The 2030 Declaration on Scientific Plant and Fungal Collecting
Out of the 2023 State of the World's Plants and Fungi Symposium arises a declaration towards filling key knowledge gaps in plant and fungal diversity.
Arising from discussions at the 2023 State of the World’s Plants and Fungi symposium, the ‘2030 Declaration on Scientific Plant and Fungal Collecting’ contains five commitments towards filling key knowledge gaps in plant and fungal diversity, through collaborative and targeted collecting and research activities.
Why is scientific collecting important?
The collection of biological specimens from the wild is a fundamental part of the natural sciences, and researchers all around the world continue to collect and preserve samples of different organisms to advance research and support conservation actions.
These collections – which require special permits and must follow national and international legislations on access and benefit sharing – can help to identify new species, tell us how climate change is affecting the natural world, or yield new medicines and fuels.
There is much we do not know, particularly for fungi, with over 90% of the estimated 2.5 million species remaining as-yet undescribed.
Commitments
This set of five commitments for cataloguing the world’s flora and funga is designed to maximise efficiency, facilitate knowledge exchange and promote equitable collaborations:
Use evidence-based collection strategies
Be guided by evidence – data, analyses and knowledge – when deciding where to focus collecting activities, through iterative, inclusive and reproducible processes.
Strengthen local capacity
Support professional development and research infrastructure in collecting regions and ensure specimens are deposited in the country of origin, where facilities exist.
Collaborate across taxa and disciplines
Increase collaboration to cover multiple taxonomic groups and scientific disciplines, to gain a more complete understanding of biodiversity.
Collect for the future
Collect and store samples in ways that maximise their potential for future use, while safeguarding existing collections.
Share the benefits.
Share the benefits of collecting efforts widely, particularly with the source communities and national data centres.
Support for the 2030 Declaration
This Declaration is a first step towards increased global and regional coordination of scientific collecting efforts. We hope conversations will continue during and in between botanical and mycological congresses at international, regional, national and local levels to foster more decentralised and complementary efforts.
Published in the scientific journal Plants, People, Planet, the Declaration has gathered more than 900 signatories from 90 countries, listed in an appendix to the published paper.
Please share the Declaration among your relevant networks to help us document, understand and protect plant and fungal diversity.
