Response: Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?

Response: Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?

“…As we stated, the reason for undertaking our study was to provide a scoping of potential Criterion C KBAs, to assess what we might obtain if we use a strict interpretation of "wholly intact ecological communities." We therefore agree with Grantham et al (2022) that such a strict definition is of concern for policy makers who are pushing for ambitious conservation targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework, given how few areas we found were considered ecologically intact. While we think that highlighting the extent of still existing ecologically intact habitat has value in itself, in particular to avoid overly optimistic perceptions caused by the shifting baseline syndrome (Soga and Gaston, 2018), Grantham et al (2022) mainly see a value when applicable to identifying specific areas for conservation.…”

“…We therefore agree with Grantham et al (2022) that such a strict definition is of concern for policy makers who are pushing for ambitious conservation targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework, given how few areas we found were considered ecologically intact. While we think that highlighting the extent of still existing ecologically intact habitat has value in itself, in particular to avoid overly optimistic perceptions caused by the shifting baseline syndrome (Soga and Gaston, 2018), Grantham et al (2022) mainly see a value when applicable to identifying specific areas for conservation. Clearly, there is a value in conserving large areas of relatively intact habitat, which have been identified by the various approaches used in Table 1 and cover between 22 and 58% of land.…”

“…However, we also believe that where we have intact habitat as well as intact fauna since 1,500 CE that these sites are particularly special and are worthy of recognition and protection. The findings of our paper, and the reactions to it, triggered a set of webinars and meetings in the second half of 2021 to reconsider how KBA Criterion C could be interpreted, and in which some of the authors of Grantham et al (2022) participated. Participants in these events investigated ways in which we might broaden the interpretation to focus on all aspects of structure, composition, and function.…”

“…Glob. Change 4:626635. doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2021.626635 We thank the authors of the commentary of our paper "Where might we find ecologically intact communities" (Grantham et al, 2022) for their interest in our paper (Plumptre et al, 2021) and their critique of some of the methods and conclusions. We here respond to their commentary, where many of their points have been well-made, with the aim of advancing discussion of what is meant by ecological integrity or intactness.…”

“…There are three main points of criticism by Grantham et al (2022) of Plumptre et al (2021): (1) the definition of ecological integrity and that it does not follow the main paradigm of structure-composition-function that has been applied to assessment of ecological integrity; (2) the appropriateness of the methods applied; and (3) the issue of the usefulness of the results for policy and application for real-world conservation.…”