Why?

Humans are embedded in and sustained by a web of diverse life. Our survival, comfort, and security depend on maintaining its integrity. Today humans are driving species to extinction at rates 100-1000 times greater than those which prevailed for the past 500 million years. We’re disrupting ecosystems in ways, at speeds, and on a scale without precedent during our tenure. By assessing extent of biodiversity and changes to it we gather information key to protecting it. By protecting biodiversity we contribute to securing our future.

DNA barcoding is means to assemble a “library” of identified species more quickly, reliably, and inexpensively than is possible using only traditional taxonomic methods. People with minimal training can directly and effectively participate. Engaging diverse segments of the population in documenting biodiversity is demonstrated means to increase and disseminate understanding of its value and to motivate people to act to protect it.

• The 2019 UN IPBES Global Assessment report "finds that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history."

• The World Economic Forum report in 2020 named biodiversity loss as one of the top threats to the global economy.

• The 2020 WWF Living Planet report found the average population size of vertebrates had declined by 68% in the past five decades.

• A 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned that humanity had already exceeded global warming of 1C above pre-industrial levels and is set to reach 1.5C warming between 2030 and 2052.

• The paper "Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future," authored by several eminent ecologists, and a news article summarising it introduce many of the ecological challenges we face.

• A broad study of recent declines in animal biodiversity found sixty-four percent of monitored invertebrate populations show a 45% mean decline in abundance.

• Scientists using Malaise Traps to monitor flying insect biomass in German nature preserves documented a 75% decline over 27 years. Their findings are described in this paper and news article.

• This paper describes some of the challenges, particularly urbanization and intensification of land use, facing insect conservation efforts in the Bay Area.