Selecting Flagship Species to Solve a Biodiversity Conservation Conundrum

Abstract The difficulty of effectively monitoring and managing the environment to achieve conservation of biodiversity is as yet an unsolved conundrum. A project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has concluded that progress can be made through the use of flagship species for special attention, these being selected using criteria drawn both from conservation biology and relating to ecosystem functioning, socio-economics and culture. Inclusion of the latter three criteria will help attract and maintain the commitment of the public to play full parts in carrying out any conservation measures needed. A system is proposed for scoring species to select those that are most suitable as flagships. This method can be used whatever the size of the area chosen for attention, whether it is a region, a country or a particular protected area.