Look Again: Turning knowledge into action for nature

What should better knowledge of life on Earth help us do?

For more than 25 years, the Biodiversity Hotspots framework has helped direct conservation attention, funding and action to some of the world’s most biologically unique and threatened places.

These regions hold exceptional concentrations of species found nowhere else on Earth. Much of their natural habitat has already been lost, and what remains is under growing pressure.

People and organisations have tested the framework, expanded it and put it to work on the ground. Their experience has shown how scientific knowledge can help guide resources and conservation action.

Now, the next chapter of Biodiversity Hotspots is taking shape. And we would like your voice to be part of it.

Why look again?

In the decades since the last comprehensive update, the world has changed. Habitats have been lost, pressures have grown and our understanding of life on Earth has advanced.

There is more science, more data and new ways to understand where conservation is most urgently needed. The need to act has only grown.

A global partnership, funded by Hempel Foundation, is updating the science behind Biodiversity Hotspots. The work brings together new data and analytical approaches to help guide conservation decisions and direct funding where it can make the greatest difference.

A new digital platform is taking shape alongside the update, with its first version planned for 2027.

Together, they offer an opportunity to build on more than 25 years of knowledge and action. Our ambition is to mobilise action at the scale these places need.

What could better knowledge help you do?

Look Again is an invitation to help shape what this knowledge makes possible.

As the work develops, we want to hear from people who make conservation decisions, inform them, fund them, put them into practice or help others understand them.

What would help you put better knowledge into action? What would make it more useful in your work? And what could help it reach people and organisations who have yet to engage with Biodiversity Hotspots?

Your perspective can help us explore how the platform could bring greater attention to these places, support more effective conservation and help mobilise more funding.

We want to build on the experience of those who have used the framework for years, while welcoming new voices, questions and ideas.

Help shape what comes next

The update is underway, but the conversation is just beginning.

Whether you work in conservation, science, government, philanthropy, business or communications—or bring another perspective—we invite you to contribute.

Share your input through the short survey at lookagainhotspots.com, and follow Biodiversity Hotspots on LinkedIn to see what takes shape.

Look again with us. Question it. Challenge it. Contribute to it. Help shape what comes next.

The Biodiversity Hotspots update is a global effort involving IUCN, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Hempel Foundation, Re, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Newcastle University and ZSL.