Correspondence

摘要

We agree with Esther Turnhout and colleagues (Nature 488, 454-455; 2012) that the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) should take citizen knowledge and non-monetary values into account to improve the science-policy interface for biodiversity protection. Even so, knowledge used to inform policy must be produced through an objective process if it is to withstand scrutiny. This demands a science-based approach.Science sets a standard for data quality, not for who collects the data. It provides a common currency for understanding the consequences for biodiversity of actions arising from the values of different stakeholders, including local communities, hunter-gatherers, commercial exploiters and conservationists.