World's protected areas not protecting biodiversity, researchers say
Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - 16:00
in Mathematics & Economics
Habitat loss is a primary driver of biodiversity loss – so it isn't surprising that optimising the amount of protected land is high on policy-makers' priorities. However, according to research to be published in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology on June 24 by Oscar Venter and colleagues, many protected areas are established in locations of low economic value, failing to protect the imperilled biodiversity found on more valuable land. More of the earth's land surface is set to be protected in the next decade, but the trend of using poor quality land seems set to continue. How can we optimise the number of species protected in the most cost efficient way? Venter & colleagues believe they have discovered part of the answer.