Biodiversity is declining more rapidly within key protected areas than outside them, according to research described by scientists as a “wake-up call.”
This study challenges the assumption that designating protected areas alone is sufficient for effective conservation, emphasising the need for better management and strategies to address underlying issues.
The analysis, conducted by the Natural History Museum (NHM), reveals that nearly a quarter of the world’s biodiversity-rich land falls within protected areas. However, these areas are experiencing faster biodiversity declines compared to unprotected regions.
Using the Biodiversity Intactness Index—a metric measuring biodiversity health as a percentage in response to human pressures—the study observed a global decline of 1.88 percentage points between 2000 and 2020.
Within critical biodiversity areas that provide 90% of nature’s contributions to humanity, 22% of which are protected, biodiversity declined by 2.1 percentage points in protected areas versus 1.9 percentage points in unprotected areas.
The researchers attribute this trend to several factors. Many protected areas are not designed to safeguard entire ecosystems, focusing instead on specific species of interest. This narrow approach may overlook broader ecological health.
Additionally, some protected areas were already degraded before receiving their designation, which could partially explain their accelerated decline. The study stresses the importance of localised analysis to understand and address specific challenges facing each area.
Dr Gareth Thomas, head of research innovation at NHM, said: “The 30×30 target has received so much attention – as it should do – and has become a key target people talk about at UN biodiversity talks, but we wanted to understand if it was really fit for purpose.
“I think if you asked most people they would assume an area designated as ‘protected’ would at the very least do exactly that: protect nature. But this research showed that wasn’t the case.”
Currently, 17.5% of land and 8.4% of marine areas are protected globally, reflecting modest increases since COP15 in 2022. Achieving the target of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 requires significant expansion.
But for many of those areas, the “protections in place are not stringent enough”, said Thomas.
“Countries need to continue their focus on 30×30, that shouldn’t waver. They just need to bring more into it, and pay more attention to actually conserving the land which provides those ecosystem services,” he said.
However, threats such as oil, gas, and mining concessions jeopardise biodiversity within these zones. For example, over 65% of Conkouati-Douli National Park in the Republic of the Congo is covered by oil and gas concessions.
Similarly, in the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia, 254,000 square kilometres of protected areas are threatened by resource exploration. Additionally, over 300,000 square kilometres of Indigenous territories in the Amazon overlap with oil and gas concessions.
A recent University of New South Wales study examining forested land in 300,000 protected areas found conservation policies to be largely ineffective in biodiversity-rich nations like Indonesia, Madagascar, Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Factors such as corruption, political instability, and insufficient resources undermine the enforcement of conservation laws.
Furthermore, climate change exacerbates these challenges, as wildfires and droughts do not respect the boundaries of protected areas. For instance, Australia’s national parks, once a model for effective conservation, were severely impacted by the 2019 wildfires.
Emma Woods, director of policy at the Natural History Museum, said: “We urgently need to move beyond the current approach of simply designating more protected areas to 30×30. Our analysis reinforces the view that this will not automatically result in better outcomes for biodiversity and ecosystems.”
The findings underline that simply designating areas as protected is insufficient. Effective conservation requires well-implemented policies, adequate funding, and management that prioritises ecosystem health over minimal-cost approaches.
Ben Groom, a biodiversity economics professor at Exeter University, highlighted the risk of cheap policy implementation, “there was always a chance that this would manifest in shallow policy implementation in the form of cost-minimising attainment of the 30×30 target, rather than focusing on quality.”
The study serves as a critical reminder for policymakers, conservationists, and international stakeholders. Addressing the dual challenges of environmental degradation and inadequate protection policies is vital for achieving meaningful biodiversity conservation.
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