'Parachute Science' Is Failing the Tropics, Home to Most Insect Species

Researchers at Monash University have proposed a new global strategy to close a major gap in insect conservation, arguing that most scientific knowledge used to guide it comes from temperate regions even though more than 80% of insect species live in the tropics. The study, led by Dr. Shawan Chowdhury of Monash University's Global Change Ecology Lab, was published in the journal BioScience.

Insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, with an estimated 14 to 30 million species, most still undocumented. They pollinate more than 80% of wild plant species, serve as food for 60% of bird species, and support food webs, nutrient cycling and global food production. Yet temperate regions, which hold only about 20% of the world's insect diversity, produce most of the research used for conservation.

The research team identified four major barriers limiting tropical insect conservation: poor global visibility of existing research, severe data gaps, inadequate scientific infrastructure, and too little conservation action. Nearly 26% of insect distribution data in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility comes from the United Kingdom alone, even though most of the world's insect diversity is in the tropics. The framework recommends drawing on a much wider range of information, including regional and non-English publications, museum collections, local knowledge, citizen science, and even social media records, alongside strengthening local scientific capacity.

The researchers used Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated tropical countries, to demonstrate how the framework could work. They found 111 studies on butterflies in Bangladesh, but only 34 had been published in international journals, and just three dealt specifically with conservation. Facebook, meanwhile, contained records for 167 of 169 threatened butterfly species in the country. Of 226 butterfly species evaluated in earlier research, only one was adequately represented within Bangladesh's protected areas.

The researchers argue that international conservation research needs to move away from what they call 'parachute science,' a model in which scientists and communities in tropical countries mainly supply data rather than acting as equal partners. Instead, the framework calls for locally led research, greater investment in regional collections and scientific infrastructure, stronger taxonomic expertise, long-term monitoring, fairer international partnerships, and closer connections between scientists and policymakers.