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One Earth | Resolve

Global Safety Net

Three years in development, the first version of the Global Safety Net (GSN1) brings together the World Database on Protected Areas with 11 leading conservation priority frameworks, additively compiled into five main geospatial layers — species rarity sites, distinct species assemblages, large mammal assemblages, intact/remote land areas, and additional carbon storage areas — totalling approximately 50% of the terrestrial surface. An additional analysis identifies potential connectivity areas, which would enable species to be more resilient as the planet warms to 1.5°C in global average temperature rise.

Abstract

Global strategies to halt the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are often formulated separately, even though they are interdependent and risk failure if pursued in isolation. The Global Safety Net maps how expanded nature conservation addresses both overarching threats. We identify 50% of the terrestrial realm that, if conserved, would reverse further biodiversity loss, prevent CO2 emissions from land conversion, and enhance natural carbon removal. This framework shows that, beyond the 15.1% land area currently protected, 35.3% of land area is needed to conserve additional sites of particular importance for biodiversity and stabilize the climate. Fifty ecoregions and 20 countries contribute disproportionately to proposed targets. Indigenous lands overlap extensively with the Global Safety Net. Conserving the Global Safety Net could support public health by reducing the potential for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 from emerging in the future.

The level of planning and foresight that is needed to properly scale nature conservation requires the emergence of a worldview that embraces the notion of stewardship at a planetary scale. Decades after the famous motto “think globally, act locally” was coined, the Global Safety Net offers a possible solution to today’s converging socioecological crises, from local to global. Human societies are late in the game to rectify impending climate breakdown, massive biodiversity loss, and, now, prevent pandemics. The Global Safety Net, if erected promptly, offers a way for humanity to catch up and rebound.

WEBSITE: globalsafetynet.app

PAPER: Science Advances | DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb2824

CITATION: E. Dinerstein, A. R. Joshi, C. Vynne, A. T. L. Lee, F. Pharand-Deschênes, M. França, S. Fernando, T. Birch, K. Burkart, G. P. Asner, D. Olson, A “Global Safety Net” to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize Earth’s climate. Science Advances, Vol. 6, No. 36, eabb2824 (2020).

This research uses the Global Deal for Nature as a guiding framework.

Earlier material developed under the umbrella of
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Globaïa has created numerous globe views to help evaluate and assess available datasets.

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Conservation Imperatives (2024)

Dinerstein E, Joshi AR, Hahn NR, Lee ATL, Vynne C, Burkart K, Asner GP, Beckham C, Ceballos G, Cuthbert R, Dirzo R, Fankem O, Hertel S, Li BV, Mellin H, Pharand-Deschênes F, Olson D, Pandav B, Peres CA, Putra R, Rosenthal A, Verwer C, Wikramanayake E and Zolli A. Conservation Imperatives: securing the last unprotected terrestrial sites harboring irreplaceable biodiversity. Frontiers in Science (2024) 2:1349350. doi: 10.3389/fsci.2024.1349350

Abstract

Ambitious biodiversity goals to protect 30% or more of the Earth’s surface by 2030 (30x30) require strategic near-term targets. To define areas that must be protected to prevent the most likely and imminent extinctions, we propose Conservation Imperatives—16,825 unprotected sites spanning ~164 Mha of the terrestrial realm that harbor rare and threatened species. We estimate that protecting the Conservation Imperatives would cost approximately US$169 billion (90% probability: US$146—US$228 billion). Globally, 38% of the 16,825 sites are either adjacent to or within 2.5 km of an existing protected area, potentially reducing land acquisition and management costs. These sites should be prioritized for conservation action over the next 5 years as part of a broader strategy to expand the global protected area network. The expansion of global protected areas between 2018 and 2023 incorporated only 7% of sites harboring range-limited and threatened species, highlighting a renewed urgency to conserve these habitats. Permanently protecting only 0.74% of land found in the tropics, where Conservation Imperatives are concentrated, could prevent the majority of predicted near-term extinctions once adequately resourced. We estimate this cost to be from US$29 billion to US$46 billion per year over the next 5 years. Multiple approaches will be required to meet long-term protection goals: providing rights and titles to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) conserving traditional lands, government designation of new protected areas on federal and state lands, and land purchase or long-term leasing of privately held lands.

Key points

• There is an urgent need to prioritize the conservation of habitats of rare and threatened species as part of a larger global biodiversity strategy.

• Conservation Imperatives offer a solution to conserving the last unprotected sites harboring rare, range-restricted, and threatened species and should be a central component of the ambitious goals to protect at least 30% of the Earth’s surface by 2030.

• The Conservation Imperatives identified in this study are highly concentrated, requiring only ~164 Mha globally to avoid extinctions; this equates to only 1.22% of the Earth’s entire terrestrial surface and 0.74% of land in the tropics.

• Targeted investments to prevent extinctions in parallel with the conservation of carbon-rich regions are necessary as the world sets about expanding the protected area network from 15.7% today to 30% by 2030.

• Conserving Conservation Imperatives is achievable and affordable, especially in the tropics, as the purchase of the tropical subset of Conservation Imperatives costs about US$169 billion (90% probability: US$146–US$228 billion), or US$34 billion (90% probability: US$29.2–US$45.6 billion) per year over 5 years.

• As Conservation Imperatives represent the most biologically important and threatened places to protect, they can be thought of as “anchor points” to design regional-scale conservation planning efforts under 30×30.