Center for Applied Biodiversity Science

Earth's biodiversity is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate, with far-reaching and irreversible consequences for life on our planet. If current trends continue unchecked, we can expect the end of nature as we know it. The threat to humanity is enormous, since we rely on healthy ecosystems for clean air and water, soil conservation, watershed protection, and pollination of major food crops, to name a few of nature's vital benefits.

Fortunately, the world is waking up to the escalating crisis. The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by 175 countries, reflects a global consensus of the importance of biodiversity in maintaining the planet's life-sustaining systems. Yet, traditional reactive approaches will not suffice if we are to successfully confront the complex conservation challenges of this dawning millennium. All too often, conservationists, scientists, and decision-makers face major threats to biodiversity only after potentially manageable situations have solidified into intractable losses. The Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) (http://www.cabs.conservation.org), a division of Conservation International (http://www.conservation.org), is working to change this equation by anticipating harmful scenarios before such situations become unsolvable crises. By providing early warning systems for threats to and opportunities for biodiversity and its many components, CABS is striving to make conservation a more proactive endeavour.

In order to fulfill its objectives, CABS is currently working with numerous universities, research centers, multilateral and government agencies, non-governmental organizations, corporations, foundations, and other institutions. Each year, over 20 senior-level scientists from a range of backgrounds become CABS Fellows who put their expertise to work helping us identify threats to, and opportunities for, the conservation of biodiversity.

Research at the Center ranges from modeling tropical landscape dynamics to the economics of biodiversity protection. Working with its partners, CABS field-tests promising solutions in priority ecosystems that are distributed across the 25 countries where Conservation International has on-the-ground presence. The Center also explores trends and opportunities by holding high-level conferences and seminars. These meetings bring together scientists, decision-makers, business leaders, and the media. Hosted by Gordon Moore and Edward O. Wilson, the next major biodiversity conference will take place at the California Institute of Technology later this year.

Finally, an integral part of the Center's mission is to stimulate and promote the dissemination of high quality information and analyses pertaining to global conservation. We are proud, therefore, to be associated with this very timely supplement of Nature, which will prove an invaluable state-of-the-art reference in the applied biodiversity sciences.