Strengthening the synergies among global biodiversity targets to reconcile conservation and socio‐economic demands

Abstract

Most of the world's nations adopted the 20 Aichi global biodiversity targets to be met by 2020, including the protection of at least 10% of their coastal and marine areas (Target 11) and the avoidance of extinction of threatened species (Target 12). However, reconciling these biodiversity targets with socio‐economic demands remains a great dilemma for implementing conservation policies. In this paper, Aichi Targets 11 and 12 were simultaneously addressed using Brazil's exclusive economic zone as an example. Priority areas for expanding the current system of marine protected areas within the country's eight marine ecoregions were identified with data on threatened vertebrates under different scenarios. Additionally, the potential effects of major socio‐economic activities (small‑ and large‐scale fishing, seabed mining, and oil and gas exploration) on the representation of conservation features in proposed marine protected areas were explored. Areas selected for expanding marine protected areas solely based on biodiversity data were different (spatial overlap from 62% to 93%) from areas prioritized when socio‐economic features were incorporated into the analysis. The addition of socio‐economic data in the prioritization process substantially decreased opportunity costs and potential conservation conflicts, at the cost of reducing significantly (up to 31%) the coverage of conservation features. Large‑ and small‐scale fisheries act in most of the exclusive economic zone and are the major constraints for protecting high‐priority areas. Nevertheless, there is some spatial mismatch between areas of special relevance for conservation and socio‐economic activities, suggesting an opportunity for reconciling the achievement of biodiversity targets and development goals within the intricate Brazilian seascape by 2020 and beyond.

Taxonomic and functional diversity of benthic macrofauna associated with rhodolith beds in SE Brazil

“…In SE Brazil, multiple uses and impacts such as fishing, coastal urbanization (e.g. ports, marinas), pollution and mine tailings (Gomes et al, 2017;Vilar et al, 2020), are of additional concern to rhodolith beds in areas that may receive increased sediment deposition and contamination. This study supports those initiatives that aim to preserve and manage these ecosystems on the Brazilian continental shelf will lead to the protection of a larger number of species.…”

A blueprint for securing Brazil's marine biodiversity and supporting the achievement of global conservation goals

“…Previous initiatives have varied greatly in terms of objectives, taxonomic groups, scale of analysis, data and methods used for identifying priorities (e.g. Davidson & Dulvy, 2017; Jenkins & Van Houtan, 2016; Jones et al., 2020; Vilar et al., 2020). We developed an approach that includes, for the first time, threats, biodiversity representation, connectivity and a wide range of threatened species representing data assembled from multiple sources as input features.…”

“…Application of these methods with socio‐economic considerations (e.g. Vilar et al., 2020) will create trade‐offs between achieving different targets and minimizing conflicts and costs.…”

“…Almada & Bernardino, 2017; Magris et al., 2016) or taxonomic groups (e.g. Patrizzi & Dobrovolski, 2018; Vilar et al., 2020), or performed regional‐scale planning exercises (e.g. Duarte de Paula Costa et al., 2018; Magris et al., 2015).…”

New records of fishes for the Vitória-Trindade Chain, southwestern Atlantic

“…This study calls attention to the need of better understanding the biodiversity of remote sites of the VTC, aiming to support both biogeographic analyses and conservation initiatives. The Martin Vaz Archipelago is currently a no-take zone, part of a convoluted mosaic of protected areas created around Trindade Island (see Giglio et al 2018;Vilar et al 2020). Conversely, Davis Seamount, a priority area for conservation in the VTC (Meirelles et al 2015), is in international waters and is threatened by mining and fishing activities (Pinheiro et al 2014).…”