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Conserving biodiversity in production landscapes.
K A Wilson1, E Meijaard, S Drummond
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia. k.wilson2@uq.edu.au
Summary
A new conservation planning approach accounts for diverse land uses, improving biodiversity protection efficiency. This method reveals that including unprotected lands significantly reduces estimated conservation costs, preventing overestimations by tenfold.
Area of Science:
- Conservation Biology
- Environmental Planning
- Biodiversity Management
Background:
- Traditional conservation planning often overlooks the biodiversity contributions of unprotected lands.
- Existing models typically categorize land as solely protected or unprotected, neglecting nuanced contributions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and apply a novel planning approach integrating diverse land uses for biodiversity conservation.
- To explicitly account for the contributions of various land uses, from production forests to protected areas, in conservation planning.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a case study in East Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) to prioritize conservation investments.
- Incorporated mammal distribution data and species-specific targets, considering life history and home range.
- Assessed land use contributions based on species' sensitivity to forest degradation.
Main Results:
- The new approach provides more refined cost estimates for conservation by including unprotected lands.
- Compared to traditional methods, this approach avoids overestimating conservation costs by an order of magnitude.
- Identified optimal investment locations and strategies for effective and efficient biodiversity conservation.
Conclusions:
- Accounting for the conservation value of unprotected lands leads to more accurate and cost-effective conservation planning.
- This integrated approach enhances the efficiency of achieving biodiversity targets.
- The findings support a paradigm shift in conservation strategies, moving beyond a protected/unprotected dichotomy.
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