Key steps toward expanding protected areas to conserve global biodiversity

Abstract

KEYWORDS biodiversity conservation, reserve selection, 30 x 30 targets, protected area management, investing in nature A Viewpoint on the Frontiers in Science Lead Article Conservation Imperatives: securing the last unprotected terrestrial sites harboring irreplaceable biodiversity Key points • The current number of protected areas is inadequate to preserve all biodiversity; a significant global expansion of protected areas is urgently required to meet ambitious goals to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. • Major advances in protecting areas to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss is more financially feasible than previously thought, with costs estimated at US$169 billon, which is insignificant in comparison to the $44 trillion of the world's GDP that is potentially at risk as a result of biodiversity loss and the erosion of ecosystem conditions. • Identifying and protecting areas for conservation is not enough: reserves need resources to properly manage and rigorously monitor biodiversity. It has long been recognized that protected areas of ecological importance are critical for biodiversity conservation, with greater populations of plant and animal species inside reserves compared to the biodiversity observed in unprotected areas. For example, protected areas are believed to have prevented the extinction of approximately one-quarter of the world's birds (1). There are also "spill-over" effects from protected areas, whereby locations adjacent to reserves support larger populations and greater species richness than unprotected areas further from reserves (2). Therefore, reserves have significant benefits for biodiversity that extend well beyond their borders. As important as reserves are, it is clear that current reserve networks are inadequate to preserve all biodiversity, and a significant global expansion of protected areas is urgently required (3). In 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Marseille implored governments around the world to set ambitious targets to protect at least 30% of the planet by 2030. The expansion of the network of protected Frontiers in Science frontiersin.org 01