Dear Colleagues,

Biodiversity is of major importance for the function and stability of ecosystems. Biodiversity provides several ecosystem services on which humans depend. In addition, intact ecosystems are of great importance for human existence and wellbeing. However, biodiversity is still in serious decline. Unsustainable land use and overexploitation of natural resources are one of the major drivers for the loss of biodiversity.

Agriculture and forestry are dependent on biodiversity to ensure the supply of food and to maintain ecosystem productivity. The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is therefore an important tool to secure ecosystem services (e.g., pollination, soil fertility) and production opportunities. In many regions of the world, humans live in direct dependence on nature, making it difficult to separate conservation from human needs. Therefore, innovative concepts are needed which integrate human interests and nature conservation.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically demonstrates the importance of preserving biodiversity and natural habitats for human wellbeing. The protection of biodiversity and the development of sustainable use concepts therefore represents one of the most important tasks in this century.

In this Special Issue, we welcome papers that focus on the following topics:

- Innovative approaches which integrate biodiversity conservation and land use;

- Challenges and opportunities for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use;

- Systematic conservation planning;

-  Targets and indicators for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;

- Tools for biodiversity conservation in poor and remote regions;

- Role of insects for biodiversity conservation;

-  Sustainable ecosystem management and restoration;

- Financing biodiversity conservation;

- Biodiversity conservation and community-based management;

- Biodiversity conservation and human health;

- Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on biodiversity conservation.

The editors will support a wide range of applied and methodological approaches. In addition, review articles are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jasmin Mantilla-Contreras
Dr. Jens Schirmel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• biodiversity
• conservation
• sustainability
• ecosystem management
• ecosystem services
• land use
• restoration