Biological Diversity launches: A global academic beacon for biodiversity conservation science
image: Maximise your research impact: publish open access in Biological Diversity. Fees currently waived.
Credit: Editorial Office of Biological Diversity
Date: April 15, 2026
Guangzhou, China: As the global population hits 8 billion and planetary biodiversity faces unprecedented decline, the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, launches the international journal Biological Diversity in partnership with John Wiley & Sons, filling a critical gap in comprehensive biodiversity research publishing and offering a rigorous academic platform to advance global conservation efforts.
In the inaugural editorial, Prof. Hai Ren highlights alarming biodiversity loss data from IPBES: 75% of terrestrial surfaces, 66% of marine areas altered, 25% of species at extinction risk, and a 50% drop in Earth’s ecological vitality. Framing biodiversity as a multi-dimensional issue spanning science, politics, economy and society, the journal aligns with the CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2021–2030), aiming to accelerate the "inflection point" of biodiversity recovery by shifting from human-centric to eco-centric conservation.
Web of Science data (2023) reveals a surge in biodiversity research—41,661 publications since 1987—with a paradigm shift from descriptive surveys to mechanism-driven studies, empowered by genomics, metagenomics and remote sensing technologies. Unlike existing discipline-specific journals, Biological Diversity is a multidisciplinary, gold open-access publication covering all taxa (plants, animals, fungi, microbes) across genetic, species, ecosystem and landscape scales. It integrates biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable use, linking cutting-edge theory, technological innovation and policy practice.
Publishing high-quality original research, reviews and perspectives, the journal is supported by a distinguished international editorial board. As a non-profit initiative, it enables free global access to research, fostering fast communication and collaboration among scientists, practitioners and policymakers worldwide.
Biological Diversity is poised to become a leading international journal in biodiversity science, supporting the implementation of the CBD and UN Sustainable Development Goals, and uniting global efforts to protect Earth’s ecological complexity for sustainable human-nature coexistence.
Original Source
Ren, H. (2024), Inaugural editorial: Biological Diversity. Biological Diversity, 1: 4-5.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bod2.12002
About the Author
Hai Ren, State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on biodiversity conservation and restoration, with a core focus on the protection and adaptive management of rare and endangered plant species, and the coordination of nature conservation and social development.
About the Journal
Biological Diversity (ISSN: 2994-4139) is a new open-access, high-impact, English-language journal, devoted to advancing biodiversity conservation, enhancing ecosystem services, and promoting the sustainable use of resources under global change. It features innovative research addressing the global biodiversity crisis.