The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities

Abstract The global network of protected areas has rapidly expanded in the past decade and is expected to cover at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 to halt biodiversity erosion. Yet, the distribution of protected areas is highly heterogeneous on Earth and the social-environmental preconditions enab...

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Main Authors: David Mouillot, Laure Velez, Camille Albouy, Nicolas Casajus, Joachim Claudet, Vincent Delbar, Rodolphe Devillers, Tom B. Letessier, Nicolas Loiseau, Stéphanie Manel, Laura Mannocci, Jessica Meeuwig, Nicolas Mouquet, Ana Nuno, Louise O’Connor, Valeriano Parravicini, Julien Renaud, Raphael Seguin, Marc Troussellier, Wilfried Thuiller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-10-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53241-1
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author David Mouillot
Laure Velez
Camille Albouy
Nicolas Casajus
Joachim Claudet
Vincent Delbar
Rodolphe Devillers
Tom B. Letessier
Nicolas Loiseau
Stéphanie Manel
Laura Mannocci
Jessica Meeuwig
Nicolas Mouquet
Ana Nuno
Louise O’Connor
Valeriano Parravicini
Julien Renaud
Raphael Seguin
Marc Troussellier
Wilfried Thuiller
author_facet David Mouillot
Laure Velez
Camille Albouy
Nicolas Casajus
Joachim Claudet
Vincent Delbar
Rodolphe Devillers
Tom B. Letessier
Nicolas Loiseau
Stéphanie Manel
Laura Mannocci
Jessica Meeuwig
Nicolas Mouquet
Ana Nuno
Louise O’Connor
Valeriano Parravicini
Julien Renaud
Raphael Seguin
Marc Troussellier
Wilfried Thuiller
author_sort David Mouillot
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The global network of protected areas has rapidly expanded in the past decade and is expected to cover at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 to halt biodiversity erosion. Yet, the distribution of protected areas is highly heterogeneous on Earth and the social-environmental preconditions enabling or hindering protected area establishment remain poorly understood. Here, using fourteen socioeconomic and environmental factors, we characterize the multidimensional niche of terrestrial and marine protected areas, which we use to accurately establish, at the global scale, whether a particular location has preconditions favourable for paestablishment. We reveal that protected areas, particularly the most restrictive ones, over-aggregate where human development and the number of non-governmental organizations are high. Based on the spatial distribution of vertebrates and the likelihood to convert non-protected areas into strictly protected areas, we identify ‘potential’ versus ‘unrealistic’ conservation gains on land and sea, which we define as areas of high vertebrate diversity that are, respectively, favourable and unfavourable to protected area establishment. Where protected areas are unrealistic, alternative strategies such as other effective area-based conservation measures or privately protected areas, could deliver conservation outcomes.
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spelling doaj-art-65a4a3d65c564352975690aab217cc572025-08-20T02:17:46ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-10-0115111310.1038/s41467-024-53241-1The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunitiesDavid Mouillot0Laure Velez1Camille Albouy2Nicolas Casajus3Joachim Claudet4Vincent Delbar5Rodolphe Devillers6Tom B. Letessier7Nicolas Loiseau8Stéphanie Manel9Laura Mannocci10Jessica Meeuwig11Nicolas Mouquet12Ana Nuno13Louise O’Connor14Valeriano Parravicini15Julien Renaud16Raphael Seguin17Marc Troussellier18Wilfried Thuiller19MARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDIFREMER, Unite Ecol & Modeles HalieutFRB – CESABNational Center for Scientific Research, PSL Université Paris, CRIOBE, CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Maison de l’Océan, 195 rue Saint-JacquesLa TeleScop, Maison de la TélédétectionEspace-Dev, IRD, Univ Montpellier, Univ RéunionInstitute of Zoology, Zoological Society of LondonMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDInstitut Universitaire de France, IUFMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDMarine Futures Laboratory and Oceans Institute, University of Western AustraliaMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDInterdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University LisbonUniv. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Laboratoire d’Ecologie AlpinePSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de PerpignanUniv. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Laboratoire d’Ecologie AlpineMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRDUniv. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Laboratoire d’Ecologie AlpineAbstract The global network of protected areas has rapidly expanded in the past decade and is expected to cover at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 to halt biodiversity erosion. Yet, the distribution of protected areas is highly heterogeneous on Earth and the social-environmental preconditions enabling or hindering protected area establishment remain poorly understood. Here, using fourteen socioeconomic and environmental factors, we characterize the multidimensional niche of terrestrial and marine protected areas, which we use to accurately establish, at the global scale, whether a particular location has preconditions favourable for paestablishment. We reveal that protected areas, particularly the most restrictive ones, over-aggregate where human development and the number of non-governmental organizations are high. Based on the spatial distribution of vertebrates and the likelihood to convert non-protected areas into strictly protected areas, we identify ‘potential’ versus ‘unrealistic’ conservation gains on land and sea, which we define as areas of high vertebrate diversity that are, respectively, favourable and unfavourable to protected area establishment. Where protected areas are unrealistic, alternative strategies such as other effective area-based conservation measures or privately protected areas, could deliver conservation outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53241-1
spellingShingle David Mouillot
Laure Velez
Camille Albouy
Nicolas Casajus
Joachim Claudet
Vincent Delbar
Rodolphe Devillers
Tom B. Letessier
Nicolas Loiseau
Stéphanie Manel
Laura Mannocci
Jessica Meeuwig
Nicolas Mouquet
Ana Nuno
Louise O’Connor
Valeriano Parravicini
Julien Renaud
Raphael Seguin
Marc Troussellier
Wilfried Thuiller
The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
Nature Communications
title The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
title_full The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
title_fullStr The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
title_full_unstemmed The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
title_short The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
title_sort socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53241-1
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