Area-based protection in an era of land-use and climate change

Protected areas are the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation.

However, researchers and policymakers agree that a large increase in area protection is needed to combat the ongoing biodiversity crisis. To do this most effectively, we need to know how effective the existing protected area network is and has been.

This project will use historical land-use, climate and biodiversity data to apply a robust framework for the evaluation of protected area effectiveness in the past 50+ years.

In doing so, we will ask whether protected areas [1] prevent habitat destruction; [2] prevent local extinctions; [3] facilitate colonisation of migrating species.

Considering two countries undergoing contrasting land-use trajectories, and three taxonomic groups that respond to environmental change and different spatio-temporal scales, we will obtain a broad understanding of how protected areas are meeting their goals.

Our analyses will also identify the properties (size, protection status) of protected areas that are most effective, the types of species (taxon, habitat specialisation, climatic response) that benefit more or less from protected areas, and the existence of time lags between area protection and biodiversity outcomes.

Working together with stakeholders, we will ensure that our results can directly inform the creation and implementation of policy at a time where further measures are desperately needed to protect biodiversity from the tandem threads of climate and land use change.