Global Scientists Launch First-Ever Effort to Protect the Invisible 99% of Life on Earth

The scientific community has taken a major step toward reshaping how we think about biodiversity: the formal launch of the Microbial Conservation Specialist Group (MCSG) within the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC). This is the world’s first global coalition dedicated entirely to conserving microbial life, the microscopic majority that makes up about 99% of all species on the planet. Although microbes are essential to ecosystems, climate regulation, and even human health, they have long been overlooked in conservation policy. With this new initiative, scientists hope to change that permanently.

The group was officially launched in July 2025, following a meeting of conservation experts and microbiologists led by Professor Jack Gilbert in May. Gilbert, who is also the President of Applied Microbiology International, co-chairs the MCSG alongside Raquel Peixoto of KAUST and ISME. Their goal is direct: to ensure that microbial biodiversity finally becomes visible in global conservation frameworks, rather than being treated as an invisible afterthought.

The foundation of their work is outlined in the research article “Safeguarding Microbial Biodiversity: Microbial Conservation Specialist Group (MCSG) within the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)”, published in Sustainable Microbiology. The paper describes the roadmap for integrating microbes — soil bacteria, archaea, marine microorganisms, viruses, fungi, and host-associated microbiota — into conservation systems that were previously built almost exclusively for plants and animals.

Why Microbes Need Protection

Even though they operate at microscopic scales, microbes collectively power the planet. They regulate soil fertility, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, marine productivity, and the health of nearly every living organism. Without them, ecosystems collapse.

However, they rarely appear in national or global biodiversity strategies. Current frameworks like the IUCN Red List do not meaningfully assess microbial species or microbial communities. Ignoring microbial biodiversity creates major risks: reduced climate resilience, degraded soils, declining crop health, weakened oceans, and less effective ecosystem restoration.

The MCSG argues that global conservation cannot succeed without acknowledging and protecting microbial biodiversity. The concept marks a major shift — a move away from focusing only on charismatic megafauna and threatened trees, and toward conserving the complex, interconnected networks that keep ecosystems functioning at the most fundamental level.

Building the World’s First Microbial Conservation Roadmap

Over the past two years, the founding group assembled an international network of microbiologists, ecologists, legal experts, Indigenous knowledge holders, and conservation scientists representing more than 30 countries. Together, they created the first microbial conservation roadmap, structured around the IUCN’s Species Conservation Cycle. Their plan includes five core components:

Assessment
Developing Red List–compatible metrics for microbial communities and biobanks. This includes ways to evaluate microbial extinction risk, identify threatened microbial ecosystems, and establish global baselines for microbial diversity.
Planning
Designing ethical and economic frameworks for microbial interventions. That means guidance on how to use microbial tools — such as probiotics for coral reefs or soil microbiome restoration — responsibly and equitably.
Action
Piloting conservation projects that rely on microbial solutions. Examples include coral probiotics, soil carbon microbiomes, and microbially assisted wildlife resilience.
Networking
Connecting scientists, culture collections, policy experts, conservationists, and Indigenous custodians. This also helps address inequities by involving communities that maintain traditional ecological knowledge.
Communication & Policy
Launching public campaigns such as “Invisible but indispensable” to raise awareness and inform policymakers. The goal is to integrate microbes into national and global biodiversity targets by 2030.

The Challenges of Protecting Microbial Biodiversity

Creating conservation frameworks for microbes isn’t simple. Microbes pose unique scientific and ethical challenges:

Defining microbial species is difficult because microbial communities are incredibly dynamic and genetically diverse. Traditional species concepts do not always apply.
Genomic complexity makes it challenging to translate microbial data into policy tools that were built for larger organisms.
Lack of long-term baselines complicates the understanding of what microbial loss or recovery truly means.
Ethical concerns arise around the collection, storage, and use of microbial samples — especially those linked to Indigenous lands or human-associated microbiota.
Public misconceptions often treat microbes as harmful, rather than recognizing them as the foundation of healthy ecosystems.

Despite these hurdles, a significant milestone has already been achieved: the official approval of the MCSG by the IUCN. This marks the first time the organization has formally recognized microbes as conservation targets, extending global biodiversity protection into a new biological dimension.

What the Group Plans Next

The MCSG has outlined several ambitious goals for the coming years:

Develop the world’s first Microbial Red List framework by 2027
This would allow microbial species and communities to be assessed for extinction risk, just like animals and plants.
Publish global maps of microbial biodiversity hotspots
These maps will integrate soil, ocean, freshwater, and host-associated microbial ecosystems.
Pilot microbial conservation interventions
Projects could include bioremediation, coral reef microbiome therapies, and soil carbon restoration.
Ensure microbes appear in biodiversity and climate policies by 2030
This includes incorporation into frameworks like 30 by 30 and One Health.

Long-term success will require increased funding for microbial monitoring networks, inclusion of microbial measures in national biodiversity reports, global public education, and the use of modern tools such as AI and digital-twin models to predict microbial responses to environmental change.

Additional Context: Why Microbial Conservation Matters More Than Ever

Beyond the roadmap itself, it’s worth highlighting why microbial conservation is becoming urgent:

Climate Change Is Altering Microbial Ecosystems
Warming temperatures shift soil microbiomes, change ocean microbial dynamics, and even alter disease patterns. Microbes respond quickly to environmental change, making them early indicators of ecosystem health.
Agriculture Depends on Microbial Diversity
Soil bacteria and fungi regulate nutrient cycling. When microbial diversity declines, soil fertility drops, making crops more vulnerable to stress.
Coral Reefs Rely on Stable Microbial Partnerships
Coral-associated microbes help corals withstand heat stress and disease. Microbiome therapies are emerging as tools for reef restoration.
Forest and Wetland Carbon Storage Is Microbially Driven
Microbes control how carbon enters and leaves ecosystems. Protecting climate stability means protecting microbial processes.
Human and Wildlife Health Are Microbiome-Dependent
From gut health to resistance against pathogens, microbial communities play central roles.

Microbial conservation is not an abstract idea — it directly affects our food, climate, oceans, forests, and health. The recognition of microbes within global conservation policy is long overdue, and this new initiative finally puts microbial biodiversity where it belongs: at the center of planetary health.

Research Reference

Safeguarding Microbial Biodiversity: Microbial Conservation Specialist Group (MCSG) within the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
https://doi.org/10.1093/sumbio/qvaf024