*[Enwl-eng] [wildlife-climate] Nature reserves alone can't reverse biodiversity loss

[enwl]

New research from Finland has shown that protected nature reserves do not 
always safeguard wildlife – often only decelerating species decline.

Protected nature areas – such as reserves – are deemed essential for 
maintaining biodiversity and countering its loss. However, research at the 
University of Helsinki shows mixed effects of protected areas on various 
species.

While protected areas have undoubtedly contributed to slowing the overall 
biodiversity loss, it is unclear how well they work across multiple species 
concurrently. To explore this, researchers at the university examined 
changes in the occurrence of hundreds of species within and outside of 
protected areas.

They discovered mixed effects, highlighting that protected areas do not 
fully meet the expectations set for them. Rather than reversing the trend in 
biodiversity loss, current protected areas will, at best, help decelerate 
the species decline rate. What they thus currently offer is more time to act 
on the root causes of biodiversity loss.

"Our results show that only a small proportion of species explicitly benefit 
from protection, but this varied by group. Birds show the highest positive 
response to protection, one out of five species, and plants show 
warm-dwelling species benefitting more. Protected areas mostly help by 
slowing down the decline of species occurrences," said associate professor 
Marjo Saastamoinen, senior author of the study.

"Our findings should not discourage us from establishing protected areas," 
commented Andrea Santangeli, lead author of the study. "Quite the contrary, 
they show that protected areas will buy us some time to counter rapid 
species loss. By protecting an area, we will slow the local loss of many 
species – but, at the same time, we cannot stop species loss by simply 
setting aside some small pieces of land here and there and expect miracles 
to happen."

For improving the effectiveness of protected areas, Dr Santangeli has a 
clear-cut recommendation: "What we need to do is to make the overall 
landscape more suitable for the species. Protected areas can serve as 
lifeboats, but in the longer run, these lifeboats will still need a safe 
landing site."


Reference
Santangeli, A, Weigel, B, Antão, L H, et al. 2023. Mixed effects of a 
national protected area network on terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity. 
Nature Communications. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41073-4

https://www.birdguides.com/articles/conservation/nature-reserves-alone-cant-reverse-biodiversity-loss/



From: Ecology BY
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2023 8:02 PM
Subject: [wildlife-climate] Nature reserves alone can't reverse biodiversity 
loss

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