Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by stan-dards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge productsfor biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decisionmakers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largelyundocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintain-ing four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the WorldDatabase of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary datacollected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US$160million (range: US$116–204 million), plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278–308 person-years) valued at US$ 14 million (range US$12–16 million), were invested inthese four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financingwas provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnelcosts. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowl-edge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were notpossible to estimate for 2013) is US$6.5 million in total (range: US$6.2–6.7 million). We esti-mated that an additional US$114 million will be needed to reach pre-defined baselines ofdata coverage for all the four knowledge products, and that once achieved, annual mainte-nance costs will be approximately US$12 million. These costs are much lower than those tomaintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodi-versity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensiveand accurate is fundamental to inform decision-making for biodiversity conservation andsustainable development. Thus, the development and implementation of plans for sustain-able long-term financing for them is critical.

Assessing the cost of global biodiversity and conservation knowledge / Diego Juffe, Bignoli; Thomas M., Brooks; Stuart HM, Butchart; Richard B., Jenkins; Kaia, Boe; Michael, Hoffmann; Ariadne, Angulo; Steve, Bachman; Monika, Böhm; Neil, Brummitt; Kent E., Carpenter; Pat J., Comer; Neil, Cox; Annabelle, Cuttelod; William RT, Darwall; Moreno Di, Marco; Lincoln DC, Fishpool; Barbara, Goettsch; Melanie, Heath; Craig Hilton, Taylor; Jon, Hutton; Tim, Johnson; Ackbar, Joolia; David A., Keith; Penny F., Langhammer; Jennifer, Luedtke; Eimear Nic, Lughadha; Maiko, Lutz; Ian, May; Rebecca M., Miller; María A., Oliveira Miranda; Mike, Parr; Caroline M., Pollock; Gina, Ralph; Jon Paul, Rodriguez; Rondinini, Carlo; Jane, Smart; Simon, Stuart; Andy, Symes; Andrew W., Tordoff; Stephen, Woodley; Bruce, Young; Naomi, Kingston. - In: PLOS ONE. - ISSN 1932-6203. - ELETTRONICO. - 11:8(2016). [10.1371/journal.pone.0160640]

Assessing the cost of global biodiversity and conservation knowledge

Moreno Di Marco;RONDININI, CARLO;
2016

Abstract

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by stan-dards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge productsfor biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decisionmakers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largelyundocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintain-ing four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the WorldDatabase of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary datacollected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US$160million (range: US$116–204 million), plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278–308 person-years) valued at US$ 14 million (range US$12–16 million), were invested inthese four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financingwas provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnelcosts. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowl-edge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were notpossible to estimate for 2013) is US$6.5 million in total (range: US$6.2–6.7 million). We esti-mated that an additional US$114 million will be needed to reach pre-defined baselines ofdata coverage for all the four knowledge products, and that once achieved, annual mainte-nance costs will be approximately US$12 million. These costs are much lower than those tomaintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodi-versity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensiveand accurate is fundamental to inform decision-making for biodiversity conservation andsustainable development. Thus, the development and implementation of plans for sustain-able long-term financing for them is critical.
2016
biodiversity; conservation of natural resources; costs and cost analysis; databases
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Assessing the cost of global biodiversity and conservation knowledge / Diego Juffe, Bignoli; Thomas M., Brooks; Stuart HM, Butchart; Richard B., Jenkins; Kaia, Boe; Michael, Hoffmann; Ariadne, Angulo; Steve, Bachman; Monika, Böhm; Neil, Brummitt; Kent E., Carpenter; Pat J., Comer; Neil, Cox; Annabelle, Cuttelod; William RT, Darwall; Moreno Di, Marco; Lincoln DC, Fishpool; Barbara, Goettsch; Melanie, Heath; Craig Hilton, Taylor; Jon, Hutton; Tim, Johnson; Ackbar, Joolia; David A., Keith; Penny F., Langhammer; Jennifer, Luedtke; Eimear Nic, Lughadha; Maiko, Lutz; Ian, May; Rebecca M., Miller; María A., Oliveira Miranda; Mike, Parr; Caroline M., Pollock; Gina, Ralph; Jon Paul, Rodriguez; Rondinini, Carlo; Jane, Smart; Simon, Stuart; Andy, Symes; Andrew W., Tordoff; Stephen, Woodley; Bruce, Young; Naomi, Kingston. - In: PLOS ONE. - ISSN 1932-6203. - ELETTRONICO. - 11:8(2016). [10.1371/journal.pone.0160640]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/893772
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