Abstract
One of the main goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 is to avoid further loss of biodiversity and to restore ecosystems. These efforts can be facilitated by compiling the main research topics related to conservation biology to provide new evidence for the most urgent knowledge gaps, and publicise it to researchers, research funders and policy makers. We used the possible future statements from the Hungarian Environmental Foresight Report for 2050 which identified region-specific problems. To highlight likely future environmental and conservation questions, in this study we asked researchers from the fields of ecology and conservation to define research questions addressing these future statements in line with international research trends and challenges. The study resulted in fourteen priority research topics, split into seven clusters relevant to biological conservation that should be targeted by stakeholders, primarily policy makers and funders to focus research capacity to these topics. The main overarching themes identified here include a wide range of approaches and solutions such as innovative technologies, involvement of local stakeholders and citizen scientists, legislation, and issues related to human health. These indicate that solutions to conservation challenges require a multidisciplinary approach in design and a multi-actor approach in implementation. Although the identified research priorities were listed for Hungary, they are in line with European and global biodiversity strategies, and can be tailored to suit other Central and Eastern European countries as well. We believe that our prioritisation can help science–policy discussion, and will eventually contribute to healthy and well-functioning ecosystems.
Highlights
Natural, semi-natural and appropriately managed ecosystems contribute to the health and well-being of people (IPBES, 2019), secure a sustainable provision of ecosystem services for future generations and support climate change mitigation and adaptation (Kotiaho et al, 2016; Navarro et al, 2017)
The study resulted in fourteen priority research topics, split into seven clusters relevant to biological conservation that should be targeted by stakeholders, primarily policy makers and funders to focus research capacity to these topics
A recent review and meta-analysis found that such studies in the fields of ecology, biodiversity conserva tion and environmental science have identified over 2000 research priorities between 2006 and 2020, but there are still important issues that have not yet been addressed (Dey et al, 2020)
Summary
Semi-natural and appropriately managed ecosystems contribute to the health and well-being of people (IPBES, 2019), secure a sustainable provision of ecosystem services for future generations and support climate change mitigation and adaptation (Kotiaho et al, 2016; Navarro et al, 2017). A recent review and meta-analysis found that such studies in the fields of ecology, biodiversity conserva tion and environmental science have identified over 2000 research priorities between 2006 and 2020, but there are still important issues that have not yet been addressed (Dey et al, 2020). Related to the ongoing technological revolution, new horizon scan (HS) studies investigate the future impacts of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems on urban biodiversity and ecosystems (God dard et al, 2021) All these examples indicate that the identification of research priorities or knowledge gaps and questions provides guidelines for policy development and application, but they must be operational ised at the level of decisions, which is usually at the state level, or below. We believe that our prioritisation can help the science–policy discussion, and in the long run will eventually contribute to healthy and wellfunctioning ecosystems
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