(Press-News.org) The team behind a new world-leading conservation committee headed by Applied Microbiology International (AMI) is calling on global scientific and conservation communities to get on board to protect microbial life.
Members of the new IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group (MCSG) have outlined its priorities for its first year and beyond in a paper published in Nature Microbiology.
Earlier this year, global conservation leader, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) officially approved the creation of the MCSG, the first-ever IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) group dedicated entirely to the protection and inclusion of microbial biodiversity.
The MCSG will be co-chaired by AMI President Jack A. Gilbert and ISME President Raquel Peixoto, who won AMI’s inaugural Rachel Carson award in 2023.
The MCSG convenes a coalition of microbiologists, ecologists, traditional knowledge experts, and conservation leaders to develop and advocate for conservation tools, strategies, and policies that explicitly integrate microbiology into global biodiversity governance.
In the new paper, members of the IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group outlined the way forward for the new group.
For decades, microbial life has been overlooked in biodiversity governance and the launch of the new group represents a historic milestone for microbiology and global conservation, they said.
The authors said the first year will see the team focus on four priorities:
building a global network including experts from low- and middle-income countries and Indigenous communities, to advise on conservation targets and build an evaluation scheme.
mapping microbial conservation hotspots and threats by compiling and visualising global data on vulnerable microbial ecosystems (e.g. stromatolites, cryptoendolithic communities, and host-associated symbionts), to help guide triage and prioritisation.
developing microbe-specific Red List criteria that emphasise ecological integrity over traditional species counts.
mapping existing microbial conservation projects, such as microbe-assisted coral restoration and soil microbiome rewilding, and develop criteria to optimise their application and assess their success.
The MCSG is developing a five-year roadmap to fully integrate microbes into global conservation practice. A key objective is to embed microbial criteria into the IUCN Red List and the Red List of Ecosystems, ensuring that microbial life is assessed and protected.
Funding of > US$100,000 from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, and administrative and financial support from the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) and AMI, initially supports the MCSG, enabling coordination, administration, conservation hotspot mapping, pilot risk assessments, and cataloguing existing microbial conservation efforts.
The MCSG is now calling on the global scientific and conservation communities to participate in this transformative initiative.
Interested parties can:
Join as an SSC member or collaborator - sign-up details are at *IUCNSSCWEBSITE*
Share data on threatened microbial habitats, biobanking and/or culture collection resources.
Share information on microbe or microbiology-informed conservation projects.
Advocate through social media, traditional press, government, academia, industry and beyond to support the mission.
“Protecting microbial life is no longer a niche interest; it is a planetary necessity. This is more than a policy milestone. It is a paradigm shift that will elevate microbial science, enrich conservation strategies, and ultimately help secure a livable planet,” the authors said. “Whether you study methanogens in permafrost, track gut symbionts in humans or endangered frogs, or craft policy in your nation’s environment ministry, your expertise belongs at the conservation table. Let’s make microbial conservation mainstream, before the foundation crumbles.”
About Applied Microbiology International
Applied Microbiology International (AMI) is the oldest microbiology society in the UK and with more than half of its membership outside the UK, is truly global, serving microbiologists based in universities, private industry and research institutes around the world.
AMI provides funding to encourage research and broad participation at its events and to ensure diverse voices are around the table working together to solve the sustainability development goals it has chosen to support.
AMI publishes leading industry magazine, The Microbiologist, and in partnership with Oxford University Press, publishes three internationally acclaimed journals: Sustainable Microbiology, Journal of Applied Microbiology and Letters in Applied Microbiology. It gives a voice to applied microbiologists around the world, amplifying their collective influence and informing international, evidence-based, decision making.
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New conservation committee led by Applied Microbiology International calls on science community to get on board with microbial conservation
2025-09-12
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