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Biodiversity is the foundation of our lives. Yet we destroy ecosystems and drive species to extinction. Human-induced biodiversity loss does not yet receive sufficient public attention, although biodiversity is fundamental for dealing with global environmental crises. Effective communication of biodiversity-related knowledge is challenging but crucial and should contribute to evidence-based decision-making transparent to the public. It is essential to promote science communication on biodiversity, and to stimulate dialogue between science, policy, and society. We emphasize the role of science journalism in critically mediating the complexity of scientific knowledge and suggest Dos and Don'ts for scientists to guide biodiversity-related science communication.

Die 15. Vertragsstaatenkonferenz (COP-15) des Übereinkommens über die biologische Vielfalt (CBD) in Montreal hat ein neues globales Rahmenwerk mit Naturschutzzielen bis zum Jahr 2030 verabschiedet. Der Weg dorthin war zu Fragen der Finanzierung und der globalen Gerechtigkeit äußerst konfliktträchtig. Das Ergebnis ist ein Minimalkonsens mit vielen offenen Fragen., Achieving Minimal Consensus for Nature Conservation The United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal (COP-15) adopted a new global framework with 23 nature conservation targets for the year 2030. The milestone goal to protect 30 percent of land and ocean is particularly noteworthy and has been received by the public as a great success. However, the path to this framework was hard, and it has produced conflicts related to financing and global equity. These conflicts are still unresolved. Additionally, many of the targets lack precision and key indicators that are needed to track progress. The current framework is hence a minimal consensus with many open questions. In the future, we will need to learn from the failures of the past conservation targets and implement holistic solutions to fully address the biodiversity crisis.