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Other effective area-based conservation measures may enhance global conservation networks
Roshan Sharma1, Cassandra van der Velden1, Carly N Cook2
1School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are expected to have a crucial role in achieving the global ambition to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. While the number of OECMs is growing rapidly, their contribution to systems of conservation areas remains unclear. Here, to fill this gap, we developed a typology of the structural roles OECMs can play in conservation networks-enlarging, connecting, buffering and aggregating protected areas (PAs), and quantified their contributions using spatial data for 6,234 OECMs reported across 14 countries. We found nearly one-third of OECMs directly adjoin and enlarge PAs, while a smaller subset (~3%) connect or buffer isolated PAs or aggregate fragmented PAs. Although OECMs currently make limited contributions to increasing connectivity, two-thirds of OECMs lie less than 10 km from a PA, providing opportunities to consolidate conservation networks in the future. Our analysis provides a global assessment of how OECMs strengthen conservation networks and offers simple, policy-relevant insights into how to maximize the benefits of area-based conservation as countries pursue the 30 × 30 target.
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