• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Scientists say world’s protected areas need a re-boot

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
April 11, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Publishing in the journal Science, scientists propose a bold new target that would stave off biodiversity loss

IMAGE

Credit: Kyle de Nobrega

NEW YORK (April 11, 2019) – An international study published today in the journal Science argues that the current international target for the protected area estate, accepted by over 190 nations, is failing. They propose a new measurable target based on the best scientific evidence that they say will galvanize greater and more effective conservation efforts.

The study identifies four major problems with the United Nation’s Aichi Target 11 – which calls for protection of at least 17 percent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas. The authors say the target has led to perverse outcomes and has not fostered effective conservation efforts. The use of simple percentage targets for protected areas means that there is an incentive to create large protected areas of little conservation value. Other problems with Aichi Target 11 design and implementation include the lack of incentives in the target and resources dedicated to adequately manage or fund protected areas, inadequate representation of natural communities and species within protected area borders, and the impossibility to define national responsibilities towards the global target in a meaningful way.

Lead author Dr. Piero Visconti of the International Institute for Applied Synthesis Analysis, said: “While there has been a significant increase in the overall extent of the global protected area estate over the past 10 years, many of the new protected areas are being placed in sites that are not as important for biodiversity. Other, more important sites are left unprotected and are vanishing before our eyes. There is also clear evidence that the vast majority of protected areas are not being funded and managed in ways that stop damaging human activities.”

The study’s authors argue that outcome-based targets for protected areas are needed to achieve biodiversity goals. They propose the following new target: “The value of all sites of global significance for biodiversity including key biodiversity areas is documented, retained and restored through protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.”

The proposed target puts the emphasis on measuring and achieving the end-goal of conservation: reaching and maintaining long-term positive biodiversity status and trends. This is a critical step forward from all previous protected area commitments, which measured progress based on the amount of area protected, not the biodiversity outcomes resulting from it.

Despite the calls for a new protected area target, a co-author in the study Dr. James Watson of University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), emphasized the critical importance of existing protected areas for safeguarding imperiled biodiversity.

Said Watson: “We know protected areas work–when well-funded, well-managed and well placed, they are extremely effective in halting the threats that cause biodiversity loss and ensure species return from the brink of extinction. There are also many protected areas that are still in good condition and are now the last strongholds for endangered species worldwide. The challenge is to improve the management of those protected areas that are most valuable for nature conservation to ensure they safeguard it.”

Added Watson: “We need all nations to be honest when accounting for how much land and water they have set aside for biodiversity conservation. As we approach the 2020 deadline for the Convention for Biological Diversity’s current targets, it is time for the global conservation community to stand up and hold governments to account so that they take the conservation of their protected areas seriously. This means setting a target that will achieve the outcome that is best for biodiversity.”

###

WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society)

MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: 347-840-1242.

Media Contact
Stephen Sautner
[email protected]

Original Source

https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/12195/STUDY-Scientists-Say-Worlds-Protected-Areas-Need-a-Re-Boot.aspx

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aav6886

Tags: BiodiversityBiologyClimate ChangeEcology/EnvironmentZoology/Veterinary Science
Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Sodium Butyrate Slows Colon Cancer Cell Growth

Sodium Butyrate Slows Colon Cancer Cell Growth

October 8, 2025
blank

New Insights into Evolution Revealed Through Lizard Genetics

October 8, 2025

Cell-Free DNA Reflects Tumor Transcription Factor Activity

October 8, 2025

New Method to Monitor Wild Reindeer Populations Could Boost Conservation Efforts

October 8, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1067 shares
    Share 426 Tweet 267
  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    99 shares
    Share 40 Tweet 25
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    95 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • Ohio State Study Reveals Protein Quality Control Breakdown as Key Factor in Cancer Immunotherapy Failure

    78 shares
    Share 31 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Urban Net-Zero Modeling Framework in Nanjing

Early-Onset Gastric Cancer: Global Trends and Future

Maximizing ROI in Mental Healthcare Quality Improvement

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 62 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.