The global nature of the biodiversity crisis, and the failures of prior international agreements to reverse it, has led to the formation of a new Intergovernmental Science- Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as a means to bridge the gap between biodiversity science and policy (www.ipbes.net). The IPBES offers an important opportunity for the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) and other learned societies to provide decision makers with objective, peer-reviewed information and to participate in forming policies that affect biodiversity. The SCB and its members have participated in related consultations and plenary sessions that led to the establishment of IPBES, and will undoubtedly contribute further, but additional challenges lay ahead in making IPBES a successful endeavor.