Coverage provided by the global protected-area system: Is it enough?

Brooks, Thomas M., Bakarr, Mohamed I., Boucher, Tim, da Fonseca, Gustavo A.B., Hilton-Taylor, Craig, Hoekstra, Jonathan M., Moritz, Tom, Olivieri, Silvio, Parrish, Jeff, Pressey, Robert L., Rodrigues, Ana S. L., Sechrest, Wes, Stattersfield, Ali, Strahm, Wendy, and Stuart, Simon N. (2004) Coverage provided by the global protected-area system: Is it enough? BioScience, 54 (12). pp. 1081-1091.

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Abstract

Protected-area targets of 10% of a biome, of a country, or of the planet have often been used in conservation planning. The new World Database on Protected Areas shows that terrestrial protected-area coverage now approaches 12% worldwide. Does this mean that the establishment of new protected areas can cease? This was the core question of the "Building Comprehensive Protected Area Systems" stream of the Fifth World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, in 2003. To answer it requires global gap analysis, the subject of the special section of BioScience for which this article serves as an introduction. We also provide an overview of the extraordinary data sets now available to allow global gap analysis and, based on these, an assessment of the degree to which existing protected-area systems represent biodiversity. Coverage varies geographically, but is less than 2% for some bioregions, and more than 12% of 11,633 bird, mammal, amphibian, and turtle species are wholly unrepresented. The global protected-area systems are far from complete.

Item ID: 10188
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1525-3244
Keywords: protected areas; biodiversity; gap analysis; conservation; World Parks Congress.
Date Deposited: 30 Apr 2010 01:24
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050205 Environmental Management @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9606 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation > 960605 Institutional Arrangements for Environmental Protection @ 100%
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