The Yellowstone to Yukon region offers a global example of driving change for nature
In the paper out today from Frontiers in Science, “Nature Positive: halting and reversing biodiversity loss toward restoring Earth system stability,” ten global authors show a clear path forward. The goal is to have more thriving nature on Earth and be “Nature Positive.” The paper explores the fundamental relationship between biodiversity and the stability of the Earth system, upon which humans are wholly dependent on for health and prosperity.
The authors warn that without protecting remaining intact biomes and ecosystems, climate and development goals will be impossible to achieve. It calls for an urgent paradigm shift towards a Nature Positive future wherein humanity goes beyond current sustainability frameworks, which the authors argue are fragmented, and prioritizes Nature Positive goals as highly as climate and human development ones.
“To move toward stabilizing our Earth system, we need to adopt a unified Nature Positive approach to global environmental goals and governance. This means global agreements for human development, the climate, biodiversity, and the ocean,” says lead author and renowned Canadian conservationist Harvey Locke, co-founder and strategic advisor, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.
Human-driven decline in biodiversity is contributing to a rapid unravelling of the Earth system and disrupting the natural processes that are essential for human societies to flourish.
“We must act now to halt and reverse the loss of nature toward achieving an integrated equitable, Nature Positive, and carbon neutral future,” says Locke.
Solutions exist and are already working in the Yellowstone to Yukon region.
Nature positive is a global vision that can apply in circumstances like those found in the Yellowstone to Yukon region. For more than 30 years, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative has worked alongside partners increasing protected areas in this region by more than 80%.
“The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative has proven that an ambitious, bold vision can drive real change for nature. Nature Positive builds on that promise by offering a model for every landscape on Earth, from cities and farms to great wild systems like the Amazon and Congo. This is our moment to come together, not as individuals, but as a movement, to build a future that is nature positive and equitable that will make our lives richer, healthier, and safer for all species,” says Dr. Jodi Hilty, president and chief scientist at Y2Y.
“The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative has proven that an ambitious, bold vision can drive real change for nature. Nature Positive builds on that promise by offering a model for every landscape on Earth, from cities and farms to great wild systems like the Amazon and Congo. This is our moment to come together, not as individuals, but as a movement, to build a future that is nature positive and equitable that will make our lives richer, healthier, and safer for all species,” says Dr. Jodi Hilty, president and chief scientist at Y2Y.
As the world’s most intact mountain region, this 3,400-kilometer-long example shows what happens when collaborative, transboundary conservation combines science, Indigenous knowledge, and local expertise to create connected landscapes where both people and nature thrive.
Prioritizing Indigenous and local knowledge
The paper emphasizes the importance of embedding Indigenous and local knowledge systems alongside empirical scientific methods to ensure effective and equitable conservation outcomes. The paper’s scientific conclusions align with traditional Indigenous perceptions of the world.
“From an Indigenous point of view, our very being as Homo sapiens is inextricably linked to the totality of the environment—including but not limited to the land, animals, plant life, the observable cosmos, and the spiritual and ecological aspects of the environment. Indigenous knowledge and practices inherently reflect what Western science calls ‘biotic and abiotic processes’ and are rooted in a deep sense of responsibility to the living world,” explains co-author Professor Dr. Leroy Little Bear from University of Lethbridge in Canada. “Incorporating traditional knowledge systems is therefore an essential component of realizing Nature Positive ambitions.”
Enhancing biodiversity conservation
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted at COP15 in 2022, calls for halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 but, the researchers say, it pays attention to natural processes.
The paper includes a rigorous assessment of current GBF targets and identifies key gaps—including limited attention to large-scale natural processes such as biome function, hydrology, and species migration. It then outlines the specific actions and metrics needed to achieve biodiversity conservation in synergy with climate stabilization, securing freshwater systems, ocean conservation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To deliver on the Nature Positive goal by 2030, the authors argue for first preventing the loss of intact areas wherever they are found. “Achieving climate and development goals is simply impossible without keeping nature intact. Our findings emphasize the vital importance of immediately halting the loss of remaining intact biomes and ecosystems, which are irreplaceable and cannot be quickly restored. And then in parallel, reverse species extinction risk and accelerate nature restoration efforts, which take more time,” says co-author Professor Johan Rockström, joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany.
Global goals for nature
The authors argue that Nature Positive goals be prioritized as highly as global climate and human development goals. “Global policies to protect intact nature and restore damaged ecosystems should be prioritized to the same extent as climate action under the Paris Agreement and the SDGs for human development,” says co-author Prof Raina K. Plowright from Cornell University in New York.
Biodiversity decline is driving growing risks to human health, including greater infectious disease spread linked to ecosystem disruption as well as negative impacts on mental health. They also describe how rainfall patterns vital to agriculture and water supplies are profoundly affected by the condition of biodiversity.
Achieving Nature Positive goals will require economic systems that operate within the limits of natural processes, conserve species and ecosystems, and equitably support human development, argue the authors.
Delivering this vision, the paper concludes, will depend on both effective conservation measures and a social and economic environment that shifts production and consumption away from nature-negative activities and towards positive outcomes.
This includes transformations in the way businesses operate and report their nature-related risks and dependencies. It also calls for innovative financial incentives to make nature investable, as well as coordinated governance that is both equitable and inclusive of local communities and Indigenous peoples.
“Too often biodiversity is seen as a ‘nice-to-have’ luxury that takes second place to so-called ‘real world’ concerns about the economy and human development. We show that this is a fundamental misunderstanding of reality. Biodiversity at all scales is integral to the functioning of the planet (including the climate system and freshwater). It is therefore both vital to human well-being, and the context for all economic activity,” concludes Locke.
The path to being nature positive is already being walked in places like the Yellowstone to Yukon region. Now we have a framework to bring these successful approaches to landscapes around the world.
For further information, please contact:
To interview Harvey Locke, Dr. Jodi Hilty or Dr. Leroy Little Bear please contact Tess McEnroe, manager of media relations at Y2Y at tess@y2y.net
To interview Professor Raina K. Plowright please contact Becka Bowyer at Cornell University; rpb224@cornell.edu
To interview Professor Johan Rockström please contact Caroline Brogan | Frontiers in Science | caroline.brogan@frontiersin.org (UK office hours)
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