Promising governance approaches for reversing biodiversity loss

This perspective sheds light on the critical importance of accounting for governance systems when attempting to reverse biodiversity degradation and loss. Contributing insights from political science, governance studies, and international relations, it aims to stimulate academic and societal discussions on the value of reforming the institutional structures, management norms, and legal rules comprising the systems governing biodiversity at local, national, regional, and global scales. We identify three especially promising reforms with the potential to reverse biodiversity loss: (1) restructuring governance systems to integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches; (2) diversifying perspectives and centering governance systems on Indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices; and (3) crafting integrated policies and tapping into synergies. We demonstrate how these governance approaches can reverse biodiversity loss while promoting long-term social and ecological resilience. Additionally, we show they can increase collaboration across scales and sectors and improve policy design, effectiveness, and coherence from local to planetary contexts. • Science confirms the importance of governance for reversing biodiversity loss. • Integrating top-down and bottom-up governance can foster effective solutions. • Policies and action plans must center Indigenous peoples and local communities. • Governance responses to biodiversity loss must transcend sectoral silos. • Synergistic, judiciously crafted governance systems can help reverse biodiversity loss.