News Published: 27 August 2024

Arising from discussions at the 2023 State of the World’s Plants and Fungi symposium, the 2030 Declaration on Scientific Plant and Fungal Collecting contains five commitments towards filling key knowledge gaps in plant and fungal diversity. It aims to achieve this through providing guidance on collaborative and targeted collecting and research activities to maximise efficiency, facilitate knowledge exchange and promote equitable collaborations. The full Declaration can be found here: https://kew.org/2030-declaration.

The five commitments can be summarised as follows:
1. Use evidence-based collection strategies
Be guided by evidence – data, analyses and knowledge – when deciding where to focus collecting activities, through iterative, inclusive and reproducible processes.
2. Strengthen local capacity
Support professional development and research infrastructure in collecting regions and ensure specimens are deposited in the country of origin, where facilities exist.
3. Collaborate across taxa and disciplines
Increase collaboration to cover multiple taxonomic groups and scientific disciplines, to gain a more complete understanding of biodiversity.
4. Collect for the future
Collect and store samples in ways that maximise their potential for future use, while safeguarding existing collections.
5. Share the benefits
Share the benefits of collecting efforts widely, particularly with the source communities and national data centres.

This Declaration is a first step towards increased global and regional coordination of scientific collecting efforts. We hope conversations will continue during and in between botanical and mycological congresses at international, regional, national and local levels to foster more decentralised and complementary efforts.

The botanical and mycological communities have already shown strong support for the Declaration, with more than 850 signatories from 85 countries, including 113 organisational signatories.

Finally, it’s not too late to show your support! To add yourself or your organisation to the list of signatories, follow this QR code: