The effectiveness of UK protected areas in preventing local extinctions

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) are a core component in global efforts to prevent further declines in biodiversity. We examine whether the United Kingdom's PA portfolio has reduced local extinctions of breeding birds and consider how the characteristics of different PA designations may have affected conservation outcomes. We use breeding bird atlas data to calculate the proportion of species in each 10 × 10‐km grid cell confirmed as breeding in 1988–1991 but not in 2008–2011. We find that the protection offered by PAs is little to no different from that of the wider landscape and, depending on the type of PA, attribute this to PAs being either too small or not managed for biodiversity outcomes. To meet the ambitious new global targets for expanding PA coverage set at the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference, all countries need to monitor and ensure PA effectiveness; high PA coverage does not guarantee that biodiversity is protected.

The SDGs Provide Limited Evidence That Environmental Policies Are Delivering Multiple Ecological and Social Benefits

“…This may reflect that countries with greater biodiversity threats have implemented more protections for biodiversity in an effort to mitigate species declines, rather than protections causing extinction risk to increase. Nonetheless, the results align with the criticisms that protected areas have fallen short of their conservation goals over the past decade (Gardner et al., 2023; Maxwell et al., 2020). Despite the implementation of these policies by many countries, the number of species at risk of extinction continues to increase.…”

The SDGs provide limited evidence that environmental policies are delivering multiple ecological and social benefits

“…This may reflect that countries with greater biodiversity threats have implemented more protections for biodiversity in an effort to mitigate species declines, rather than protections causing extinction risk to increase. Nonetheless, the results align with the criticisms that protected areas have fallen short of their conservation goals over the past decade (Gardner et al, 2023;Maxwell et al, 2020). Despite the implementation of these policies by many countries, the number of species at risk of extinction continues to increase.…”

Impacts, Potential Benefits and Eradication Feasibility of Aquatic Alien Species in an Integral Natural State Reserve

“…The conservation of natural reserves is fundamental to the protection of local biodiversity, and the management of alien species in these areas is a major challenge for managers and researchers [3,61]. Similarly, riverine wetlands could be considered as stepping-stone habitats where freshwater species survive in the midst of anthropogenic pressures, as stated by the Ramsar Convention (1971).…”

“…This approach could be applied to any IAS in any area and was based on expert judgement supported by the available information (grey or scientific literature) associated with a confidence level [21,32]. It could be applied even when data on both IAS abundance and distribution are limited, and it satisfies the international requirements for risk management [3,[33][34][35][36]. Defining the risk management area and describing the possible invasion scenario was the first step.…”

“…The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 aims to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by defining four different pillars for effective conservation strategies: (i) expanding protected areas, (ii) restoring nature and ensuring its sustainable management across all sectors and ecosystems, (iii) strengthening the EU's biodiversity governance framework, knowledge, research, financing and investments and (iv) deploying EU external actions to raise the level of ambition for biodiversity worldwide and reduce the impact of trade and support biodiversity outside Europe [1]. Native species are subjected to various anthropogenic pressures, such as habitat reduction, overexploitation, pollution, the spread of pathogens and biological invasions, against whom protected areas act as refuges [2][3][4].…”