On November 28th, the "Karst Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Resilience Enhancement Programme" (referred to as Karst Biodiversity Programme), organized and submitted by Professor Chen Hongsong from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was successfully selected as an implementing initiative for the UNESCO-led International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (IDSSD) for the period 2024-2033.

The IDSSD, mandated by the UN General Assembly and coordinated globally by UNESCO, has the core mission of fostering international consensus, highlighting the central value of science in sustainable development, addressing key challenges in harmonizing economic growth, social progress, and ecological protection, and accelerating the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The selection of the Karst Biodiversity Programme signifies international recognition by an authoritative body for the open science solutions proposed by the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in the fields of karst biodiversity conservation, rocky desertification control, and ecological restoration.

The Karst Biodiversity Programme, jointly advanced by the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and research institutions from multiple countries including the United States, Spain, and South Africa, focuses on challenges such as ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss faced by karst ecosystems. These ecosystems cover 15% of the global land area and provide drinking water for 25% of the world's population. With the core task of building four open platforms—theoretical innovation, exchange and cooperation, knowledge dissemination, and science education—the program aims to establish a transnational observation network covering three major typical karst regions: Southwest China and Southeast Asia, the Circum-Mediterranean region, and the Southeastern United States. By integrating methods such as remote sensing monitoring, field sampling, and controlled experiments, it will systematically analyze the patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in the karst critical zone. The program seeks to enhance the ecological resilience and sustainable development capacity of karst regions through cross-regional, multi-scale scientific observation and coordinated intervention. It is expected to develop a set of scalable karst ecological restoration technologies and conduct research and demonstration in global karst regions. Simultaneously, it will promote the generation, transformation, application, and dissemination of knowledge on karst ecological restoration, forming an open science outcome system comprising scientific journals, academic exchange and cooperation activities, and science popularization and education. This will achieve synergistic enhancement of technological innovation and science popularization, providing solid scientific support for China's "Dual Carbon" goals and global sustainable development, and offering a China-led innovative pathway for achieving the UN SDGs.

"Karst regions are among the most critical areas on Earth's surface for water supply, biodiversity maintenance, and carbon sinks, and they are also ecologically fragile zones concentrated along the Belt and Road countries," said Professor Chen Hongsong, the project's chief scientist. "The launch of the Karst Biodiversity Programme will, for the first time, integrate fragmented regional research into a transcontinental collaborative network. Through verifiable experimental data and open models, it will transform China's experience in rocky desertification control into common technologies for global karst biodiversity conservation and ecosystem resilience enhancement, providing nature-based solutions for the post-2030 agenda." The project is scheduled to enter full implementation on January 1, 2026, with the first batch of ecological restoration demonstration areas expected to be completed by the end of 2028. A "Global Karst Ecosystem Resilience Enhancement White Paper" will be submitted to the United Nations. The implementation of the project will not only strengthen China's leading role in global karst research but also provide a crucial scientific pathway for promoting the realization of "Ecological Civilization" and the "Global Development Initiative," and for building a community of all life on Earth where humans and nature coexist harmoniously.