Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue on “Biocultural Diversity and Nature Conservation” is to stimulate learning and debate on the role of biocultural and conservation approaches in understanding the relationship between local cultures and natural environments. The main scope of this Special Issue is to capture new insights through contributions related to biocultural diversity and nature conservation from cross-sectoral fields of social–ecological systems for the development of new ideas, knowledge, approaches, policies, and learning on sustainability science.

This Special Issue of Sustainability accepts submissions for reviews that combine topics on biocultural diversity and nature conservation. All scientific disciplines are welcome. Contributions from the followings areas are sought-after:

• Empirical (qualitatively and/or quantitatively data backed) and theoretical contributions;
• Philosophical and historical analysis; case studies; conceptual framework and assessments; learning and lessons with newly developed approaches and methods, and their practical application;
• Deductive and inductive studies; thematically horizontal or sectorial papers;
• Single (case) studies, local/regional or country studies with a potential wider application; comparative studies beyond countries or continents;
• Plural institutions and perspectives (e.g., knowledge co-production) in promoting conservation of biocultural diversity and nature conservation;
• Establishing coherence between and amongst policy and developments to ensure sustainability of biocultural diversity and natural resources;
• Inter-, trans-, and multidisciplinary studies;
• Drivers, pressures, state, impact, responses in connection with biocultural diversity and nature conservation; overuse, underuse, invasive alien species, dispersed threats (climate change, nitrogen and phosphorus flows to the biosphere and oceans, chemical pollution and the release of novel entities, etc.);
• Tools, policies, instruments, and their mixes and their relation to biocultural diversity and nature conservation;
• Influence/role/status of international policies (e.g., Convention on Biological Diversity and other conventions such as the World Heritage Convention, Access and Benefit Sharing, Nagoya Protocol, Post-2000 Biodiversity Framework, UN 2030 Agenda, UNESCO Man and Biosphere program, Aichi Biodiversity Target 18, Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Sustainable Development Goals) on biocultural diversity and nature conservation;
• Species conservation and site conservation; protected areas;
• “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems”—GIAHS, “Socio-ecological Production Landscapes”—SEPLS, “Satoyama” and “Satoumi”; IUCN Green List;
• Social–ecological resilience with special reference to multiple stressors (including climate change) and biocultural resources/diversity;
• Public participation, stakeholder involvements, home gardens, indigenous peoples and local communities, knowledge, prior informed consent (PIC).

Each proposed contribution shall in particularly outline its relevance to biocultural diversity and nature conservation in connection to one of the areas pointed out above.

Prof. Dr. Volker Mauerhofer
Dr. Ranjay K. Singh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• drivers
• pressures, state, impact, responses in connection with biocultural diversity and nature conservation
• social–ecological systems
• indigenous and formal institutions
• conservation tools and mixes
• international policies
• species conservation and site conservation
• protected areas
• people participation
• stakeholder involvement