Protecting 1.2% of Earth’s land area could stop ‘sixth great extinction’, scientists say

A lioness with her juvenile son in a tree at Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta, Botswana. guenterguni / E+ / Getty Images

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An additional 1.2 percent expansion of the planet’s protected land areas would halt the extinction of the world’s most endangered animal and plant species, according to a new analysis by a group of ecologists and researchers.

The expert coalition has identified 16,825 potential conservation sites that need to be prioritized over the next five years to save thousands of rare species.

“Most species on Earth are rare, meaning they either have a very narrow range or occur at very low densities, or both,” said author Dr. Eric Dinerstein. principal of the study and senior biodiversity expert at the NGO RESOLVE, in a press release from The frontiers of science. “And the scarcity is very concentrated. In our study, zooming in on this rarity, we found that we only need about 1.2% of Earth’s surface area to avoid the sixth great extinction of life on Earth.

Between 2018 and 2023, an additional 1.2 million square kilometers were protected to meet global conservation targets. However, the research team questioned whether the new conservation areas sufficiently protected essential biodiversity.

Scientists estimated that the new protected lands covered only a small portion of the habitat of threatened and restricted-range species, or 0.11 million square kilometers. They emphasized the importance of planning protected areas so that resources and conservation efforts are targeted as effectively as possible.

The team mapped the entire planet using six levels of biodiversity data. They identified the remaining habitats of rare and threatened species using satellite images and combined them with maps of existing conservation areas. They called current unprotected biodiversity hotspots a conservation imperative. These serve as a global model to help regions and countries plan conservation efforts at the local level.

If properly protected, the identified sites – covering about 405.25 million acres – could prevent all projected extinctions. Protecting only sites in the tropics could prevent most of them.

The research team found that 38 percent of conservation areas are located near already protected areas, making it easier to integrate them into existing conservation sites or find additional ways to protect them.

“These sites are home to more than 4,700 threatened species in some of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems in the world,” said study co-author Andy Lee, senior program associate and head of corporate development. at RESOLVE, in the press release. “These include not only mammals and birds that rely on large, intact habitats, such as the tamaraw in the Philippines and the Celebes crested macaque in Sulawesi, Indonesia, but also restricted-range amphibians and d ‘rare plant species.’

To calculate the cost of these protections, the scientists used data from 14 years of land protection projects, and also took into account the amount and type of land acquired as well as country-specific economic factors.

Professor Neil Burgess, scientific program director at the United Nations Environment Program’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, said the document was a reminder that “achieving 30% coverage by protected and conserved areas alone is not enough, and that it is the location, quality and effectiveness of these protected and conserved areas that will determine whether they fulfill their role in helping to halt biodiversity loss,” as reported by The Guardian.

Indigenous peoples and communities with jurisdiction over conservation imperative sites, as well as global stakeholders and other members of civil society, will need to provide input on what is most effective for them.

“Our analysis estimates that protecting conservation imperatives in the tropics would cost approximately $34 billion per year over the next five years,” Lee said. “This represents less than 0.2% of U.S. GDP, less than 9% of the annual subsidies benefiting the global fossil fuel industry, and a fraction of the revenues generated each year by the mining and agroforestry industries. »

Protecting biodiversity is essential to combating the climate crisis. To do this, scientists have highlighted the importance of keeping the planet’s forests intact, as they not only support abundant wildlife but also act as vital carbon sinks.

“What will we leave to future generations? A healthy and vibrant Earth is essential to our transmission,” Dinerstein said. “Then we have to go.” We must avoid the extinction crisis. Conservation imperatives compel us to do so.

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