World governments to miss goal protecting 10 percent of every ecoregion by next year

Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

By ahedgehog

It is unlikely that world governments will keep their pledge to protect 10 percent of every ecological region by 2010, according to a new study published in Biological Conservation. This goal is just one of many agreed upon by world governments through the Convention on Biological Diversity. With less than a year to the goal’s deadline, the study found that half of the world’s ecoregions are currently below the 10 percent threshold.

deforestation and forest cover for Brazil's mata atlantica in 2008
Click to enlarge Percent of each ecoregion protected. (a) Global distribution of ecoregions. Percent of each ecoregion protected within (b) all PAs, (c) IUCN PAs, and (d) strict PAs. Graph courtesy of Clinton Jenkins.

“Without major investments in conservation, spread across the world’s ecosystems, the world is likely to miss the 2010 Target,” says Clinton Jenkins, co-author of the paper and professor at the University of Maryland. “We should not despair though. Reaching the 10 percent goal in 2011 or 2015 or later will still be a major societal achievement, helping preserve the world’s natural heritage for future generations.”

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