The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) concurs with the position of the IUCN regarding the “Zero Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” but adds the following regarding Goal 3 (A.“Genetic diversity is maintained or enhanced on average by 2030, and for [90%] of species by 2050.”) and its Suggested elements 3B and indicators 3C:
In the light of all increasing evidence of climate change, genetic variation needs to be considered among (all) wild species and not only among wild relatives of the crop species and animal breeds used in agriculture. In 3C, science-based indicators need to be chosen. Similar to Laikre et al. 2020 (Post-2020 goals overlook genetic diversity; Science accepted), SCB proposes that an indicator reflecting the genetic effective population size (Ne) is used, i.e. the percentage of the populations of all assessable taxa that have an effective population size larger than 500 that reflects maintenance of adaptive potential. Furthermore, wherever relevant – for example in Suggested elements 1B of the Draft 2050 Goals and the Draft 2030 Targets – the SCB advocates that genetic methods are used in identifying distinct populations or subpopulations, and to validate whether connectivity between subpopulations is functional so that genetic variation is maintained or increasing in the species of concern. This is an important part of a general “no net loss” philosophy which should be applied at the genetic diversity level too.