Proportion of funding supporting single-species projects (green) and multiple species projects (yellow) per taxonomic group. Numbers on the right y-axis indicate the total amount of funds (in millions of U.S. $) to support conservation for mammals, reptiles, birds, non-arthropods invertebrates, arthropods, fishes, plants, amphibians and algae+fungi. Multiple species projects, inclusive of several higher taxonomic groups (e.g., plants + vertebrates), accounted for 3.7% (U.S. $73 M) of the funding and 2% of the projects (292).
An analysis of species-based conservation projects over a 25-y period reveals larger and deeper taxonomic biases in funding than previously described, impeding effective biodiversity conservation. Conservation efforts are largely concentrated on a narrow subset of species, some nonthreatened, while most species in urgent need of protection are largely ignored. Both governments and nongovernmental stakeholders urgently need new approaches to help tackle the biodiversity crisis, including realigning funding priorities to ensure representative funding across taxa toward vulnerable and currently neglected species.
The study, led by Guénard and colleagues at the University of Hong Kong, analysed 14,566 conservation projects spanning a 25-year period between 1992 and 2016.
A comparison of the amount of funding per species was drawn against each species’ status in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species, which gives an assessment on animal extinction risk levels.
“Nearly 94% of species identified as threatened, and thus at direct risk of extinction, received no support,” said Benoit Guénard. “Protecting this neglected majority, which plays a myriad of roles in ecosystems and represents unique evolutionary strategies, is fundamental if our common goal is to preserve biodiversity.”
Alice Hughes, a coordinating lead author of the research, said: “The sad reality is that our perception of ‘what is threatened’ is often limited, and so a few large mammal species may receive more funding than the near-12,000 species of reptile combined.”
“Not only does this limit our ability to implement protective measures, but it closes opportunities to researchers. I have lost count of the number of times collaborators have switched taxa [organism populations] purely because theirs was difficult to fund. This leads to a chicken and egg situation – some of the groups with the highest rates of recent extinction, like freshwater snails, have the most outdated assessments.”
“We are in the midst of a global species extinction crisis,” said research author Bayden Russell. “The number of threatened species is increasing at an unprecedented rate across a wide range of groups and regions globally.”
“We need to change how we think about conservation funding. The community needs to be educated about the value of biodiversity and protecting species that are under threat, not just those that we have an affinity to.”
The research highlighted a larger funding imbalance than had previously been identified, and found that despite their importance to ecosystems, the bias against invertebrates could be up to 40% higher than previously reported.
The majority of all projects (57%) and funding (53%) also protected single species, instead of focusing on multiple creatures.
“Governments, in particular those which represent the main pool of funding, need to follow a more rigorous and scientifically-driven approach in conservation funding,” said Guénard. “Further global cooperation to study and protect species-rich groups, as well as share information on conservation investments, is also urgently needed.”
The findings have been published in the PNAS journal: Here
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生物多樣性受損是當今全球最大的危機之一，不僅威脅到整個生態系統，還影響我們當前及未來的生計。隨着科學家意識到物種滅絕的規模和程度，了解可用的保育資源，以及保育資助是否被有效分配給最需要保護的物種，變得至關重要。最近，香港大學(港大)生物科學學院的一個研究團隊，在美國《國家科學院院刊》(Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences，PNAS)上發表了一篇論文，通過匯編近 15,000 個專注於物種保護的資助項目， 為這些問題找出答案。該研究的主要作者管納德（Benoit GUÉNARD）教授指出： 我我們得出的首個結論是，物種保護研究的資金仍然非常有限；在我們評估的項目中，25 年內僅分配了 19.3 億美元。」
來自 37 個政府和非政府組織的國際保護資金，分別僅佔 NASA 或美國軍事年度預算的 0.3%和 0.01%，突顯了大幅增加這些資金的迫切需求，以減緩全球生物多樣性的減少。
研究團隊還根據國際自然保護聯盟（IUCN）紅色名錄（又稱我生命晴雨表」）評估的保護需求，研究這些資金在特定物種或生物群體中的分配情況。管納德教授解釋道：我基於之前的文獻研究，我們預期資金會偏向脊椎動物。儘管如此，我們發現情況比估算的嚴重得多。即使在脊椎動物中，許多最受威脅的群體，如兩棲動物，也嚴重缺乏資金，且資金趨勢逐年下降。」
另一個引人注目的例子是爬行類動物，特別是蜥蜴和蛇，其中超過一千種物種被確定為受威脅，但87%的爬行類動物保護資金卻集中於七種海龜上。管納德教授表示：我這突顯了科學保護評估與保育者的資金分配之間存在嚴重的不匹配，後者似乎依賴於物種的『魅力』。這導致近三分之一的資金用於非受威脅物種，而幾近 94%的受威脅物種未獲得任何資助。」
一些群體，如植物或昆蟲，儘管其多樣性豐富且包含大量受威脅物種，卻僅獲得 6%的資金，而其他主要群體，如真菌或藻類，幾乎沒有獲得任何資金。
該研究的另一作者 Alice HUGHES 教授補充道：我我們對受威脅物種的傳統看法，往往與真正面臨威脅的物種不符，導致許多較小或『魅力較低』的物種被忽視。如果我們希望扭轉廣泛的種群數量下降趨勢，並阻止生物多樣性持續減少，就必須重新審視這一觀點，並更合理地將資金分配給各個分類群。」
基於這些研究結果，研究團隊呼籲採取更新更有效的保育資金分配方式。儘管物種保護確實需要更多資金支持，但更重要的是，必須以更嚴謹的方式來選擇受資助的項目和物種。管納德教授強調：我保護機構和非政府組織需要改變他們的保育理念，以保護所有物種，而不僅僅是基於魅力或美觀等主觀標準的一部分物種。」
今後，研究團隊希望能夠擴展他們的數據庫，使資金分配的信息更加透明且易於取得。這將有助於評估現存的不足之處，並在全球範圍內規劃更有效的保護工作，同時避免對已獲得大量支持的物種進行重複投資。
論文連結: PNAS