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Mapping the planet's critical natural assets
Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer1,2,3, Rachel A Neugarten4,5, Richard P Sharp6
1SPRING, Oakland, CA, USA. rchaplin@umn.edu.
Nature Ecology & Evolution
|November 28, 2022
Summary
Critical natural assets, vital ecosystems for human wellbeing, cover 30% of land and 24% of waters. Prioritizing these assets can advance development, climate, and conservation goals.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
- Conservation Biology
Background:
- Human wellbeing depends on sustaining organisms, ecosystems, and natural processes.
- Sustainable development requires the maintenance of these essential natural systems.
- Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) are crucial but often overlooked in policy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define and map "critical natural assets" (CNAs) that provide 90% of 14 key NCP.
- To assess the spatial extent of CNAs required for local and global NCP.
- To analyze the overlap of CNAs with biodiversity and cultural diversity.
Main Methods:
- Defined CNAs as ecosystems providing 90% of 14 NCP types.
- Mapped global CNA locations at 2km resolution.
- Quantified land and water area requirements for local and global NCP provision.
- Assessed overlap with global language and species distribution data.
Main Results:
- CNAs for local NCP cover 30% of global land and 24% of national waters.
- An additional 14% of land is needed for global NCP (carbon storage, moisture recycling).
- CNAs significantly overlap with areas rich in cultural diversity (96% of languages) and biodiversity (73% of birds, 66% of mammals).
- 87% of the global population benefits from local-scale CNAs, though only 16% live within them.
Conclusions:
- Many vital NCP are not included in current conservation or climate agreements.
- Prioritizing CNAs and their NCP can simultaneously achieve development, climate, and conservation objectives.
- This framework offers a pathway to integrate nature's contributions into global policy and sustainable development goals.
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