Protected areas vulnerable to growing emphasis on food security

Date:
January 19, 2021
Source:
University of Maryland
Summary:
New study shows croplands are prevalent in protected areas,
challenging their efficacy in meeting conservation goals.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Protected areas are critical to mitigating extinction of species;
however, they may also be in conflict with efforts to feed the growing
human population. A new study shows that 6% of all global terrestrial
protected areas are already made up of cropland, a heavily modified
habitat that is often not suitable for supporting wildlife. Worse, 22%
of this cropland occurs in areas supposedly enjoying the strictest levels
of protection, the keystone of global biodiversity protection efforts.


==========================================================================
This finding was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at the University of Maryland's National Socio- Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and National Institute for
Mathematical and Biological Synthesis ( NIMBioS ) at the University of Tennessee. In order to comprehensively examine global cropland impacts
in protected areas for the first time, the authors synthesized a number
of remotely sensed cropland estimates and diverse socio-environmental
datasets.

The persistence of many native species -- particularly habitat
specialists (species that depend on a narrow set of natural systems),
rare, and threatened species -- is incompatible with conversion of
habitat to cropland, thus compromising the primary conservation goal of
these protected areas. Guided by the needs of conservation end users,
the researchers used methods that provide an important benchmark and reproducible methods for rapid monitoring of cropland in protected areas.

"Combining multiple remote sensing approaches with ongoing inventory and
survey work will allow us to better understand the impacts of conversion
on different taxa," says lead author Varsha Vijay, a conservation
scientist who was a postdoctoral fellow at SESYNC while working on
the study. "Cropland in biodiversity hotspots warrant particularly
careful monitoring. In many of these regions, expanding cropland to
meet increasing food demand exposes species to both habitat loss and
increased human-wildlife conflict," she adds.

Countries with higher population density, lower income inequality,
and higher agricultural suitability tend to have more cropland in their protected areas.

Even though cropland in protected areas is most dominant in mid-northern latitudes, the tradeoffs between biodiversity and food security may be
most acute in the tropics and subtropics. This increased tradeoff is due
to higher levels of species richness coinciding with a high proportion
of cropland- impacted protected areas.

"The findings of this study emphasize the need to move beyond area-based conservation targets and develop quantitative measures to improve
conservation outcomes in protected areas, especially in areas of high
food insecurity and biodiversity" says Lucas Joppa, chief environmental
officer of Microsoft, who has published numerous papers on the topic of protected area effectiveness but who was not an author on the study. 2021
is a historic "Year of Impact," when many countries and international
agencies are developing new decadal targets for biodiversity conservation
and protected areas. As countries aim to meet these goals and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, there is an increasing need to understand synergies and tradeoffs between these goals in order to ensure a more sustainable future. Studies such as these offer insights for protected
area planning and management, particularly as future protected areas
expand into an agriculturally dominated matrix. Though the study reveals
many challenges for the future, it also reveals potential scenarios
for restoration in mid-northern latitudes and for cooperation between conservation and food programs in regions with both high levels of food insecurity and biodiversity.

"Despite clear connections between food production and biodiversity, conservation and development planning are still often treated as
independent processes," says study co-author Paul Armsworth from the
University of Tennessee. "Rapid advances in data availability provide
exciting opportunities for bringing the two processes together,"
adds Vijay.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Maryland. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Varsha Vijay, Paul R. Armsworth. Pervasive cropland in protected
areas
highlight trade-offs between conservation and food
security. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021;
118 (4): e2010121118 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2010121118 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210119194316.htm

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