Knowing how people perceive and relate to the environment is invaluable to conservation efforts. The mechanisms that drive conservation initiatives are social in nature, and it must be acknowledged that conservation is as much about people as it is the environment and non-human species. This research explored how local communities living on the border of Gunung-Gede Pangrango National Park in West Java, Indonesia perceive the natural environment and the wildlife with which they share the forest. More specifically, the goal was to determine the depth of their knowledge about Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) and the threats they face in the wild. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with over 100 people during the months of June through August 2016. Interviews revealed an unexpected narrative. Local people have limited knowledge and information with regard to the forest and its inhabitants. Responses varied between how important people thought protecting the forest was and how crucial the need to expand agriculture is for their personal livelihoods. People also expressed a desire to be more involved in local conservation initiatives. Support from local governments and community engagement is crucial to ensure the success of conservation programmes for Javan gibbons in West Java.

Worldwide, freshwater biodiversity is in decline and increasingly threatened. Fishes are the best-documented indicators of this decline. General threats to persistence include: (1) competition for water, (2) habitat alteration, (3) pollution, (4) invasions of alien species, (5) commercial exploitation and (6) global climate change. Regional faunas usually face multiple, simultaneous causes of decline. Threatened species belong to all major evolutionary lineages of fishes, although families with the most imperilled species are those with the most species (e.g. Cyprinidae, Cichlidae). Independent evaluation of California’s highly endemic (81%) fish fauna for comparison with IUCN results validates the alarm generated by IUCN evaluations. However, IUCN overall evaluation is conservative, because it does not include many intraspecific taxa for which extinction trends are roughly double those at the species level. Dramatic global loss of freshwater fish species is imminent without immediate and bold actions by multiple countries.

Only four terrestrial invertebrate phyla dealt with in this chapter appear in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Three of these phyla are composed of mostly marine animals, but all the listed species of Nemertea and Platyhelminthes are limnoterrestrial, and of the 224 listed annelids, 222 are limnoterrestrial. Conservation issues related to their marine counterparts are discussed in other chapters of this book.

Numerous non-insect limno/terrestrial arthropods appear in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Nearly all arachnids and myriapods are terrestrial, but within Pancrustacea, many taxa can inhabit marine, limnic and terrestrial environments and it is not possible to easily disentangle the numbers of listed species without sorting them species by species. In some cases, as in Malacostraca, the number provided includes species inhabiting either environment, or even cases of amphidromous species that spend part of their life cycle at sea and part in rivers and streams, as is the case of many shrimp species.

Fishes are the original and most diverse group of vertebrates, including over 35,000 of the estimated 69,000 species with backbones. Most marine fishes have large geographic ranges that may provide some protection from extinction, but there are very important exceptions

Western hoolock gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) and eastern hoolock gibbons (Hoolock leuconedys) represent the ape group in India. The seven northeastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur) support the entire gibbon population in India, where their distribution is limited to the southern bank of the Dibang–Brahmaputra River system. Rapid loss of habitat, habitat fragmentation and hunting are the major threats to hoolock gibbons in India. The launch of the Indo-US Primate Project provided motivation to conserve the hoolock gibbon in the region. Research, education and awareness, training, capacity building and socioeconomic development programmes, carried out during and after the Indo-US Primate Project, created a healthy environment for the conservation of gibbons in India. Ex-situ conservation practices like rescue and rehabilitation, translocation, conservation breeding programmes and community-based conservation have been the result of collaborations between the government and non-governmental organisations over the past two decades, thus raising new hope for the survival of these species. The recent declaration of protected areas will ensure the long-term survival of the gibbons and its habitats. We feel that all stakeholders should emphasise the development of workable plans for the conservation of gibbons after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-marine molluscs stand out as the major animal group under the most severe threat. Among the 8664 mollusc species evaluated for the IUCN Red List (version 2019-1), 300 are considered Extinct out of a total 872 listed Extinct species. However, only ~10% of molluscs have been evaluated and other assessments of the number of extinct species are much higher, 3000 to over 5000, almost exclusively non-marine species. As for most other groups, threats faced by non-marine molluscs are habitat loss, probably the most important, but also impacts of introduced species, exploitation, generally of less concern, and climate change, likely to have serious effects into the future. Oceanic island species, often narrowly endemic, are especially threatened and constitute a high proportion of recorded extinctions. Anthropogenic activities have caused non-marine mollusc extinctions since prehistory, but threats have increased greatly over the last few centuries and will probably continue to increase. Most mollusc species for which a population trend has been evaluated by IUCN are stable or declining; those few that are increasing are primarily introduced and invasive. Most threatened are oceanic island snails, North American and other freshwater bivalves, and the diverse and highly endemic micro-snails of Southeast Asian limestone outcrops.

One species – humans – is ultimately responsible for devastating much of the only planet in the cosmos that is known to support life – Earth. Our population has expanded exponentially since the Industrial Revolution and this, along with the resources required to sustain us, is ultimately driving the decline in the condition of the world’s ecosystems. Examples of species threatened by development (residential/commercial), agriculture, energy production and mining, transportation, biological resource use, natural system modification, invasive species, pollution and climate change are provided. Yet there are solutions to these problems and many species and ecosystems have bounced back from the brink of extinction. Provided the general public and politicians have the will to invest sufficiently in conservation, it can be highly successful. This chapter ends by exploring the variety of ways that humanity can use to improve the status of the world’s ecosystems.

Genetic profiling can validate pedigrees and reveal genetic diversity/inbreeding within populations. We have developed 12 autosomal microsatellite markers that can be used to DNA profile gibbon species. The panel generated full profiles for 39 individuals currently or previously housed at Twycross Zoo, UK, representing five species across three genera. The study is extending to a further approximate 100 samples, including three additional species, from captive populations across Europe. The panel’s cross-species utility allows for a single protocol to be used for all DNA profiling, avoiding the need for species-specific testing. In addition, the panel resolved an issue of uncertain paternity in a breeding group, with direct implications for group management and welfare. The loci reported here yielded profiles from blood, tissue and non-invasive hair samples. Positive impact on the viability and sustainability of captive breeding programmes is anticipated, by clarifying cryptic relatedness and informing future pairings. Potential exists for field application in investigating population dynamics, mating behaviours, relatedness and dispersal patterns, as well as assessing the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the genetic architecture of populations. This established panel, effective across multiple gibbon species and genera, presents an affordable and expedient tool for research and captive management.

The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is endemic to China’s Hainan Island, and is the world’s rarest primate species. With rampant deforestation and hunting, by 1980 less than 10 individuals reportedly survived at Bawangling National Nature Reserve. A systematic population census in 2003 confirmed only 13 individuals and it was feared that it would be the first modern primate species to go extinct. In 2003, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden was invited by the local conservation authority to take an active role in saving the species from extinction. Together with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders, a conservation strategy with prioritised conservation actions were devised and implemented; these ranged from reforestation of prime lowland habitat, establishment of gibbon monitoring teams, scientific research, awareness-raising and provision of alternative livelihoods to surrounding communities. With years of continuous presence and open dialogue, the local authorities and communities embraced the suite of conservation actions, and the species is on a slow but steady recovery pathway. The population is expanding its range and currently stands at five family groups of at least 34 gibbons.

Reptiles, despite being among the largest and most ecologically important vertebrate groups, have until recently received less research attention than other terrestrial vertebrates and their conservation has been hampered by a lack of both data and interest. Around 20% of reptile species are thought to be at risk of extinction (rising to 50% in turtles), but population trends for most species are not known with certainty and the IUCN Red List does not yet have complete coverage for this group. Reptiles are at particular risk from habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species and overharvesting. They are thought to be especially sensitive to climate change, the effects of which are probably underestimated due to data limitations. The impacts of a recently identified emergent disease in snakes are unclear but may become a significant driver of future declines. Conservation successes among reptiles are scarce, but notable achievements include population recoveries in most crocodilian species since the 1970s and successful control of invasive species that threatened many island reptiles, particularly in New Zealand. There is a pressing need to better understand the ecology and conservation needs of most reptiles, and to increase their representation in conservation planning.

This chapter will attempt to predict what the future will hold for life on Planet Earth. It reviews the changes which have come about and which will continue as a result of factors such as climate change. The chapter also discusses the emergence of the Extinction Rebellion movement, the likely future declines in insects and other species, as discussed in the 2019 State of Nature report, and the factors that are likely to continue to impact survival of wild species on Planet Earth. In closing, the chapter outlines some likely future increases in species adapting to life in large cities.