Limited and biased global conservation funding means most threatened species remain unsupported

The conservation of biodiversity represents a global challenge as the world experiences its sixth mass extinction. Understanding how conservation efforts are allocated is paramount to effectively protect threatened species. We analyzed ~14,600 conservation projects over a 25-y period, revealing substantial taxonomic biases in funding. When matched with formal assessments of species' threat status, several highly threatened groups such as amphibians receive little and ever-decreasing support. Within particular groups (e.g., Mammalia, Reptilia), funding is directed to a very narrow selection of taxa, leaving the majority of their threatened species with limited or no support. More attention is urgently needed to…

• UO
  University of Hong Kong