our framework shows how climate change, biodiversity loss, and societal dynamics jointly shape NCPs, which in turn influence conflict dynamics. We systematically review the quantitative literature on this nexus to identify patterns, linkages, and gaps.
Our findings show that the literature largely focuses on Africa and global-scale studies, whereas other biodiverse and conflict-prone regions, such as parts of Asia and Latin America, receive limited attention. Biodiversity is often addressed indirectly through variables such as soil erosion, vegetation, and land use, while climate variables dominate most analyses. When examined jointly, climate and biodiversity variables interact in complex, context-dependent ways, with biodiversity either mitigating or accelerating the risk of armed conflict. We further demonstrate that most NCPs can be linked to conflict pathways, with food and feed provisioning NCPs being particularly relevant. These patterns underscore the need for integrative and multidisciplinary approaches that connect climate change, biodiversity, and NCPs in conflict research.
By identifying NCPs that buffer or exacerbate conflict and mapping critical research gaps, this study provides a roadmap for leveraging ecosystem management, biodiversity restoration, and climate action to support conflict prevention and sustainable peacebuilding. Our framework highlights the importance of considering the coupled effects of environmental change on human security and offers guidance for future research aimed at understanding and addressing the multifaceted drivers of conflict in a rapidly changing world.
How to cite: Hennenfeind, J., Hoffmann, R., Dullinger, S., Scheffran, J., Lenzner, B., and Essl, F.: A Framework for Integrating Biodiversity into the Environment–Climate–Conflict Nexus, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-23, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-23, 2026.
The recent Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Nexus Assessment evaluates the important interlinkages between biodiversity, food, health, water and climate change, showing that the world is facing interlinked crises that amplify one another and tackling them in separate silos has been ineffective and even counterproductive. The report also highlights a set of 71 “response options” which provide synergistic benefits across the five sectors. In this paper, we will examine nexus interlinkages and governance in several countries in Southeast Asia, and why siloed approaches continue to persist. Through collaborative research involving scientists across the US, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, this project is uncovering existing gaps in integrated sustainability planning, policy and strategies, as well as identifying promising cases of holistic management that need scaling out. We have engaged in policy mapping and interviews with decisionmakers (more than 100 decision-makers and related stakeholders (e.g., NGOs engaged with policymakers from 2020-2024) to understand the current landscape of nexus governance, including existing integration among sectors and current gaps.
In the presentation we will present findings from the policy mapping, specifically looking at the barriers and enablers of integrated policy to manage across biodiversity-water-food-health-climate. One key finding has been the divergent understanding of the concept of ecosystem services across decision-makers in multiple sectors. Rather than serving as a bridging concept that might contribute to integration of biodiversity with other sectors, our project has found that decisionmakers do not fully understand or use this concept, particularly in sectors like water, energy and finance. A lack of data availability, unfamiliarity with IPBES and its work, and lack of stakeholder involvement in ecosystem services assessments were all identified as key gaps that future science-policy interfaces in Southeast Asia could address. Our paper will also discuss what some possible alternative bridging concepts might be, and how decision-support tool developments might aid sectoral integration and biodiversity mainstreaming.
How to cite: McElwee, P., Nghiem, T., Ansharyani, I., Maung, W., Le, H., and Dieu, H.: Barriers and enablers to integrated management across the biodiversity-water-food-health-climate nexus in Southeast Asia, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-888, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-888, 2026.
The growing awareness of the shortfalls of conventional top-down, expert-driven, and narrow sectoral climate change adaptation policies has generated interest in the search for more sustainable and integrative forms of adaptation with the potential to enhance synergies and reduce trade-offs across sectors. In this regard, the concept of ecosystem-based adaptation has been receiving attention as an integrative framework for maintaining healthy ecosystems with the aim of building the resilience and reducing the vulnerability of social and ecological systems to climate change impacts. However, there is currently an inadequate understanding of the institutional requirements for the transition toward ecosystem-based adaptation. A promising institutional mechanism for addressing these governance challenges is adaptive governance, a governance mechanism that relies on flexible, multi-level institutions to connect actors across multiple scales in managing conflicting values and uncertainties in ecosystem-based management processes. The key attributes of adaptive governance, such as diverse, nested institutions and analytic-deliberation processes, could potentially contribute to enhancing the transition toward ecosystem-based adaptation through the mobilization of knowledge and resources, provision of incentives, and creation of opportunities for collective action. Yet, these potentials remain largely unexplored. This presentation addresses these knowledge gaps using results from a qualitative case study of the Cache River wetlands in southern Illinois that has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance. In response to various social and ecological crises, the Cache River Wetlands Joint Venture Partnership (JVP), a collaborative initiative composed of state and non-state actors, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy, was formed in the early 1990s with the goal of restoring and protecting 60,000 acres of wetland and forest along the Cache River. Using data generated from documents reviews and key informant interviews, this presentation assesses the current status of these restoration efforts and their perceived contributions to climate change adaptation strategies in the watershed. The roles of the JVP in these restoration efforts, as well as barriers and opportunities for the emergence/crafting of adaptive governance mechanisms in the watershed for enhancing the successful implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation and other nature-based solutions are also analyzed.
How to cite: Akamani, K.: Adaptive water governance for enhancing the transition towards ecosystem-based adaptation, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-832, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-832, 2026.
Cities are pivotal arenas for responding to interconnected climate, biodiversity, and health crises: they host most of the world’s population, consume most resources, and disproportionately influence ecological integrity. Yet even within the European Union—the world’s most advanced environmental governance regime—urban biodiversity–climate–health (BCH) governance remains fragmented, underscoring the difficulty of operationalizing nexus thinking in practice. Drawing on the IPBES–IPCC climate–biodiversity–society nexus framing, this study provides a comparative assessment of how four EU urban areas with well-developed BCH agendas—Cork, Klagenfurt, Päijät-Häme, and Malta—govern BCH interlinkages.
We present a goal-oriented analytical framework spanning 23 action fields across climate mitigation/adaptation, biodiversity protection, public health, water management, and food-related ecological impacts. To evaluate the depth of policy change, we introduce a transformation assessment diagnostic that distinguishes incremental, reformistic, and transformative actions—offering a novel, operationalizable method for evaluating BCH nexus governance. Using this combined framework, we analyse 32 strategic planning documents to examine how cities mobilize synergies, address trade-offs, and embed nature-based solutions (NBS) as systemic response options.
Our findings show that biodiversity concerns are most effectively mainstreamed in multi-benefit NBS—including ecological restoration, green–blue infrastructure, riparian corridor enhancement, and nature-based mobility routes—that jointly support urban cooling, habitat connectivity, stormwater regulation, mental health benefits, and local species recovery. However, these synergistic interventions are often small-scale and project-based, rather than embedded in long-term land-use planning or aligned with water, food, and material consumption policies.
Across all four cities, we identify five persistent blind spots limiting transformative BCH governance: (1) Fragmented mid-level targets that fail to translate biodiversity goals into measurable actions; (2) Land-use contradictions undermining ecological connectivity; (3) Neglect of indirect emissions and telecoupled biodiversity impacts from food systems, biomass sourcing, and material imports; (4) Institutional silos separating climate, biodiversity, health, water, and planning domains; (5) Dependence on soft governance tools, with few binding mechanisms to ensure cross-sectoral integration.
By operationalizing the nexus theory through a structured diagnostic and empirically identifying governance blind spots, this study shows that significant innovation is required—even under high-capacity EU conditions—to realise coherent, biodiversity-positive transformations. Our framework provides a transferable method for evaluating and advancing BCH nexus governance globally.
How to cite: Stojanovic, M., Wübbelmann, T., Juhola, S., Kabisch, N., McPhearson, T., Lipponen, V., and Raymond, C.: Integrated Urban Governance of the Biodiversity–Climate–Health Nexus: Synergies, Blind Spots, and Transformation Diagnostics, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-649, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-649, 2026.
Since 2012, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has successfully produced global and multilateral negotiated assessments. These reports are milestones for biodiversity action and provide a scientific foundation for environmental governance and the necessary transformative change. However, translating and incorporating global IPBES recommendations into national policies remains a major challenge, since there is a persistent gap between global objectives and national implementation. National implementation depends on political, scientific, and cultural parameters, including traditions of how scientific knowledge is used to advise and inform decision-making. Therefore, to make IPBES assessments actionable on a national level, they must be interpreted within national realities and institutional settings which require dedicated processes, practices, and interfaces between science and policy. Austria provides a unique example, where IPBES assessments are not only available German (translated by the German IPBES coordination office), but are also systematically adapted and applied to the ecological, political, legal and societal needs and conditions at the national level.
To ensure the science-policy relevance of the documents for the Austrian case and to provide credible, legitimate and salient knowledge, the process involves a broad network from various disciplines depending on the topic of the assessment, who work in thematic working groups to synthesize national data and expertise. These experts range from the fields of biodiversity, landscape design and nature conservation, but also include scientists from the social sciences and humanities like economics, political science, and law. Furthermore, a review process has been established, which includes other experts and ministry staff, responsible for environmental issues, especially from the Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK).
Based on two examples – the Nexus and the Transformative Change Assessment – we will illustrate the process of translating global IPBES assessments for a national context, highlighting methodological innovations and lessons learned. This can inform other countries seeking to bridge the gap between global biodiversity knowledge and the national level with the goal of strengthening the science–policy interface and fostering trust through knowledge co‑creation.
How to cite: Vadrot, A., Fellinger, S., and Hartlieb, M.: Co-creation at the Science-Policy Interface: Adapting IPBES Assessments to national needs , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-885, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-885, 2026.
Knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) that govern the use of nature are underpinned by their worldviews and values that view the elements of the nexus as interconnected. As such, many IPLCs conceptualise and experience nature, food systems, water systems, well-being and spirituality as an integrated whole. While numerous approaches to tackle intersecting challenges in a synergistic and holistic manner already exist, they are often sidelined; this is particularly the case for IPLC’s place-based approaches and customary governance. Co-producing knowledge through dialogue with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders has the potential to transform the existing siloed approaches to tackle intersecting challenges. Yet, a systematic review of governance and policy options for the nexus conducted for the IPBES Nexus Assessment found that IPLCs are the least represented in existing nexus governance and policy options. Challenges that impede adoption and uptake of policy instruments based on Indigenous or customary institutions include discrepancies in worldviews and values, scalar mismatches, inconsistencies in prioritisations, and lack of understanding of Indigenous and local knowledge. This presentation builds on studies that demonstrate the importance of working with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders and recognizing the value of such knowledge in ecosystem governance. Improving our understanding of plural values and ways of knowing can help identify and negotiate policy and sociopolitical options that improve ecosystem stewardship. In this presentation, I share some examples of institutions that govern the use of natural resources in ways that lead to positive outcomes in biodiversity conservation, food security, water management, and positive well-being of coastal communities in Aceh, Indonesia, and Bình Thuận, Việt Nam. At the same time, such knowledge and practices have proven to be essential to help these communities adapt to impacts of climate change, and deal with climate-related hazards such as storms and floods. Ultimately, I demonstrate the importance of partnering with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders to tackle intersecting challenges by prioritising place-based approaches and customary governance. Taking this step to engage actors that continue to be marginalised in policy- and decision-making will lead to positive equity and justice results in nexus governance.
How to cite: Hiwasaki, L.: Tackling intersecting challenges with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders: Prioritising place-based approaches and customary governance, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-753, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-753, 2026.
Food and biodiversity are deeply interconnected. How we grow, trade, and consume food is a leading driver of biodiversity loss, yet healthy ecosystems are essential for food security, nutrition, and resilience. The IPBES Nexus Assessment highlights the potential of nexus approaches to deliver co-benefits across systems, but how to do this in practice?
We collaborated with partners from government, business, civil society, and research institutions to learn from diverse use cases on what it takes in practice to strengthen synergies and manage tradeoffs between food and biodiversity. Using purposive sampling we selected cases from diverse entry points and settings, spanning across communities, landscapes, policies, finance, business coalitions, international trade and value chains, and across settings in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Six cross-cutting lessons emerge: 1) Progress often depends on champions—individuals, organizations, countries, or networks—who mobilize skills, energy, awareness, and resources to move efforts forward. 2) Food security and biodiversity goals can conflict, especially where land, water, and livelihoods are at stake. Yet when equity, healthy diets, water, and well-being enter the conversation, synergies become stronger than trade-offs. 3) Beyond local to global, stronger mutual understanding, connections and coordination between different scales helps unlock wider impact. 4) Each use case involved new collaborations that pushed organizations beyond their traditional boundaries and comfort zones. 5) Change is urgent, but intentional transformation takes time. Most initiatives showed lasting change over 5–20 years, beyond typical project cycles. 6) Progress depends on learning in action from what does—and does not—work, adapting along the way, and pairing monitoring with reflection to guide future action.
Together, these journeys point to a broader transformation in which biodiversity and food are increasingly integrated to achieve benefits for both people and the planet. Represented as a beehive that can grow over time, the growing bundle of use cases welcomes contributions expanding our collective knowledge. As Parties prepare national biodiversity strategies for COP17's review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, these documented pathways, complemented by a practitioner-oriented toolkit, provide insights for translating commitments into implementable actions, inspiring new partnerships and encouraging others to share their learnings and pathways.
How to cite: Trautman, S., Vandamme, E., Smith Dumont, E., Karssenberg, M., and Remans, R.: Food and Biodiversity in Action: Learning from practical journeys towards sustainable futures , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-883, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-883, 2026.
Sado rice is a high-quality brand product from Sado island. The island is famous for the traditional rice cultivation system, characterized by a dynamic mosaic of woodlands, plantations, grasslands, paddy fields, wetlands, irrigation ponds, and canals. Its cultivation not only provides food and habitat for local biodiversity but also supports various cultural customs, such as shrine rituals, which are still the foundation of the spirituality for people in Sado. The Food and Agriculture Organization recognized Sado as one of Japan’s first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems in June 2011. The Japanese crested ibis is the most symbolic species among Sado’s rich biodiversity, and it feeds on small living creatures, such as fishes, loaches, and worms that live in and around the rice paddies. To promote ibis-friendly agriculture, Sado City in collaboration with the Sado Agricultural Cooperative introduced the "Toki-to-kurasu-sato" rice certification initiative in 2010. To help farmers attain this certification, Sado City encourages and supports farmers taking up the eco-farming certification to sell the certified rice at higher prices than regular Sado grown rice. To coordinate fragmented initiatives and activities related to biodiversity conservation, water management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, traditional food culture in the island, local university, local government, NGOs and business sector launched the Sado Living Lab for Sustainability in 2022. This lab facilitates cyclic processes of learning, visioning and actioning through developing database of knowledge and actions, connecting and networking existing efforts, and forming communities. Three key functions of the lab include 1) generating innovations, 2) capacity building, and 3) participatory policy design. Currently, the lab is implementing more than 6 projects including exploring new possibilities to use sea grass and bamboo, mapping and visualizing local resources, ethical production and consumption, eco-tourism, job creation, capacity building, and future scenario building by using IPBES Nature Futures Framework.
How to cite: Saito, O.: Transformative change of paddy rice systems for biodiversity and Sado Living Lab for Sustainability in Japan, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-588, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-588, 2026.
Intensive agricultural land use threatens biodiversity worldwide. In Europe, agricultural policy promises to support farmers in using practices that not only avoid reducing biodiversity but actively sustain it throughout agricultural landscapes. Farmers often lament, however, that policy is inadequate and that they are left on their own with the responsibility of conserving biodiversity. Thinking across the biodiversity and food nexus may better support farmers. Specifically, citizens can support the shared effort to conserve biodiversity through the food that they eat, and more broadly, through their interactions with their landscape. However, given the increasing disconnection of people from nature in industrialized countries, like those in Europe, it is unclear in how far people are aware of their local biodiversity and perceive their food choice as a wider part of shaping landscapes. Here, our aim was to explore the causal chain from human-nature connection (cognitive and emotional) to felt responsibility and to food choice in two small towns located in a German agricultural landscape. We conducted short interviews with over 450 people in the streets of those towns to capture their knowledge of plant and bird species, emotional connectedness to nature, their perceived responsibility for conservation, food choices and demographic characteristics. Citizens’ biodiversity knowledge was limited, while they still felt emotionally related to nature. Structural equation models revealed that rather than knowledge of local species, emotional relatedness determined citizen’s felt responsibility for local biodiversity, which in turn positively affected the preference for local and organic food. Findings more specifically show that older people are more emotionally connected to nature, feel responsible for conservation, and prefer seasonal and regional food. Male participants felt less responsible for biodiversity conservation than their female counterparts. Higher income of citizens was positively related to organic food choices. Our study shows that fostering nature connectedness, particularly in young people, can promote biodiversity-friendly food choices and contribute to integrated landscape approaches. Thinking of biodiversity conservation and diet shifts together via “response-able” citizenship may support human well-being and health in the face of climate change. Such nexus-thinking could therefore complement policy-centered approaches to farmland biodiversity conservation.
How to cite: Kernecker, M. and Naaf, T.: Nature connectedness may be more important than species knowledge for biodiversity-friendly food choices, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-545, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-545, 2026.
The environmental impacts of a nation’s food system are not only confined within its borders but extend across an international food supply chain. Impacts are highly dependent on consumption and a transition towards more plant-based food is a key pillar for reducing global environmental pressures, especially in high-income countries. Current studies often overlook intersectoral responses and the detailed spatial distribution of environmental spillovers across global food supply chains. We apply a consumption-based environmental assessment that traces environmental impacts to the locations where they occur across the global supply chain that supplies food to the Netherlands. Using the Food and Agriculture Biomass Input Output (FABIO) model, we quantify the global changes in six environmental impact categories (land use, blue water use, green water use, greenhouse gas emissions, phosphorous application and nitrogen application) brought about by shifting Dutch food consumption to an EAT-Lancet diet against the dietary patterns recorded in 2020. We then evaluate the extent to which these impacts could be reduced under a Dutch dietary shift, from the perspective of each producing country. This shift results in global impact reduction across six impact categories, with the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (-67%). Notably, drivers of decreasing impacts occur in production stage of various animal feed from reducing animal-based food demand (mainly bovine meat and dairy food). This Dutch dietary change can bring more environmental reductions outside the Netherlands driven by largely reducing bovine meat consumption and feed production. Western European suppliers to the Dutch food system benefits the most in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, landuse, green water and nutrient application. Our findings indicate that Dutch dietary policies may deliver a substantial share of their environmental benefits outside the Netherlands, in food‑exporting countries. This suggests that national food policies do not act in isolation but can reinforce the environmental sustainability of neighbouring and trade-partner countries by lowering the externalized impacts of domestic consumption.
How to cite: Wang, J., Behrens, P., Mogollón, J. M., and Navarre, N.: The Global Environmental Impacts of Dutch Dietary Change, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-901, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-901, 2026.
Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services crucial for human health, including food security and diversity, in particular in regions where communities are highly dependent on natural resources. The rapid decline of biodiversity can however weaken the resilience of ecosystems and thus reduce their capacity to deliver these vital services for humans. Several studies have shown that access to mammalian bushmeat in low-income countries could reduce stunting and anemia of children, as bushmeat can be the only source of iron and other proteins necessary for growth. However, we do not know whether there is a causal and consistent link between changes in biodiversity and children’s health outcomes across disparate regions. To address this knowledge gap, we present the first comprehensive analysis of this relationship at a near global scale. Using the Demographic Health Survey data, a public dataset, collected in 59 low- to middle-income countries, since 2000 and to 2023, we investigated the relationship between biodiversity decline and child nutritional status. We collated data on child nutrition: the prevalence of anemia and wasting, as well as information on the context of surveyed households, such as the wealth score or children eating habits. We used the global biodiversity loss map from the PREDICT database, which provides a biodiversity intactness index value, every five years between 2000 and 2020, offering the opportunity of evaluating the temporal trend. Based on the literature, we produced plausible Directed Acyclic Graphs to display assumptions about the relationship between the different factors of interest. We then run structural equation models, allowing us to test causal relationships while controlling for socio-economical context. Results revealed a consistent negative association between biodiversity loss and the prevalence of childhood anemia, independent of confounding socio-economic variables, as well as a negative relationship with wasting in children. By providing evidence of the human health consequences of biodiversity decline, we reinforce the urgent need to promote conservation not only to safeguard ecological integrity, but also to ensure sustainable development, food security, and improved human health. Our results support integrating biodiversity monitoring into human health policy, especially in the context of strengthening the Global Biodiversity Framework targets implementation.
How to cite: Bernard, A., Head, J., Naidoo, R., and Carter, N.: Impact of biodiversity loss on children’s nutrition in low- to middle-income countries, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-848, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-848, 2026.
Transforming today’s food systems is essential to addressing the converging global crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and malnutrition. Evidence from UNEP, the World Bank and ClimateWorks Foundation shows that shifting towards more sustainable and diverse protein sources can meaningfully reduce land-use pressures, cut emissions, and improve nutritional outcomes. Despite this, efforts to shift our food system toward alternative sources of protein have received a fraction of the investment needed to accomplish these goals. Drawing on the Good Food Institute’s expertise across science, policy and industry, this presentation will outline how alternative proteins – plant-based, fermentation-made, and cultivated meat – can help governments deliver on their climate, nature and nutrition commitments.
Presenting evidence from techno-economic analyses, life-cycle assessments, and rigorous reports on land and emissions savings, this contribution will highlight why diversifying protein production is necessary and how it can complement agroecological and agrobiodiversity approaches. Alternative proteins can reduce demand for resource-intensive conventional livestock production, creating space for ecosystem restoration, conservation and nature-friendly farming. At the same time, they can support global health goals by enabling nutritious, accessible, culturally adaptable, and affordable diets across rural and urban populations – the importance of which was emphasised at the Rio Convention COPs (2024) and the UNFSS+4 (2025).
In line with the session’s focus on science-policy interfaces, the presentation will detail policy and investment pathways that enable countries to accelerate innovation in this space - mirroring support for renewable energy and electric vehicles - and the scientific insights that can inform them. These include public R&D funding for alternative proteins, investment in infrastructure and scale-up, national protein strategies and just transition support for farmers and rural communities. Examples will illustrate how governments are beginning to connect the dots between climate, biodiversity, and nutrition by incorporating alternative proteins into research agendas, dietary guidelines, and climate mitigation plans.
Ultimately, this contribution argues that alternative proteins are a scientifically grounded lever that can unlock synergies across global biodiversity, climate, and nutrition goals. Countries can use this emerging field to drive systemic food-systems transformation and deliver tangible, measurable outcomes for people and nature.
How to cite: Mayers, A. and Sekar, N.: Delivering Climate, Biodiversity and Nutrition Outcomes Via Protein Diversification , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-336, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-336, 2026.
Land is a scarce resource increasingly contested for multiple uses, particularly as rising environmental concerns heighten pressures to enhance biodiversity and to facilitate natural carbon sequestration processes, while maintaining food production. In this context, our case study examines a community-driven agroforestry project that has attracted both a soil-carbon project developer and a biodiversity-credit issuer, each working to align their needs with those of local farmers, landowners, the farmers’ cooperative, and potential credit buyers at both local and global scales. The case unfolds in Rio Tule Watershed, in Guerrero region, Southwest of Mexico, an area dominated by Tropical Dry Forest (TDF) biomes which are severely impacted by deforestation and land use change for intensive agricultural use. The community’s farmlands are particularly significant because their position across the upper and lower watershed creates ecological linkages that connect and influence neighboring ecosystems. We conducted in-depth interviews with these stakeholders to understand how their differing needs and power dynamics shape decision-making and influence the practical details of project implementation. While the promotion of carbon and biodiversity conservation is broadly welcomed within the community, asymmetrical access to knowledge and information could place farmers in a vulnerable position, limiting their ability to make fully informed decisions. Such case could also result in uneven distribution of responsibilities, with farmers bearing disproportionate risks and workloads associated with monitoring and compliance. To mitigate these conflicting interests, establishing clear guidelines for selecting metrics, designing monitoring mechanisms for carbon and biodiversity, and defining the project’s impact boundaries is essential, without compromising their commercial crop productivity that sustain local livelihoods. Accordingly, our case study presents a integrated framework drawing on both stakeholder analysis and a systematic assessment of existing metrics and international standards to illustrate possible options tailored to their differing priorities from crop genetics and soil health at the farm-level to broader ecosystem level.
How to cite: Kim, E. H., Schrodt, F., Field, R., Girkin, N., and Wernli, M.: Managing biodiversity-carbon-production trade-off in multi-stakeholder landscapes, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-662, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-662, 2026.
Background
Food production is a major driver of biodiversity loss, yet impacts are rarely visible to consumers at the point of choice. To reduce our contribution to biodiversity loss, most of us need to shift our diets towards more plant-based eating. We examined how biodiversity footprint labels on buffet lines influence the selection of lower-impact meals and how acceptable biodiversity-aligned menu changes, such as reducing rice and red meat, are to customers, and how acceptability relates to diets and value orientations.
Methods
The intervention in four Finnish university student restaurants labelled every hot main dish for one week with a five-step colour-coded arrow scale, based on ingredient-level biodiversity footprint. Kitchen systems recorded portions prepared for each dish. After a four-month wash-out, the same menus will be repeated without labels (in February 2026) to allow comparison of labelled and unlabelled weeks. During the intervention, customers completed an electronic questionnaire (n = 524) covering diet type, meat consumption frequency, familiarity with biodiversity, value orientations, noticing and perceived influence of the labels, and support for reducing rice and red meat on lunch menus.
Preliminary Results
Preliminary analyses indicate high acceptance of biodiversity-aligned structural changes: only small minorities opposed reducing rice or red meat, while roughly two-thirds supported at least halving their provision. Overall, 67% considered biodiversity labels on buffet lines necessary. Vegans scored significantly higher on biospheric values than omnivores, suggesting that underlying value orientations are linked to readiness to support biodiversity-friendly changes. Planned analyses will combine production of meals and survey data to test whether the share of low-impact dishes increases during the labelled week.
Discussion
This study will provide real-world evidence on the behavioural effects and social acceptability of biodiversity footprint labels in catering. By linking objective meal-selection data with attitudes, diets, and value orientations, we will generate practical guidance for public caterers and policy-makers on how information and menu changes can jointly support biodiversity-positive dietary shifts.
How to cite: Tarkkio, A.: Bringing biodiversity to the buffet: labels, meal choices and menu changes in four university restaurants, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-697, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-697, 2026.
Global biodiversity is diminishing at an alarming rate and requires immediate action. Food production activities contribute significantly towards the loss of biodiversity, through multiple pathways including climate change, land use and land use change (LULUC), water stress, eutrophication and others. Understanding the dietary practices and consumption patterns of individuals becomes crucial for identifying the key areas in food systems that are driving the biodiversity loss. Providing evidence-based information to stakeholders about the biodiversity impacts of their dietary food choices could help them make conscious decisions. Currently such studies remain limited.
This study quantifies and compares the biodiversity impacts of Finnish diet for six different meal types: conventional meat based (beef, chicken and pork), vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based meat alternative (Tofu). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework was adapted to assess the biodiversity impacts of the meals using LC-IMPACT method. The system boundary employed is ‘farm to fork’. Life cycle inventory data was compiled for agricultural production, processing, transportation and cooking. Impacts across the supply chain were assessed for climate change, land stress and water stress categories in terms of Potentially Disappeared Fraction of species globally (PDF·yr).
Meals containing animal-based products exhibited higher biodiversity impacts compared to meals containing plant-based products, with beef containing meal showing the highest per portion impact. Replacing beef with tofu achieved 89% reduction in overall meal biodiversity footprint. Climate change and LULUC showed greater impacts than the other drivers, indicating their dominance in biodiversity loss. Ingredients imported to Finland demonstrated relatively higher biodiversity impacts than locally produced ingredients. The quantity of the ingredients used per meal was also a crucial element in the overall impact.
The findings from this study highlights the importance of evaluating the biodiversity impacts for different types of diets. The outcome of this study provides evidence based information for stakeholders to minimize their biodiversity impacts via food systems. We recommend to conduct further research, including nutritional aspects of food products, to provide holistic information for decision making.
How to cite: Mysore Veerappa, M., Järviö, N., and Uusitalo, V.: Menu of Extinction: Quantifying Biodiversity Footprint of Different Diets Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-751, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-751, 2026.
Forest systems are critical for climate mitigation due to their carbon uptake and storage. However, different forest-types show a varying capacity to provide carbon sequestration and other desirable ecosystem functions such as local freshwater provision and level of biosphere integrity.
To project these globally relevant processes for climate change depending on human forest management for the next decades, ecosystem modelling is crucial, because of the long rotation periods. Additionally, it can already now incorporate factors such as carbon dioxide fertilization, while management options can be tested and discussed before global implementation.
We developed three scenarios of forest-based climate mitigation relying on simulations with the dynamic vegetation model LPJmL, which is mapping three levels of human intervention with the forest system:
1) Natural succession without human management.
2) Managed forests, where mainly one desired species is cultivated and protected so that faster growth-curves are achieved.
3) Woody biomass plantations, which provide maximum biomass harvest and very short rotation periods.
We compare these different forest types during the 21st century regarding their carbon sequestration potential, differences in soil moisture and runoff, and biosphere integrity. For the latter, we are utilizing the EcoRisk metric developed as an indicator for the planetary boundary for functional biosphere integrity.
Our preliminary analysis shows that on the global scale, unsurprisingly, the higher the human management level is, the higher the carbon sequestration potential can be.
As a next step, we will assess water provision and biosphere integrity levels, which will likely show a more fine-grained picture and will allow to differentiate better between locations.
All effects are expected to require at least a biome or even grid-scale resolution to fully show where which forest type and management intervention is most helpful in terms of climate-water-biosphere functions.
How to cite: Priesner, J. and Stenzel, F.: Climate-water-biosphere functions compared between three forests type scenarios, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-681, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-681, 2026.
Effective biodiversity governance depends on the ability to detect weak early signals embedded within everyday field incidents. Yet the capture of these incidents remains fragmented across health, biodiversity, agriculture, climate, and disaster management systems, with existing surveillance systems suffering from isolated IT infrastructure lacking interoperability and common data standards. Current observational practices rely on siloed reporting channels, limited multimodal inputs, and little visibility into cross domain patterns that often reveal ecosystem stress long before formal indicators emerge.
This work introduces a generic configurable incident observability protocol grounded in systems thinking practices that treat frontline observations as part of broader ecological feedback loops. Drawing on boundary framing, distributed sensing, and causal pattern recognition, the protocol positions incident capture as core environmental intelligence. It adapts observability engineering concepts to real world ecosystems where data is heterogeneous, multimodal, and collected under resource constraints.
The solution framework defines a modular reference architecture built around configurable frontline adapters that support voice, image, video, sensor feeds, and text. Instead of rigid forms, spoken or visual reports such as “suspected cobra bite” are transformed into structured fields through staged interpretation that combines language understanding, lightweight image models, and on device inference. A shared schema ensures consistency, auditability, and cross domain comparison. Modes include passive contextless capture, targeted experiment modes, high resolution risk window monitoring, configurable audit layers, incident tiering, and relays for integration with agency and stakeholder systems.
These capabilities make the framework effective for use cases like snakebite reporting, where a single event reflects clinical, ecological, and agricultural conditions. A frontline capture becomes a datapoint that can reveal links to habitat stress, cropping cycles, or water scarcity. This extends to herbivore crop raids, predator spillovers, water contamination points, crop stress anomalies, and shifts in species presence. It strengthens existing monitoring systems by improving resolution and surfacing early cross-sector patterns that siloed tools overlook.
By establishing a multimodal, AI assisted, cross domain observability protocol, this work aims to surface earlier ecological and social signals, reduce underreporting, improve classification accuracy, and support anticipatory decision making across sectors responsible for biodiversity and human environment systems.
How to cite: Gurumurthy, A. S. and Chandrasekaran, D. K.: AI-Enabled Transdisciplinary Observability Framework for Biodiversity and Human Environment Systems, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-527, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-527, 2026.
Peri-urbanisation—the transformation of rural areas into urbanised landscapes—is an emerging issue in many smalls to mid-sized cities across the Global South. In the Upper Citarum River Basin, the expansion of the Bandung Metropolitan Area has intensified industrialisation and land conversion, straining local governance and community capacity. Inadequate environmental assessment and the extensive use of chemical fertilisers since the Green Revolution have degraded soils and polluted rivers. These pressures have fragmented ecosystems, altered their structure and composition, and reduced biodiversity that is essential for maintaining ecosystem health and the capacity to provide key services such as water regulation, soil fertility, and climate buffering. At the same time, peri-urban communities experience declining well-being and low preparedness for climate-related disasters. Addressing these interconnected ecological and social challenges requires spatially explicit and integrative approaches. This study applies a domain-based GIS–MCDA framework to assess community resilience by linking ecosystem condition and biodiversity with human well-being. Twenty-six spatial indicators across four domains—environmental sustainability, water security, disaster resilience, and well-being—capture how ecological integrity and socio-economic conditions interact to shape resilience at the village scale. Factor analysis and K-means clustering were used to delineate management zones based on shared socio-ecological characteristics, translating analytical results into actionable spatial units. Indicator weighting combines statistical sensitivity analysis with community-informed priorities derived from ethnographic materials from previous research, ensuring analytical rigour and contextual relevance. The results reveal pronounced socio-ecological gradients: biodiversity and ecosystem health decline toward urban centres, where built-up pressures intensify, while rural highland areas retain higher ecological functionality yet face livelihood constraints. Approximately 70% of villages exhibit low well-being and limited disaster preparedness, highlighting trade-offs between ecological and social domains. The resulting management zones provide evidence-based pathways for resilience planning through watershed restoration, agroforestry, sustainable water governance, and the integration of ecosystem services into spatial strategies. By linking biodiversity, ecosystem health, and community resilience within a spatial framework, this approach offers a transferable model for managing peri-urban transitions that sustain both ecosystems and human well-being.
How to cite: Khikmah, F., Widita, A., Prescott, M., Marthanty, D., Ramírez-Lovering, Professor, D., and Lechner, A.: Integrating Ecosystem and Community Resilience in Peri-Urban Indonesia through GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Analysis, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-79, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-79, 2026.
The ASEAN region hosts some of the world’s richest biodiversity and vital ecosystems—tropical forests, peatlands, mangroves, and wetlands—that play a critical role in carbon sequestration, climate regulation, and food security. Ensuring their long-term sustainability requires integrated strategies that connect biodiversity conservation with climate resilience. This calls for robust policy frameworks, science-based decision-making, and community-driven action supported by regional cooperation and inclusive spatial planning to safeguard ecosystems while addressing the growing impacts of climate change.
The 2025 ASEAN Biodiversity Science Forum (BSF), held in Jakarta, Indonesia, served as a key platform for advancing these objectives under the theme “Strengthening Biodiversity to Mitigate Climate Change in ASEAN.” Organized by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), the World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), with support from the ASEAN–UK Green Transition Fund, the Forum convened scientists, policymakers, and community leaders from across Southeast Asia. Discussions highlighted the essential role of biodiversity in climate mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development.
ASEAN’s ecosystems, particularly peatlands, mangroves, and wetlands, were emphasized as critical carbon sinks that sustain livelihoods, food systems, and disaster resilience. Case studies from Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, and the Philippines demonstrated how combining advanced tools such as LiDAR, eDNA, and AI-driven bioacoustics with Indigenous ecological knowledge can yield more inclusive, sustainable, and effective restoration outcomes.
The Forum produced five key recommendations for regional action: (1) protect and restore high-carbon ecosystems; (2) strengthen cross-sectoral and transboundary governance under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF); (3) mobilize sustainable finance through biodiversity and carbon markets; (4) enhance biodiversity monitoring through digital and community-based technologies; and (5) empower Indigenous Peoples, women, and local communities as key partners in biodiversity and climate governance.
By bridging scientific evidence, traditional knowledge, and policy innovation, ASEAN can position biodiversity at the core of its climate resilience strategy. A biodiversity-centered approach offers transformative potential to achieve both regional sustainability and global GBF targets, advancing a climate-resilient and nature-positive ASEAN by 2050.
Keywords: ASEAN, biodiversity, climate change mitigation, wetlands, peatlands, Indigenous knowledge, nature-based solutions, Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
How to cite: Hasanah Gauch, N., Sulaeman, D., Villavelez, E., Maglangit, E., Diesmos, A., and Elloran, C.: Strengthening Biodiversity to Mitigate Climate Change in ASEAN: Insights and Recommendations from the 2025 Biodiversity Science Forum, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-876, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-876, 2026.
Biodiversity loss, climate change and related water–food–health risks are increasingly framed as interconnected crises, yet research and innovation (R&I) investments are still largely organized and evaluated along separate sectoral lines. This contribution presents a scalable, portfolio-level tool to assess the extent and location of integrated biodiversity nexus framings within EU research portfolios, using the biodiversity–climate interface as an operational starting point.
We analyze 53,871 EU Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects, implemented between 2014 and 2025, from the EU CORDIS Open Access database using a two stage text-mining approach applied to project keywords, titles and objectives. Stage 1 employs a broad, validated query on the keywords field to map the wider biodiversity- and climate-relevant landscape. Term frequencies and co-occurrence networks reveal an R&I ecosystem in which environmental aims are frequently embedded within digital, energy and systems-innovation agendas. Stage 2 then applies a strict Boolean AND filter on the keywords field to isolate projects that explicitly co-frame biodiversity and climate. The resulting integration core comprises 118 projects whose term usage and co-occurrence patterns are dominated by biodiversity, climate change, ecosystems and ecosystem services, adaptation, resilience and nature-based solutions, and whose stated aims are strongly oriented towards policy, knowledge and modelling for decision support.
The approach delivers two types of insights: First, it distinguishes between a broad “adjacent” innovation ecosystem relevant to biodiversity and climate research, and a narrowly, explicitly nexus-framed core, allowing us to quantify how rare integrated framings remain and to characterize the thematic structures where they occur. Second, it provides a transparent, reproducible template that can be extended by adding water, food and health term sets, thereby operationalizing biodiversity nexus diagnostics at portfolio scale. The contribution concludes by discussing how this mapping can inform capacity-building and governance innovations, and help align future funding, training and cross-sector partnerships with genuinely integrated biodiversity–climate–water–food–health responses.
How to cite: Mendes Correia, R., Vracevic, N., Camilleri, S., and Balzan, M. V.: Mapping the Biodiversity–Climate Nexus in EU Research Portfolios, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-854, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-854, 2026.
To halt or reverse biodiversity loss, it is critical to understand the complex interdependencies between biodiversity and key drivers and sectors to inform the development of holistic policies and actions. We conducted a literature review on the interlinkages between biodiversity and climate change, food, water, energy, transport and health (“the biodiversity nexus”). Evidence extracted from 194 peer-reviewed articles was analysed to assess how biodiversity is being influenced by and is influencing the other nexus elements. This process involved generating a Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD) of the nexus interactions evidenced in each article. Out of the 354 interlinkages between biodiversity and the other nexus elements, 53 % were negative, 29 % were positive and 18 % contained both positive and negative influences. The review highlighted the complexity and context-dependency of interlinkages within the biodiversity nexus but clearly demonstrates the importance of biodiversity in underpinning resilient ecosystems and human well-being in ensuring a sustainable future for people and the planet. We further explored this context dependency and complexity through analysing the mechanisms behind the nexus interactions. An archetype approach was used to cluster the impact relationships of the nexus interactions in each article by the type and complexity of impact/influence, accompanied by a ShinyApp that helped identify archetypes. The archetypes spanned uni-directional, bi-directional with balancing or reinforcing feedback loops, and multidirectional with cascading or compounding impacts. We used these archetypes to analyse the impact/influence mechanisms across realms (terrestrial, freshwater, marine, multi) and direction of impact (positive, negative, mixed). In addition, biodiversity metrics were clustered and analyzed using the disaggregation of realms, sectors, and direction of impact and evaluated against the monitoring framework of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals on their alignment. Based on synthesis of these analyses, policy recommendations were made for each of the seven sectors that reflect the complexity and context dependency of nexus interlinkages to support policy coherence across the biodiversity nexus.
How to cite: Linney, G., Kim, H., Díaz-General, E., Harrison, P., Laspidou, C., Lazurko, A., and Vaňo, S.: Understanding the role of biodiversity in the climate, food, water, energy, transport and health nexus and enhancing cross-sectoral policy coherence through evidence synthesis in Europe, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-737, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-737, 2026.
