The documentation and conservation of biodiversity is a complex long-term project supported by many institutions and volunteer researchers. At the latest since the publication of the IPBES status report on the status of biodiversity in 2019, it is clear that the world is heading straight for the sixth mass extinction, which, like climate change, is anthropogenically caused. While awareness of climate change has reached society and politics, this is not the case for the biodiversity crisis. The rapid loss of biodiversity worldwide, but also specifically in Austria, is undoubtedly a key challenge for our society. The commission proposed here is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity for intact ecosystems and ties in with the documentation of domestic biodiversity that has been anchored at the OeAW for 75 years. The series "Catalogus Florae Austriae", "Checklisten der Fauna Österreichs" and "Catalogus Novus Faunae Austriae" have been merged into the open access journal "Biosystematics and Ecology". This is to be scientifically anchored in the new commission as well.

The Commission for Biodiversity has 3 focal points:

• increasing awareness of the biodiversity crisis in the population and politics;
• advising politicians (delegation of representatives to various ministerial commissions, such as the Austrian
• Biodiversity Commission and the Biodiversity Fund of the BMK); and
• using innovative methodology to advance the documentation of biodiversity in Austria in its entirety, in collaboration with taxonomists at museums, universities and biological associations.

In making this application, we are aware that while a commission with the traditional architecture can effectively pursue the first two goals, it must find new methods for the long-term task of "biodiversity documentation". It is already noted in the development plan of the OeAW that a solution must be found for this. Since the anchoring of biodiversity documentation in the KIÖS has proven highly successful, in our opinion it makes sense not only to include this agenda as well, but even to strengthen the cooperation with the initiative on molecular biodocumentation (Austrian Barcode of Life, ABOL), which is co-funded by the BMBWF and various universities. To bring together taxonomists working with traditional methods and molecular biodiversity documentation, to generate traditional checklists on the one hand, and molecular barcode sequences with reference specimens deposited in museums on the other, will be part of the activities of this commission. Moreover, an intensified cooperation of the commission members with the ABOL-initiative and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (www.gbif.at) is planned to push the documentation of species records in various databases, and to improve data flow and networks. The commission also intends to interact with the IIASA and IPBES Austria.