Global Protected Area Network
Given the predicted increase in the world's human population, there is little chance that we will be able to reduce our land use. Another way needs to be found to enable biodiversity to persist. The creation of a global-scale network of protected habitats could limit the damaging effects of human activity and allow species to flourish alongside us.
Aiming for a Protected Area Network
The IUCN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) made a number of conservation targets in the 2010 Nagoya conference . A key target was:
"By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversityand ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representativeand well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes."
ZSL provided some of the science that contributed to this target when we attended the 2010 conference. We described the current state of biodiversity and put forward practical solutions for communities, business and government to address biodiversity loss. Find out about ZSl's work at CBD 2010 Nagoya .
Building the Network
ZSL's many conservation projects on the ground are directly contributing to the growth of this network on sea and land.
Marine reserves lag a long way behind terrestrial reserves globally, with only 1.42% of global oceans protected so far. Our Project Seahorse and Project Ocean initiatives have already resulted in many new marine protected areas (MPAs). The 2010 creation of the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory has been a particular success, because this is the largest marine reseve in the world. Most recently, Project Ocean led to creation of the Selfridges reserve on the Danajon Bank in the Phillipines. ZSL is also part of the Marine Reserves Coalition, that is pressuring the UK government to designate at least 30% UK marine waters as protected. Find out more about MPAs .
Many of our terrestrial projects work to create new terrestrial protected areas for vulnerable species such as the red slender loris in Sri Lanka
. We are closely engaged in increasing the efficacy of reserve protection as well, through capacity building and ranger training in projects such as our Okapi conservation in DRC
or Pygmy Hippo project in Central Africa
.
ZSL is also developing new tools to allow us to keep track of biodiversity and how effectively protected are functioning. The Wildlife Picture Index uses the latest camera trapping technology to monitor wildlife in conservation and wilderness areas and is being piloted in 5 countries at present. ZSL's Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), uses satellite data to describe the functionality of ecosystems, revealing the effectiveness of protected areas for the first time. Find out more about new tools for keeping tabs on conservation .
