Indicators to monitor the status of the tree of life.

Following our failure to fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets, the future of biodiversity rests in the balance. The Convention on Biological Diversity's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents us with the opportunity to preserve Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) for current and future generations through conserving biodiversity and averting extinctions. Here we call attention to our need to safeguard the tree of life-the unique and shared evolutionary history of life on Earth-to maintain the benefits it bestows into the future. We outline two indicators adopted in the GBF to monitor our progress towards safeguarding the tree of life, and apply both to the world's mammals, birds, and cycads to show their utility at the global and national scale. The GBF's Phylogenetic Diversity indicator can be used to monitor the overall conservation status of large parts of the evolutionary tree of life, a measure of biodiversity's capacity to maintain NCPs for future generations. The EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) Index monitors how well we are performing at averting the greatest losses across the tree of life by conserving the most distinctive species. By strengthening our commitment to safeguarding the tree of life post-2020, we can reduce biodiversity loss and thus preserve nature's capacity to provide benefits to humanity now and into the future. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.