New framework helps turn biodiversity goals into measurable action

The new study by Newcastle University and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) offers a practical roadmap for tracking progress towards halting species extinctions by 2050. It guides users from understanding where species are most at risk in a given area, to guiding action to reducing species threats, and then measuring the real-world impact of conservation efforts on reducing species extinction risk over time.

Published in the journal Conservation Biology, the framework is based on the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric, which was designed to support science-based target-setting at the species level. STAR works by quantifying the potential contribution to reducing species’ extinction risk from threat abatement or habitat restoration in an area.

The conservation experts behind STAR have now created a framework for moving from scores for the threat abatement component of STAR, known as STAR_T, that are estimated using global data, through to refinements using local data, to target-setting, and finally to measurement of progress with realised STAR_T scores.

Adjusted to reflect local data, STAR_T works by confirming the local presence of species and threats. The locally verified data then allows for setting robust threat-abatement targets, which can be expressed as target STAR_T scores.

This means that the framework helps organisations turn the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target to halt species extinction into meaningful local action, with the calibrated STAR_T also informing the need for both reactive and proactive threat management.

Achieving global biodiversity goals

Dr Louise Mair, Research Fellow at Newcastle University, member of the IUCN Red List Management Committee’s STAR Working Group and lead author of the paper, said: “Our new STAR_T framework allows the contribution of local actions towards global conservation targets to be measured, which not only supports decision making, but also, importantly, allows explicit recognition of just how globally significant local conservation action can be.”

Professor Phil McGowan, Professor of Conservation Science and Policy at Newcastle University, Co-Chair of the IUCN Red List Management Committee’s STAR Working Group, added: "It is hard to believe that the STAR approach was published only five years ago, given the extent of scientific development and uptake by businesses and others. This is another major step forward in providing science-based guidance for achieving global biodiversity goals."

Dr Thomas Brooks, Chief Scientist at IUCN, said: “This new framework gives conservationists and organisations a practical way to translate global biodiversity ambitions into local, measurable action. By connecting threat abatement and restoration to species extinction risk, it helps turn the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework into clearer priorities, stronger targets and more effective conservation on the ground.”

STAR Metric

STAR is designed to help set – and monitor progress towards – robust, science-based targets for species conservation, by quantifying how actions to mitigate threats in a particular place could support species extinction risk reduction.

STAR was applied for the first time in on the ground to reveal the biggest threats driving species towards extinction in northern San José, Costa Rica. IUCN and Newcastle University scientists deployed STAR to show that the greatest potential to reduce species extinction risk in the Northern Sub-catchments of San José, lies in addressing habitat loss and degradation due to livestock farming and ranching, urban expansion, and the spread of non-native invasive species.

Reference

Mair, L., Bennun, L., Brooks, T. M., Jimenez, R., Macfarlane, N. B. W., Nello, T., Vergez, A., Berkoff, N., Butchart, S. H. M., Curet, F., Dakmejian, A., Ellis, E., Goldstein, B. R., McGowan, P. J. K., Ridley, F. A., Ross, A., Sneary, M. V., Starnes, T., Stephenson, P. J., ... Hawkins, F. (2026). Conceptual framework for the implementation of the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration metric's threat abatement component. Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70387