Insights from citizen science reveal priority areas for conserving biodiversity in Bangladesh

Abstract

The tropics contain a vast majority of species, yet our understanding of tropical biodiversity is limited. Here we combine species locality data from scientific databases and social media to examine the coverage of species by existing protected areas in Bangladesh and identify priority areas for future expansion. Although protected areas cover 4.6% of Bangladesh, only five species (0.004% of 1,097 species) are adequately represented, and 22 species are entirely absent from the existing protected-area system, including seven threatened species. Our spatial prioritization identified priority areas comprising 39% of Bangladesh, mainly in the northeast and southeast. The most irreplaceable areas (top 10%) are in hill forests and, to a lesser extent, agricultural landscapes. Our findings inform conservation policies for the Bangladesh government in order to meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets. In general, the approach can be broadly applicable to countries with limited data in global biodiversity repositories.