Mapping of Refuges Preserving Rare and Endangered Species Launched by One Earth and Resolve under the Title "Conservation Imperatives"
Article Rewrite:
Keep those cookie consents rollin'!
The Global Safety Net (GSN) initiative recently published a mind-blowing paper coined "Conservation Urgency: Preserving Earth's Last Unprotected Biodiversity Sanctuaries." It dropped in Frontiers in Science journal. Get this - this research highlights a staggering 1.2% of the globe's land harboring unique, unprotected, and downright rare animal and plant species. According to the GSN experts, these 'Conservation Urgency’ sites are a heart-pumping priority, especially as countries push for the global '30 by 30' goal - a mission to conserve a whopping 30% of the Earth's terrain by 2030.
To bring this world-class paper to life, a diverse group of ecologists and preservationists came together, representing 20 academic institutions and non-for-profits such as RESOLVE, One Earth, the University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, Stanford University, World Land Trust, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Duke Kunshan University, the Wildlife Institute of India, IUCN, Global Conservation, and Globaïa.
The amazing group identified nearly 17,000 locations globally requiring urgent protection to prevent the extinction of thousands of treasured species. What's crazy? Over 61% of these critical sites are in the tropics, with the majority found snuggly ensconced in tropical rainforests. Here's an astonishing stat: Almost 38% of all sites are located near existing protected areas, making their preservation relatively straightforward. Connect them with wildlife corridors, or simply incorporate them into existing protected zones, and bam - mission accomplished! You can scope out the map on the Global Safety Net web application.
Dr. Anup Joshi, an author from the University of Minnesota, chimed in on the research findings: "Over 80% of these vital locations are situated in just 30 countries and 72% in merely 10 countries, with Brazil and the Philippines nailing about a third of all sites."
The paper sounds an ear-piercing alarm for current conservation practices. Analysts confirm that while 120 million hectares were added to the World Database on Protected Areas between 2018 and 2023, only a tenth of land (11 million hectares) hosting rare species was conserved and protected. To reverse this trend and prioritize rare species habitats, the approach for the next three years needs a drastic change.
Lead author Dr. Eric Dinerstein of RESOLVE weighed in on the matter: "Many species on Earth are rare, meaning they have restricted ranges or super low population densities. Our study reveals that these unprotected pockets of rarity are concentrated in a shockingly small area. Prioritizing them for immediate protection offers an achievable victory for nature conservation, helping prevent Earth's sixth great extinction."
'Conservation Urgency’ sites are the living room of over 4,700 threatened species in some of the world's most diverse yet endangered ecosystems, including not only iconic mammals and feathered creatures like the tamaraw in the Philippines and the Celebes crested macaque in Indonesia, but also range-limited amphibians, reptiles, and rare plant species.
Now, here's the deal: The experts calculated the cost of safeguarding the 'Conservation Urgency' sites by creating a one-of-a-kind global land cost model, using data from over 800 protection projects in the past 14 years, adjusted for inflation. Keep in mind that private land acquisition and long-term leases are the primary focus of this model, but there's no doubt that other stewardship methods, such as government redesignation and Indigenous territorial stewardship, will also play a role. Fascinating fact: Nearly 17% of 'Conservation Urgency' sites are found within Indigenous territories, emphasizing the importance of sustaining and bolstering Indigenous land tenure rights long-term.
What does this all mean for the wallet? Well, the analysis suggests that protecting 'Conservation Urgency' sites in the tropics over the next five years would set you back approximately $34 billion per year. But let's do some crunching: That's only 0.03% of global GDP and roughly 2% of environmentally harmful subsidies governments lavish out annually - a tiny sacrifice to prevent catastrophic plant and animal extinctions.
The 'Conservation Urgency' study is the most recent in a series of analyses produced by the Global Safety Net initiative - a coalition of top-tier academic institutions and conservationists headed by One Earth, which furnishes the cutting edge research necessary to help governments, philanthropists, and private enterprises establish nature-friendly commitments in line with the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The GSN drills down into the entire world via 13 layers of global biodiversity data, merging that with maps of existing protected areas and a novel fractional land cover analysis courtesy of open-source satellite imagery. By employing six rare species layers, the researchers exposed the most significant unprotected pockets of biodiversity.
The paper gets honored as one of a small group of Lead Articles for 2024 in Frontiers in Science, selected from across their 220 scientific journals. As a result, it'll be an open-access paper with its very own multimedia article hub, "Conservation Urgency for biodiversity protection." With eye-catching visual explainers and shrewd insights from leading experts and policymakers, this hub promises to ignite your passion for preservation!
Fire Up Your Explorer:
- "The Global Safety Net: A Guide to Create, Secure, and Maintain Earth's Most Critical Ecosystems and Climate Coral Reefs"
- "Protecting our World: A Strategic Approach to Conserving and Expanding Protected Areas under the UN Global Biodiversity Framework"
- The global safety net (GSN) initiative emphasizes the need for immediate protection of 'Conservation Urgency' sites, which harbor unique and rare species and are crucial for biodiversity protection.
- According to the GSN, mental and physical health-and-wellness are interconnected with nature conservation, and efforts should be made to prioritize climate-change mitigation through environmental-science research and action.
- The 'Conservation Urgency' study identifies nearly 17,000 locations worldwide, primarily located in the tropics, requiring urgent protection to prevent the extinction of thousands of species.
- The global safety net model, which uses data from various protection projects, estimates that the cost of protecting 'Conservation Urgency' sites in the tropics over the next five years is approximately $34 billion per year, a tiny sacrifice compared to global GDP and environmentally harmful subsidies.
