Few strategies for nature conservation

6 June 2024, by Miriam Frieß

Photo: Kerstin Jantke

In a recently released study, Dr. Kerstin Jantke and Berit Mohr assess the expansion of protected areas in various countries over the past decade. To do so, they particularly examine the characteristics of the protected areas and pose the question: Do they actually offer sufficient protection for various ecoregions?

The experts assessed nine countries on all continents. Their findings show that, between 2011 and 2020, the countries in question still failed to offer strategic protection for ecoregions that had previously been protected rather rarely. Although a total of 170,000 square kilometers of terrestrial and 3 million square kilometers of marine protected areas were created in the target regions during this time, this protection remains fairly one-sided: these areas represent only a fraction of the respective ecoregions, which differ greatly in terms of their ecosystems, biodiversity and terrain. Accordingly, Jantke and Mohr consider the efforts to date insufficient to preserve the natural environment as a whole and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations and in the Biodiversity Convention.

Using Jantke and Mohr’s method, the efforts of individual regions or entire countries on the way to a suitable network of protected areas can be assessed and compared. The method presented in the study can be applied to other areas and is provided free of charge with the study.