Title
The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity
Author(s)
Allan James R.; Possingham Hugh P.; Atkinson Scott C.; Waldron Anthony; Di Marco Moreno; Butchart Stuart H. M.; Adams Vanessa M.; Kissling W. Daniel; Worsdell Thomas; Sandbrook Chris; Gibbon Gwili; Kumar Kundan; Mehta Piyush; Maron Martine; Williams Brooke A.; Jones Kendall R.; Wintle Brendan A.; Reside April E.; Watson James E. M.
Published
2022
Publisher
Science
Abstract
Ambitious conservation efforts are needed to stop the global biodiversity crisis. In this study, we estimate the minimum land area to secure important biodiversity areas, ecologically intact areas, and optimal locations for representation of species ranges and ecoregions. We discover that at least 64 million square kilometers (44% of terrestrial area) would require conservation attention (ranging from protected areas to land-use policies) to meet this goal. More than 1.8 billion people live on these lands, so responses that promote autonomy, self-determination, equity, and sustainable management for safeguarding biodiversity are essential. Spatially explicit land-use scenarios suggest that 1.3 million square kilometers of this land is at risk of being converted for intensive human land uses by 2030, which requires immediate attention. However, a sevenfold difference exists between the amount of habitat converted in optimistic and pessimistic land-use scenarios, highlighting an opportunity to avert this crisis. Appropriate targets in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to encourage conservation of the identified land would contribute substantially to safeguarding biodiversity.
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PUB35645