Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Islands harbour exceptional biodiversity but face severe threats, making their conservation crucial to achieving the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. To evaluate progress toward its 23 targets across islands worldwide, we screened 504 biodiversity and socioeconomic indicators, and retained 47. We modelled historical time series from 1950, then projected to 2030. Progress was uneven: nine targets improved across all available indicators, while nine displayed conflicting trends. Critically, 15 of 23 targets (65%) lacked a suitable headline indicator, and five had none. Furthermore, 29 of 47 indicators (62%) were reported nationally, potentially obscuring island conditions. Most targets also lacked quantitative objectives, limiting evaluation of whether change rates suffice for 2030. Overall, progress toward halting island biodiversity loss remains insufficient and unlikely to meet the Framework targets.
Authors: Fabio Mologni, Franz Essl, Claudine Ah-Peng, Paulo A. V. Borges, Giorgia Camperio, Rüdiger Otto, Rui B. Elias, Brent Emerson, José María Fernández-Palacios, Rosalina Gabriel, Sandra Domingues Gomes, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez, Holger Kreft, Lea de Nascimento, Jairo Patiño, Elena Rocafull, Samantha Suter, Natalia Sierra Cornejo, Patrick Weigelt, Nicholas Wilding, Delphine Clara Zemp, Bernd Lenzner
Institutions: University of Vienna, University of Reunion Island, Universidade dos Açores, University of Neuchâtel, Universidad de La Laguna, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, University of Göttingen, Radboud University Nijmegen, Missouri Botanical Garden
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
Funders: Universidad de La Laguna, Biodiversa+, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Austrian Science Fund, Universität Wien, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Université de Neuchâtel, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G121809054, G1468319578, G1855990336, G2309174360, G237664476, Investigating the role of the circadian clock gene Dexras1 in cancer, G2546079941, G2660406951, BioMonI: Monitoring der Biodiversität von Inselökosystemen, G279363373, G308504231, G3518538256, Monitorização da Biodiversidade em Ecossistemas Insulares, G430777504, G5195188938, BIOMONI: Biodiversity monitoring of island ecosystems, G5385376234, G5421974903, G5461400735, G5763006656, G7080048889, The European Biodiversity Partnership, Newcomer Behaviour in the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round Negotiations, G897484643, Biodiversity Monitoring of Island ecosystems, G99296377
OpenAlex ID: W7221812628