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Conservation attention necessary across at least 44% of Earth’s terrestrial area to safeguard biodiversity

View ORCID ProfileJames R. Allan, Hugh P. Possingham, Scott C. Atkinson, Anthony Waldron, Moreno Di Marco, Vanessa M. Adams, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Oscar Venter, Martine Maron, Brooke A. Williams, Kendall R. Jones, Piero Visconti, Brendan A. Wintle, April E. Reside, James E.M. Watson
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/839977
James R. Allan
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
3Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94240, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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  • ORCID record for James R. Allan
  • For correspondence: James.allan@uqconnect.edu.au
Hugh P. Possingham
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
4The Nature Conservancy, VA 22203-1606, USA
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Scott C. Atkinson
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
5United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York, New York, USA
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Anthony Waldron
6Cambridge Conservation Initiative, David Attenborough Building, Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
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Moreno Di Marco
7Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, viale dell’Università 32, I-00185 Rome, Italy
8School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
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Vanessa M. Adams
9School of Technology, Environments & Design, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
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Stuart H. M. Butchart
10BirdLife International, David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
11Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Oscar Venter
12Natural Resource and Environmental Studies Institute, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, V2N4Z9, Canada
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Martine Maron
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
8School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
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Brooke A. Williams
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
8School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
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Kendall R. Jones
13Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460-1068, USA
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Piero Visconti
14International Institute for Applied System Analyses, Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
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Brendan A. Wintle
15School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Vic., Australia
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April E. Reside
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
8School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
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James E.M. Watson
2Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
8School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
13Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460-1068, USA
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Abstract

More ambitious conservation efforts are needed to stop the global degradation of ecosystems and the extinction of the species that comprise them. Here, we estimate the minimum amount of land needed to secure known important sites for biodiversity, Earth’s remaining wilderness, and the optimal locations for adequate representation of terrestrial species distributions and ecoregions. We discover that at least 64 million km2 (43.6% of Earth’s terrestrial area) requires conservation attention either through site-scale interventions (e.g. protected areas) or landscape-scale responses (e.g. land-use policies). Spatially explicit land-use scenarios show that 1.2 million km2 of land requiring conservation attention is projected to be lost to intensive human land-use by 2030 and therefore requires immediate protection. Nations, local communities and industry are urged to implement the actions necessary to safeguard the land areas critical for conserving biodiversity.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted November 12, 2019.
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Conservation attention necessary across at least 44% of Earth’s terrestrial area to safeguard biodiversity
James R. Allan, Hugh P. Possingham, Scott C. Atkinson, Anthony Waldron, Moreno Di Marco, Vanessa M. Adams, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Oscar Venter, Martine Maron, Brooke A. Williams, Kendall R. Jones, Piero Visconti, Brendan A. Wintle, April E. Reside, James E.M. Watson
bioRxiv 839977; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/839977
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Conservation attention necessary across at least 44% of Earth’s terrestrial area to safeguard biodiversity
James R. Allan, Hugh P. Possingham, Scott C. Atkinson, Anthony Waldron, Moreno Di Marco, Vanessa M. Adams, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Oscar Venter, Martine Maron, Brooke A. Williams, Kendall R. Jones, Piero Visconti, Brendan A. Wintle, April E. Reside, James E.M. Watson
bioRxiv 839977; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/839977

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