Designing protected area networks that translate international conservation commitments into national action

Most countries have committed to protect 17% of their terrestrial area by 2020 through Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with a focus on protecting areas of particular importance for biodiversity. This means national-scale spatial conservation prioritisations are needed to h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Biological conservation Vol. 214; pp. 168 - 175
Main Authors:	Bicknell, Jake E., Collins, Murray B., Pickles, Rob S.A., McCann, Niall P., Bernard, Curtis R., Fernandes, Damian J., Miller, Mark G.R., James, Samantha M., Williams, Aiesha U., Struebig, Matthew J., Davies, Zoe G., Smith, Robert J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2017
Subjects:	Convention on biological diversity Local communities Marxan REDD Systematic conservation planning Tropical forest conservation Systematic conservation planning REDD Tropical forest conservation Local communities Marxan Convention on biological diversity
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Most countries have committed to protect 17% of their terrestrial area by 2020 through Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with a focus on protecting areas of particular importance for biodiversity. This means national-scale spatial conservation prioritisations are needed to help meet this target and guide broader conservation and land-use policy development. However, to ensure these assessments are adopted by policy makers, they must also consider national priorities. This situation is exemplified by Guyana, a corner of Amazonia that couples high biodiversity with low economic development. In recent years activities that threaten biodiversity conservation have increased, and consequently, protected areas are evermore critical to achieving the Aichi targets. Here we undertake a cost-effective approach to protected area planning in Guyana that accounts for in-country conditions. To do this we conducted a stakeholder-led spatial conservation prioritisation based on meeting targets for 17 vegetation types and 329 vertebrate species, while minimising opportunity costs for forestry, mining, agriculture and urbanisation. Our analysis identifies 3millionha of priority areas for conservation, helping inform government plans to double the current protected area network from 8.5 to 17%. As part of this, we also develop a new technique to prioritise engagement with local communities whose lands are identified as important to conservation. Our study both provides a scientifically robust, politically acceptable protected area expansion strategy for Guyana, and illustrates the importance of conservation planning at the country-scale to translate international commitments into national action. [Display omitted]
ISSN:	0006-3207 1873-2917
DOI:	10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.024