Responding to the Rio Declaration: Traditional Natural History Museums in the Face of Climate Change

This paper discusses the role of traditional natural history museums in the coming century. In particular, it scrutinizes the challenges traditional natural history museums face from uncertainty created by climate changes. The paper examines how natural history museums must reposition themselves from their traditional function of collecting, preserving, and exhibiting natural history collections to being actively involved in the preservation of natural heritage. It discusses the elements that make up our natural heritage, how these may be threatened and what methods museums and other related organizations and agencies can take to ensure an effective allocation of resources for the conservation of biodiversity, ecological systems, species records and knowledge for future generations. It looks at in vivo conservation strategies for species preservation and the functional role traditional natural history museums have among these ideas and methods. In the face of climate change, traditional natural history museums have an essential role in educating the public on the necessity of maintaining biodiversity. Public awareness of the threats to biodiversity and the role biodiversity plays in maintaining balanced ecosystems is essential if we wish to pass on a planet rich in biological diversity for coming generations. There is a need for better preservation of collections and collection security through exchange of duplicate specimens, information transfer and sharing by exploiting the many advantages of the Internet, discussion forums on a wide range of regional and local problems as they relate to biodiversity, and effective manpower usage among relevant agencies to improve resource allocation and efficiency of budgets.