Achievement of the required area in Target 11of CBD should not be an end in itself but generate genuine benefits for biodiversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity established ambitious PA targets as part of the 2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. The avowed targets are to “improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity. Target 11 aims to put 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine regions under PA status by 2020. These areas are expected to be of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative, and well-connected and to include “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs). The authors of the paper say “There is a real risk that Target 11 may be achieved in terms of area while failing the overall strategic goal for which it is established because the areas are poorly located, inadequately managed, or based on unjustifiable inclusion of OECMs”. They argue that the conservation science community can help establish ecologically sensible PA targets to help prioritize important biodiversity areas and achieve ecological representation; identify clear, comparable performance metrics of ecological effectiveness so progress toward these targets can be assessed; and identify metrics and report on the contribution OECMs make toward the target. By providing ecologically sensible targets and new performance metrics for measuring the effectiveness of both PAs and OECMs, the science community can actively ensure that the achievement of the required area in Target 11 is not simply an end in itself but generates genuine benefits for biodiversity.

Bolder science needed now for protected areas

James E. M. Watson^, Emily S. Darling,Oscar Venter^, Martine Maron^, Joe Walston^, Hugh P. Possingham^, Nigel Dudley^, Marc Hockings^, Megan Barnes and Thomas M. Brooks

Conservation Biology, Volume 30, Issue 2, pages 243–248, April 2016