Terrestrial conservation opportunities and inequities revealed by global multi-scale prioritization

Abstract

Area-based conservation through reserves or other measures is vital for preserving biodiversity and its functions for future generations1-5, but its effective implementation suffers from a lack of both spatial detail necessary for management practices6 and transparency around national responsibilities that might underpin cross-national support mechanisms7. Here we implement a conservation prioritization2,8 framework that accounts for spatial data limitations yet offers actionable guidance at a 1km resolution. Our multi-scale linear optimization approach delineates globally the areas required to meet area-based conservation targets for all ~32 000 described terrestrial vertebrate species, while offering flexibility in decision management to meet different local conservation objectives. Roughly 30.4% of land is sufficient to meet conservation targets for all species, of which 60.1% is either already protected9 or has minimal human modification10. However, the remaining 39.9% of human-modified areas need to be managed or restored in some form to ensure the long-term survival for over half of species. This burden of area-based conservation is distributed very unevenly among countries, and, without a process that explicitly addresses geopolitical inequity, meeting species conservation targets would require disproportionately large commitments from poorer countries (i.e., lower GNI). Our analysis provides baseline information for a potential intergovernmental and stakeholder contribution mechanism in service of a globally shared goal of sustaining biodiversity. Future updates and extensions to this global priority map have the potential to guide local and national advocacy and actions with a data-driven approach to support global conservation outcomes.