Invertebrates play a central role for ecosystem functioning and deliver valuable ecosystem services for humans. For example, we require pollinators (such as bees, flies, moths, beetles) for the production of fruits and vegetables, soil organisms (particularly earthworms) for fertile soils and destruents for disposing carrion or dung (by dung beetles, flies and carrion beetles). Furhermore, invertebrates are an important part of the diet of many vertebrate species (including birds and mammals).

About 1.4 million invertebrate species have hitherto been described by science. However, it is estimated that between 5 and 20 million species exist on our planet. In addition to this large number of undescribed species, we have little information about many of the species that already have names. For the majority of species only the type locality (the place where the species has originally been found) is known and they have not been documented since. Therefore, we also have very little knowledge on the extinction risk of most species. Many species might have already gone extinct unnoticed. It is estimated that between 11.000 and 36.000 species go extincct each year. This knowledge is based upon biogeographical models (species-area relationship), but we have no detailed knowledge which species are going exinct and where. Moreover, the consequences for our environemnt and human beings is little understood.

Humankind has agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity in severel international conventions, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This aim can only be reached if we immediately start conservation action for the most species-rich animal groups on our planet, the invertebrates. We need an interface between science and practice to link the theoretical knowledge on invertebrate biodiversity with practical application (e.g. protected area management). This includes capacity building in the species-rich developing countries in the tropics, which often lack scientific expertise, but also informing the public and politics.