(Press-News.org) The international community has made major progress towards the global target on protected and conserved area coverage, but has fallen far short on its commitments on the quality of these areas, according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), produced with support from the National Geographic Society.
The latest edition of the biennial Protected Planet Report is the final report card on Aichi Target 11 - the global 10-year target on protected and conserved areas which aimed to bring important benefits to both biodiversity and people by 2020. Aichi Target 11 included the aim of protecting at least 17% of land and inland waters and 10% of the marine environment.
Today, 22.5 million km2 (16.64%) of land and inland water ecosystems and 28.1 million km2 (7.74%) of coastal waters and the ocean are within documented protected and conserved areas, an increase of over 21 million km2 (42% of the current coverage) since 2010, the new report reveals. It is clear that coverage on land will considerably exceed the 17% target when data for all areas are made available, as many protected and conserved areas remain unreported.
The post-2020 global biodiversity framework is due to be agreed at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15) in Kunming, China, in October and is anticipated to include the ambition to scale up coverage and effectiveness of protected and conserved areas.
The Protected Planet Report concludes that the challenge will be to improve the quality of both existing and new areas to achieve positive change for people and nature, as biodiversity continues to decline, even within many protected areas. The IUCN Green List Standard is the only global measure of an overall change in quality.
Neville Ash, Director, UNEP-WCMC says: "Protected and conserved areas play a crucial role in tackling biodiversity loss, and great progress has been made in recent years on strengthening the global network of protected and conserved areas. However, designating and accounting for more protected and conserved areas is insufficient; they need to be effectively managed and equitably governed if they are to realise their many benefits at local and global scales and secure a better future for people and planet."
Effectiveness and equity are crucial post-2020
To be effective, protected and conserved areas need to include important places for biodiversity. Yet, one-third of key biodiversity areas, be they on land, inland waters or the ocean, are still not protected at all, according to the report.
Protected and conserved areas also need to be better connected to each other, to allow species to move and ecological processes to function. While there has been recent improvement, less than 8% of land is both protected and connected - far below the almost 17% of land area that is now under protection - and there remains a need to ensure surrounding areas are managed appropriately to maintain biodiversity values.
As well as designating new areas, the report calls for existing protected and conserved areas to be identified and recognised, by accounting for the efforts of indigenous peoples, local communities and private entities, whilst recognising their rights and responsibilities. The conservation efforts of these custodians remain undervalued and under-reported, though their contributions are extensive in securing a future for nature.
The report also finds that more needs to be done to manage protected and conserved areas equitably, so that the costs of conservation are not borne by local people while its benefits are enjoyed by others. This is key to building conservation networks that have the support and participation of people everywhere.
"IUCN welcomes the enormous progress made, particularly over the last decade, with protected areas covering a growing proportion of the globe. As biodiversity continues to decline, we now call for Parties at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming to set an ambitious target that will ensure protected area coverage of 30% of land, freshwater and ocean by 2030 - and these areas must be placed optimally to protect the diversity of life on Earth and be effectively managed and equitably governed," says IUCN Director General, Dr Bruno Oberle.
Protecting and restoring nature are mutually dependent
By protecting intact areas and restoring degraded ecosystems, countries can create a network for nature that helps to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, maintains essential ecosystem services, helps society tackle and adapt to climate change and reduces the risk of future pandemics.
Managed effectively, protected and conserved areas can help to prevent further ecosystem degradation and consolidate progress on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The Decade will be officially launched on 5 June, World Environment Day 2021. In many cases, areas in the process of being restored will themselves likely be added to the protected and conserved area network, to ensure that the benefits from restoration are sustained.
INFORMATION:
The 2021 report will be publicly available at https://livereport.protectedplanet.net from May 19
About UNEP-WCMC
The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a global centre of excellence on biodiversity, operating as a collaboration between UN Environment Programme and the charity WCMC. UNEP-WCMC works on the interface of science, policy, and practice to help tackle the global nature crisis.
About IUCN
IUCN is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 18,000 experts. IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
About the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Led by the UNEP and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Decade will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration with the goal of reviving millions of hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
ATLANTA - MAY 19, 2021 - Cancer prevention and early detection measures show mixed progress, and substantial racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities continue to exist according to the recent American Cancer Society (ACS) article on cancer prevention and early detection efforts in the United States in 2018 and 2019. All data was compiled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This study, which appears in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and accompanies the ACS's biennial report, Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts & Figures, is one of the only sources that looks at major modifiable ...
Abu Dhabi, UAE: NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) researchers have developed a special noncontact multi-physics probe (NMP) that enables them to collect cytoplasmic samples from single tumor cells without disrupting their spatial configurations in the original tissue. The tiny tool can also be used to introduce foreign materials to selected cells within the tissue to alter their genetic makeup. As a result, the NMP will facilitate advanced studies that could improve the current understanding of the basic building blocks of diseases, including cancer and Alzheimers, and lead to the development of new therapies. Moreover, this could lead to a powerful tool in the field of stem cell biology and reprogramming. ...
No one expected the "Automated Guided Vehicles" at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, to have personalities. These motorized units, like long boxes on wheels, are merely meant to transport garbage, medical equipment or food from one part of the hospital to another. But because they have to interact with humans, by warning them to get out of the way, they have to talk.
And that's when the fun began.
Instead of using a generic Norwegian voice, they decided to give the hospital robots a voice that used the strong, distinctive local dialect. Suddenly these stainless-steel boxes, rolling around the hospital to transport goods, had a personality.
They were kind of pushy. A little ...
The coronavirus pandemic has created a great demand for rapidly diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections. Reliable rapid tests are needed, for example, at airports and ports for testing travellers quickly and effortlessly before their journey.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a new rapid assay principle for viral antigen detection, applying it to diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections.
The test is based on a phenomenon known as time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET), where energy travels between two light-sensitive molecules when they are close enough to each other. TR-FRET makes it possible to measure viral particles or the body's own proteins by using what ...
Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and Université Grenoble Alpes (France) have proposed a more accurate method for loading capability assessment of power transformers. As an example, the scientists defined the loading capability of the power transformer in Tomsk and Grenoble. The research findings are published in the International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (IF: 3,588, Q1).
The cost of a power transformer can reach a few hundred million rubles that makes it the most expensive element of an electrical grid. Therefore, power engineers tend to use the loading capability of transformers in full. The method proposed by the TPU scientists can help to operate power transformers closer to their thermal limit. It will allow operators to control ...
Research has found that strict lockdowns to reduce the spread of COVID-19 might be responsible for delaying normal cardiorespiratory development in children.
The study, the first to examine the topic, is published in the European Journal of Pediatrics. It was carried out by Dr Lee Smith of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and a team of academics from Spain, led by Dr Ruben Lopez-Bueno of the University of Zaragoza.
The research involved a group of 89 children from a school in north-eastern Spain. The country introduced a strict six-week lockdown in spring 2020, during which under-15s were unable to leave their homes except for medical ...
World-leading eye experts have made a breakthrough that could potentially change the way cataracts are treated - with potential for drug therapy to replace surgery.
Cataract is a clouding of the eye lens that develops over time and affects the quality of vision. It is caused by an accumulation of protein in the lens that reduce the transmission of light to the retina. Previous research led by ARU found that cataracts account for almost half of global cases of blindness.
A significantly developed cataract can only currently be treated by a surgical procedure to remove the cloudy lens and insert an artificial replacement.
A team of international scientists, ...
Due to the extensive clearing of their habitat, these primates sometimes turn to palm oil monocultures while foraging. This often leads to conflicts with farmers. The macaques do not damage the palm oil fruits to any great extent. On the contrary, they can even benefit palm oil cultivation, as they are excellent hunters of the masses of rats found on plantations, the main pest found there. As a new study has now been able to prove, however, regularly visiting the plantations has a significant impact on macaques' social behaviour. This was shown by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig University (UL), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). The new findings ...
Active music-making can provide cognitive benefits to older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, according to an analysis of all relevant studies. The analysis, which is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, also found that music may help improve their quality of life and mood.
The analysis included nine studies with a total of 495 participants. The authors noted that music-based interventions could potentially provide millions of older adults with critical support for their cognitive, emotional, and social well-being.
"We are excited to see these results because participating in music, like singing in a choir or playing ...
Brazil is the world leader in sweet orange production, but citrus cultivation in the region faces constant threats concerning the availability of water and the outbreak of diseases. New research published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology indicates that a fatty acid called hexanoic acid may help protect against one such problem: citrus canker, a bacterial infection that causes brownish eruptive lesions on the leaves, stems, and fruit of citrus trees.
Hexanoic acid might be a suitable substitute for chemicals used to protect citrus from bacterial infections. Investigators examined several ...
