News Release
Canada needs a bold vision to fully understand its biodiversity resources. This is a central finding of a group of 14 eminent experts brought together by the Council of Canadian Academies to assess the state and trends of taxonomy (the science that discovers, distinguishes, classifies and documents living things) in Canada. Their report, released today, observes that failure to understand Canadian biodiversity could have significant consequences for ecosystems, the economy, innovation potential and society.
“Taxonomy is the foundation for the biodiversity sciences, as advances are built upon the discovery and accurate identification of species,” said Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, chair of the Expert Panel. “Canada has a proud history of world class contributions to taxonomic research and although critical gaps do exist within the Canadian system, there is an opportunity for Canada to provide international leadership and move forward with a major initiative in taxonomy.”