Protecting just 1.2% of Earth’s land could save most threatened species, study says

Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.

Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on earth would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closer to extinction.

From Argentina to Papua New Guinea, the research team identified 16,825 sites that should be prioritized for conservation in the next five years to prevent the imminent extinction of animals and plants found nowhere else.

Dr Eric Dinerstein, of environmental organization Resolve and lead author of the study, said the team was trying to identify the world’s rarest species with limited habitats, using the example of the peyote cactus, whose remaining range may be limited to parts small Chihuahuan Desert in North America.

“Most species on Earth are rare, meaning that the species either have very narrow ranges or occur at very low densities or both,” he said.

This study focuses on how imminent extinctions can be avoided, not on everything that would be needed to restore nature to Earth. Scientists say more than expanding protected areas is needed to prevent the destruction of biodiversity and preserve ecosystems essential to human societies. In 2020, researchers identified half of the earth’s surface that, if protected, would reverse biodiversity loss and improve natural carbon removal.

Of the sites identified, which the authors called “conservation imperatives,” 38% are within a mile and a half (2.5 km) of an existing protected area, indicating that they could be potential quick wins. The Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar and Colombia were together home to more than half of the countries.

In 2022, governments pledged to protect 30% of the planet for nature as part of the UN’s biodiversity targets, among more than 20 that aim to halt the rampant loss of nature worldwide by the end of this decade. According to the UN, 16.6% of the world’s land surface and inland waters are protected, and many governments are in the process of deciding where to expand conservation areas.

However, the study found that governments were often not protecting biodiversity areas that urgently needed protection. The authors estimated that only 7% of the sites in the new protected areas between 2018 and 2023 were home to the most threatened species.

Dinerstein said: “Despite recent talk about extinction, the biodiversity crisis and what we need to do, only 7% of new protected areas between 2018 and 2023 overlap with essential conservation areas.

“It’s almost as if countries are using a reverse selection algorithm and selecting non-rare sites to add to global protected areas. The call to arms of this paper is that we need to do a much better job in the next five years and that is doable.”

Protecting the key sites they identify would cost $29-46 billion over the next five years and cover 1.6 million square km (630,000 square miles), the researchers said. This can be done through a combination of land acquisitions, the extension of indigenous rights and land titles, and the creation of protected areas on government-owned land.

The study compared global data on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plants with existing protected areas, using satellite analysis to identify remaining habitat for threatened species. Most of the areas identified for urgent protection were in the tropics, but grasslands, deciduous forests and tundra were also identified.

Prof Neil Burgess, who is chief scientist at the UN Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which is responsible for monitoring global progress in expanding protected areas, said the research was a useful proposition for immediate action on disappearances.

The paper, Burgess said, was an important 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 if they fulfill their role in contributing to halting the loss of biodiversity.”

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