Mass Extinction: A Choice We Can ReverseMass Extinction: A Choice We Can Reverse Human activity has accelerated species extinction at an alarming rate. Studies have shown that without us, it would have taken 18,000 years for as many species to go extinct as have done in the past 500 years. A new study in Frontiers in Science offers hope, suggesting that we can prevent extinctions at minimal cost. The researchers mapped protected natural areas and potential habitats, identifying 16,825 sites covering 164 megahectares that, if adequately protected, would prevent all extinctions. Protecting these areas is not only feasible but also financially viable. It’s cheaper than letting species die en masse, and it has numerous benefits, including promoting health and well-being and boosting the economy. The solution varies by location, but approaches include: * Granting rights to indigenous peoples and local communities to retain traditional lands * Designating new protected areas on federal and state lands * Purchasing or leasing private lands The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calls for restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. The Conservation Imperatives proposed in this study can help achieve this goal. While there are challenges, such as poaching and invasive species, the authors believe that the plan is “affordable and feasible.” Carlos Peres, a study co-author, emphasizes the need for political will and support from the private sector and local communities. Eric Dinerstein, another co-author, points out that purchasing land outright may not always be necessary. In many cases, reclassifying land status or empowering indigenous communities can provide a cost-effective alternative. By safeguarding the Conservation Imperatives, we can protect rare wildlife, mitigate mass extinction, and ensure a brighter future for generations to come.
Extinction is a natural byproduct of life and evolution, but an alarming number of species have been consigned to the dustbin of history thanks to human activity — which is anything but natural.
In a 2023 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists found that humans have caused so many extinctions over the past 500 years that if our species had never existed, it would have taken 18,000 years for the same number of lineages to evolve before they naturally disappeared. The finding reinforced a conclusion from a 2021 study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, which reported that the average predicted rate for freshwater animals and plants today is three orders of magnitude higher than it was 66 million years ago, when an asteroid was thought to have killed off the dinosaurs during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
“The solution varies by country and even within countries.”
It’s clear that we need to reverse this trend, but where do we start? A new study in the journal Frontiers in Science offers a series of suggestions and reports that humanity could begin to conserve many of the species we’re losing at minimal cost and using only roughly 164 megahectares (equivalent to 10,000 hectares or 38.6 square miles).
To learn this, the researchers used six layers of global biodiversity data to create an international map of protected natural areas. They also conducted a fractional land cover analysis, using satellite imagery to locate potential habitats for rare and endangered species. In doing so, the scientists created conservation obligations to help countries and regions plan conservation more effectively at the local level. Through their own research, the scientists also identified 16,825 sites covering approximately 164 megahectares that would prevent all extinctions if adequately protected.
Even better, governments and private entities can easily join forces and protect the proposed areas. The concept of protection imperatives is not only feasible, in the long term it is also much cheaper than allowing animals, plants and fungi to die en masse. It may not sound too serious if an animal goes extinct here or there, but all species are connected, so even the disappearance of less charismatic species such as insects and plants (compared to megafauna such as pandas and whales) can have enormous consequences. These costs are not only related to our health and well-being, but also to the economy.
“Multiple approaches will be needed to achieve long-term conservation goals: granting rights and titles to indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) to retain traditional lands, government designation of new protected areas on federal and state lands, and purchasing or leasing private lands,” the study authors wrote.
Furthermore, restoring 30% of all degraded ecosystems by 2030 is one of the many goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an international agreement ratified by the United Nations in 2022. It is also called a ‘Paris Agreement for nature’. can help achieve these goals. But an outstanding question remains: do we have the collective willpower to actually make this happen?
“It’s actually very plausible to achieve most, if not all, of the goals that we’ve proposed, given the political will,” study co-author Carlos Peres, a professor of ecology at the University of East Anglia, told Salon. “We’re spending far more resources on environmentally perverse subsidies, and the distribution of wealth has never been more unequal, so I think we can use most of the resources needed to set aside most of the sites that need protection as purchases or leases of conservation land.”
Co-author Eric Dinerstein of the sustainability nonprofit RESOLVE pointed out another financial benefit of the Conservation Imperatives idea: In many cases, there will be no need to buy the lands in question outright.
“While we have estimated the cost of land acquisition for the 16,825 sites, it will not be necessary or possible to acquire all of these lands,” Dinerstein said. “In a number of countries, it is not possible to purchase land because the parcels in question are under federal or state jurisdiction. In these cases, reclassifying the status of these lands to a more protected management regime may be an alternative to outright purchase at a low cost. In other areas, they can be converted to community reserves. In approximately 17 percent of the sites, the land is the sovereign land of IPLCs. Therefore, the best strategy in these situations is to empower and help fund IPLCs to protect these lands, if requested. The solution will therefore vary by country and even within countries.”
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“We just need the political will of governments, support from the private sector and the empowerment of local communities to protect these rare wild animals for future generations.”
Despite these advantages, the current study has limitations. As the authors write, “the biggest gap in our approach arises when adding new plots alone does not achieve the desired result of avoiding extinctions.”
For example, there are endangered species that are still vulnerable to uncontrolled poaching, as well as species in environments such as the tropical archipelagos that are being wiped out by exotic invasive species. New technologies will need to better monitor endangered animal populations against potential poachers, and targeted eradication campaigns will need to be deployed to prevent extinctions in areas facing invasive species problems. Finally, there is the unpredictable variable of how the various industries that could lose profits from conservation will respond to regulatory efforts.
“We need to overlay the locations of these unprotected sites, the Conservation Imperatives, with where fossil fuel exploration or extraction is planned or underway, energy metal mining and other extractive industries,” Dinerstein said. “They have an important role to play in protecting these sites and the global community must put pressure on them to do that.”
Peres noted that there are also shortcomings in the project’s financial projections.
“One area that has not been taken into account is the implementation and management costs of those sites, let’s say over one (five) to 10 years,” Peres said. “Horizon, but this is extremely important because we know that buying protected land is only the first step in creating a new protected area in most tropical countries.”
Despite these challenges, Dinerstein is optimistic that the plan is “affordable and feasible.” The current article aims to start the conversation about how we can conserve our planet’s most endangered species and mitigate the impact of ongoing mass extinctions, in an economically and politically feasible way.
“We just need the political will of governments, support from the private sector and the empowerment of local communities to protect these rare wildlife for future generations,” Dinerstein said.
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