Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Conservation areas are critical for tackling the global environmental crisis1. These sites are reported as covering 18.5% of the terrestrial realm2 and governments have committed through Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 to increase this to at least 30% by 2030 (ref. 3). There are concerns that this potential near-doubling of conservation area coverage will negatively affect vulnerable people and over-stretch conservation resources4. However, nationally available datasets indicate that more conservation areas exist than are reflected in global figures5–7. We evaluated progress towards the area component of Target 3 using a globally representative sample across 25 countries and territories that incorporated these national datasets8. Extrapolating from this sample, we show that conservation areas likely already cover 26.81% of the terrestrial realm. We may be much closer to achieving 30% terrestrial coverage than previously thought. However, we also show that the extra land does not substantially address gaps in ecological representativeness, indicating that solely meeting the area component of Target 3 will do little to solve continuing global biodiversity loss. More focus and resources are needed to achieve the other components of the target, using a more strategic and inclusive approach to fill present gaps and produce equitable and effective conservation area networks. A globally representative sample of 25 countries and territories indicates that conservation areas cover 26.81% of the land, much closer to the 30% by 2030 target than officially reported.
Source: Nature
Authors: Helen M. K. O’Neill, Joe Beeken, Heather C. Bingham, Rachel E. Golden Kroner, Yifan He, Jessica L. Stewart, Adil Mohamed Ali, Javier Beltran, Joseph W. Bull, Susan Canney, Nuwanthika Dharmaratne, Cristina Eghenter, James A. Fitzsimons, Samantha Hill, Clinton N. Jenkins, Cindy Julianty, Yolanda M. Leon, John MacKinnon, Alphonce B. Mallya, Daniel Marnewick, Golo Maurer, Mayra Milkovic, Ameer Awad Mohammed, Yuvenal Pantaleo, Blair Parsons, Fábio Ricarte, Ryan Richards, Sushma Shrestha Sangat, Dewi Puspitasari Sutejo, Mridhu Tandon, Corrado Teofili, Kasmita Widodo, Jens Wunderlich, Steffen Zuther, Zoe G. Davies, Robert J. Smith
Institutions: Zoological Society of London, University of Kent, CAB International, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, George Mason University, Georgetown University, The Nature Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, University of Oxford, Wildlife Information Liaison Development, University of Tasmania, Deakin University, Florida International University, BirdLife Australia, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, Ministry of the Environment, Michael Succow Stiftung zum Schutz der Natur, Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, Frankfurt Zoological Society
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $12,690
OpenAlex ID: W7221854499