Strengthening society’s ability to mitigate biodiversity loss from extreme weather events

The combination of both gradual climate change and the increase in frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events (EWEs) means that practitioners and policymakers need scientific evidence to help them to act efficiently in order to protect biodiversity that is already at risk from other environmental pressures.

The project was designed with stakeholders at multiple levels to inform their decision-making in both the long and short term.

We will assist in the production of the 2025 red list by first analysing plant species’ long-term range changes and attribute declines to EWEs and other environmental threats, which will help guide future conservation policy.

We will also work within ongoing monitoring programs to provide government agencies with information about how both single EWEs and their cumulative effects impact valuable grassland ecosystems that form the basis of national and international conservation goals.

Finally, we will work with practitioners involved in conservation of threatened species and ecosystems in the here and now to assist their decision-making in prioritising conservation actions in the face of both increasing EWEs and decreased funding.

Being designed in collaboration with non-research actors, and integrating state-of-the-art research within existing structures of monitoring and risk assessment, we are convinced that this project has the potential to strengthen society’s ability to mitigate biodiversity loss from EWEs both now and in the future.