Solutions

The Extinction Solutions Index seeks to cast a wide net on solutions for conserving and restoring biodiversity. Solutions range from more traditional place-based conservation approaches to demand-side measures influencing consumer and producer behavior. We need a portfolio of approaches to transform human interactions with nature if we are to effectively bend the curve on extinction.

We have sourced an initial set of solutions through expert solicitation, desk research, and web scraping by artificial intelligence, and classified them by adapting the IUCN Conservation Action Classification Scheme, v2.0. Some solutions focus on reducing threats to biodiversity, while others focus on restoration. Each solution addresses one or more of the 11 direct threats to biodiversity, based on the IUCN-CMP Unified Classification of Direct Threats, v3.3. Our analysis will incorporate available data on how each solution has been demonstrated to reduce threats, increase threats, and the overall net effect across threats.

Preliminary Solutions Considered for the Extinction Solutions Index

Behavioral change/threat reduction actions

Better products & management practices

Agriculture, Forestry, & Land Use

  • Agroforestry systems
  • Alternative proteins
  • Bamboo production
  • Biochar production
  • Brownfield development
  • Composting and anaerobic digestion
  • Conservation agriculture
  • Controlled environment agriculture
  • Dark-sky lighting
  • Eco-friendly mining technologies
  • Efficient farm irrigation
  • Erosion control technology
  • Green roofs and rooftop gardens
  • Fertilizer with coral restoring byproducts
  • Harvesting, transport, and storage technologies
  • Imperfect foods
  • Improved feed
  • Improved manure management
  • Improved rice production
  • Integrated pest management
  • Managed grazing
  • Microbial farming practices
  • Native-only gardening
  • Nutrient management
  • Organic farming practices
  • Palm oil alternatives
  • Perennial biomass production
  • Perennial staple crops
  • Plant-rich diets
  • Precision agriculture
  • Reduced food waste
  • Reduced-impact logging
  • Regenerative agriculture
  • Sustainable aquaculture development
  • Sustainable cropping techniques
  • Sustainable intensification for smallholders
  • Vertical farming

Buildings & Infrastructure

  • Alternative cement
  • Building material alternatives
  • Building retrofitting
  • Dynamic glass
  • High-efficiency heat pumps
  • High-performance glass
  • Insulation
  • Net-zero buildings
  • Permeable surfaces and stormwater management
  • Smart buildings

Energy

  • Alternative fuel sources to wood
  • Bioenergy and BECCS
  • Carbon capture and sequestration
  • Clean cookstoves
  • District heating
  • Distributed energy resources
  • Enhanced weathering
  • Geothermal power
  • Grid flexibility
  • Hydropower
  • Low-loss transmission lines
  • Methane capture from landfills
  • Methane digesters
  • Methane leak management
  • Microgrids
  • Nuclear power
  • Ocean power
  • Offshore wind energy
  • Onshore wind energy
  • Smart grids
  • Utility-scale energy storage
  • Utility-scale solar photovoltaics
  • Waste to energy plants

Industry & Manufacturing

  • Air scrubbers, emission control
  • Alternative refrigerants
  • Closed-loop manufacturing, industrial symbiosis
  • Comprehensive recycling
  • Design for durability
  • Eco-design for electronics
  • Green chemistry practices
  • Product service systems
  • Refrigerant management
  • Take back programs

Freshwater & Marine

  • Antifouling coatings and hull cleaning technologies
  • Aquaculture barrier technologies
  • Ballast water treatment systems
  • Efficient water distribution
  • Seaweed farming
  • Selective fishing gear

Materials & Waste

  • Bioplastics
  • Plastic alternatives
  • Synthetic substitutes for wildlife products
  • Textile alternatives
  • Timber alternatives
  • Urban waste management

Transportation

  • Bicycle infrastructure
  • Carpooling and ride sharing
  • Efficient aviation
  • Efficient ocean shipping
  • Efficient trucks
  • EVs and associated infrastructure
  • Green shipping practices
  • High-speed rail
  • Public transit expansion
  • Sustainable aviation fuels
  • Telepresence
  • Transit electrification

Target restoration / stress reduction actions

Land/water management

Ecosystem & natural process (re)creation

Freshwater & Marine

  • Coastal wetland protection
  • Coastal wetland restoration
  • Freshwater wetland restoration
  • Macroalgae protection and restoration
  • Ocean restoration
  • Seafloor protection

Terrestrial

  • Abandoned farmland restoration
  • Forest protection
  • Grassland protection
  • Grassland restoration
  • Peatland protection and rewetting
  • Savanna restoration
  • Temperate forest restoration
  • Tree plantations (on degraded land)
  • Smart buildings

Industry & Manufacturing

  • Air scrubbers, emission control
  • Alternative refrigerants
  • Closed-loop manufacturing, industrial symbiosis
  • Comprehensive recycling
  • Design for durability
  • Eco-design for electronics
  • Green chemistry practices
  • Product service systems
  • Refrigerant management
  • Take back programs

Site/area stewardship

Freshwater & Marine

  • Advanced water filtration for wastewater effluent
  • Microplastic capture devices

Terrestrial

  • Improved fire management

Cross-cutting

  • Bioremediation
  • Buffer zones
  • Visitor management

Species management

Species stewardship

Freshwater & Marine

  • Improved fisheries

Cross-cutting

  • Reproduction management
  • Movement/migration management
  • Nutrient/water management
  • Captive breeding
  • Gene banking
  • Genetic rescue
  • Species reintroduction
  • Species translocation

Ex-situ conservation

Cross-cutting

  • Captive breeding

Species re-introduction & translocation

Cross-cutting

  • Gene banking
  • Genetic rescue
  • Species reintroduction
  • Species translocation

Enabling condition actions

Conservation designation & planning

Easements & resource rights

Rights and Governance

  • Indigenous Peoples' tenure

Land/Water use zoning & designation

Urban and infrastructure planning

  • Linear infrastructure redirection
  • Walkable cities

Protected area designation and/or acquisition

Conservation

  • Protected area management

Education & training

Aligned Education

Education

  • Family planning and education

Research & monitoring

Basic research & status monitoring; Enforcement & decision making support

Technology

  • Decentralized monitoring/reporting framework
  • Real-time pathogen/invasive diagnostics
  • Sensing and identification technology
  • Product tracking

Share a Breakthrough Solution

Are we missing any promising solutions to biodiversity loss and human-induced extinction? We welcome ideas for additional solutions not yet reflected in our shortlist for the Extinction Solutions Index.

Submit a solution