Biodiversity conservation lessons from a Rubik’s Cube
Sequeira Lab lead Assoc Prof Ana Sequeira has just published a new paper titled “Lessons from a Rubik’s Cube: Solving the biodiversity crisis requires strict alignment across multiple dimensions” in the journal Conservation Biology.
The "hot-off-the-press" paper “Lessons from a Rubik’s Cube: Solving the biodiversity crisis requires strict alignment across multiple dimensions” just published in the journal Conservation Biology, led by Sequeira Lab lead Assoc Prof Ana Sequeira, is the result of a collaboration written with Environmental Lawyer, Professor Erika Techera from the University of Western Australia.
In this paper, Ana and Erika use a Rubik’s Cube as a metaphor to visualise and conceptualise the multidimensional problem of global biodiversity conservation. By using whaling regulation and whale conservation as an example, they demonstrate the complexity of the challenge of conserving marine megafauna. They show how the conservation of these species relies on an alignment between scientific evidence, legal frameworks, and shifts in public values.
Ana and Erika argue that to successfully address the current biodiversity crisis, it is imperative that issues across the science and law interface are complemented with socio-cultural aspects and that all three considerations need to be aligned across the short-, medium-, and long-term. The authors also propose an iterative approach aligning these dimensions, with the human aspect at its core, which will foster public and political will to support the biodiversity goals.
This forward-thinking Rubik's Cube model offers a promising blueprint, and we hope it is widely embraced and implemented for the greater good of biodiversity conservation, ensuring a sustainable and thriving future for both nature and humanity.
