Why ‘protected’ areas are seeing faster biodiversity decline

Dr Gareth Thomas, caput of probe innovation astatine NHM, told The Guardian, that the study’s findings should beryllium “a wake-up call” to policymakers and enforcers of the authorities that it was not capable conscionable to designate an country arsenic protected. “The ministers and policymakers request to cognize it is not astir conscionable hitting a number,” helium said.

What did the survey say?

The researchers progressive successful the survey examined the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), which estimates however overmuch of a region’s earthy biodiversity is inactive near connected average, according to the NHM website.

They recovered that the scale has decreased by 1.88 percent points globally betwixt 2000 and 2020.

The researchers besides examined captious biodiversity areas (CBAs) — ecosystems and areas specified arsenic wetlands that are important for biodiversity — 22% of which is protected. They recovered that “within those captious areas that were not protected, biodiversity had declined by an mean of 1.9 percent points betwixt 2000 and 2020, and wrong the areas that were protected it had declined by 2.1 percent points,” according to a study by The Guardian.

Why is the diminution happening?

One of the superior reasons for the diminution is that galore of the protected areas are not designed to safeguard the full ecosystem but lone definite species. This means that implicit “biodiversity intactness” is not a priority, according to the study.

The researchers besides said that these areas could person already been witnessing degradation, which is wherefore they were declared protected successful the archetypal place. They pointed retired that region-specific investigation is required to find wherefore these landscapes are deteriorating.

Another menace to the protected areas is oil, gas, and mining concessions — onshore granted by the authorities to companies which research for and nutrient oil, earthy gas, and different hydrocarbons. For instance, much than 65% of the Conkouati-Douli nationalist park, which is 1 of the astir biodiverse protected areas successful the Republic of the Congo, is occupied by lipid and state concessions, The Guardian study said.

The clime situation besides has a relation to play. The researchers said that much predominant and aggravated droughts and wildfires person severely impacted the protected areas. For example, respective of Australia’s nationalist parks, which person been stringently protected by authorities, were destroyed by wildfires successful 2019.

“Protections successful spot are not stringent enough… Countries request to proceed their absorption connected 30×30 (a committedness made by countries astatine Biodiversity COP15 to enactment astatine slightest 30% of the world’s lands and oceans nether conservation by 2030), that shouldn’t waver. They conscionable request to bring much into it, and wage much attraction to really conserving the onshore which provides those ecosystem services,” Thomas told The Guardian.