Priority areas for conservation of Old World vultures

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Wildlife Management

Background:

• Human well-being depends on healthy ecosystems, but biodiversity loss threatens essential ecosystem services.
• Vultures, critically imperiled scavengers, provide crucial ecological functions like carrion removal and disease control.
• Declining vulture populations pose risks to ecosystem health and human societies, exacerbating issues like rabies transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and prioritize critical areas for vulture conservation in Africa and Eurasia.
• To map the distribution of 15 vulture species and assess threats impacting their populations.
• To inform targeted conservation actions for maintaining ecosystem services provided by vultures.

Main Methods:

• Combined distribution data for 15 vulture species across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
• Assessed threats including poisoning, wind energy collisions, and land-use changes using expert knowledge.
• Prioritized conservation areas based on species distribution, threat intensity, and existing protection status.

Main Results:

• Key conservation areas identified in southern/eastern Africa, South Asia, and the Iberian Peninsula.
• Over 80% of identified priority areas are currently unprotected, highlighting urgent conservation needs.
• Conservation needs vary by species, with some requiring larger protected areas.

Conclusions:

• Targeted conservation in identified priority areas can restore vital ecosystem services, including sanitation and disease prevention.
• Restoring vulture populations may mitigate the burden of diseases like rabies in vulnerable societies.
• Conservation efforts are crucial for achieving global biodiversity and sustainable development goals.