Measuring conservation in a way that counts

Date:
July 29, 2021
Source:
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Summary:
Conservation science and policy could be saving more biodiversity
by shifting to measurements and decisions based on preventing the
loss of ecosystems and species within protected areas.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new study raises questions on whether current conservation science
and policy for protected areas could be saving more biodiversity --
with political and economic expediency often having taken precedence in
the past.


==========================================================================
Lead author Professor Bob Pressey, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for
Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University (JCU), said the
term 'save' in conservation needs to be better defined.

"Across the world, protected areas are established where they least
interfere with commercial activities, even though those activities can
cause decline and extinction," Prof Pressey said.

"But 'saving' means intervening in a way that prevents the loss of
ecosystems and species," he said.

"There lies the problem. Business as usual means expanding protected areas where they make little difference while threatened biodiversity continues
to disappear." Prof Pressey said measures other than saving are used to
assess conservation progress, and these are often politically convenient:
money invested, km2 protected areas established and the number of species contained in national parks. These measures can hide a lack of progress
in real conservation.



========================================================================== "What do these measures actually tell us about saving?" he said. "Not
much.

Real progress in saving biodiversity is measured by how much loss
we have avoided." While political, institutional and communication
barriers are difficult to overcome, conservation measures need to be
redefined. As an example, the study suggests the Aichi global Target
11 to increase protected areas to 17% of land and 10% of oceans hampers conservation. The target has instead motivated a race to increase coverage
in the most expedient ways, both politically and economically.

Prof Pressey said there is a real risk that post-2020 targets will do
the same unless they focus on avoiding loss.

"The future of nature conservation lies in identifying where science and
policy can make the most difference -- and then measuring, year by year,
the difference made," he said.

The study brought together a team of scientific and policy experts from
across Australia, Austria, and the USA. Their results will contribute
to ongoing global discussions about the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

"Better science is needed to demonstrate that we can predict where, when,
and how we can most effectively save biodiversity," Prof Pressey said.

"And global policy makers need to revise their expectations and targets
to address conservation impact, or avoided loss." He said saving
biodiversity means developing global guidance for all jurisdictions to implement local interventions.

"With this, we can achieve smarter and more meaningful conservation
targets that go beyond the extent of the area being protected." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by ARC_Centre_of_Excellence_for_Coral_Reef_Studies. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Robert L. Pressey, Piero Visconti, Madeleine C. McKinnon,
Georgina G.

Gurney, Megan D. Barnes, Louise Glew, Martine Maron. The mismeasure
of conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2021; DOI: 10.1016/
j.tree.2021.06.008 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210729083431.htm

--- up 11 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)