The positive impact of conservation action

Penny F. Langhammer; Joseph W. Bull; Jake E. Bicknell; Joseph L. Oakley; Mary H. Brown; Michael W. Bruford; Stuart H.M. Butchart; Jamie A. Carr; Don Church; Rosie Cooney; Simone Cutajar; Wendy Foden; Matthew N. Foster; Claude Gascon; Jonas Geldmann; Piero Genovesi; Michael Hoffmann; Jo Howard-McCombe; Tiffany Lewis; Nicholas B.W. Macfarlane; Zoe E. Melvin; Rossana Stoltz Merizalde; Meredith G. Morehouse; Shyama Pagad; Beth Polidoro; Wes Sechrest; Gernot Segelbacher; Kevin G. Smith; Janna Steadman; Kyle Strongin; Jake Williams; Stephen Woodley; Thomas M. Brooks

doi:10.1126/science.adj6598

The positive impact of conservation action

Penny F. Langhammer, Joseph W. Bull, Jake E. Bicknell, Joseph L. Oakley, Mary H. Brown, Michael W. Bruford, Stuart H.M. Butchart, Jamie A. Carr, Don Church, Rosie Cooney, Simone Cutajar, Wendy Foden, Matthew N. Foster, Claude Gascon, Jonas Geldmann, Piero Genovesi, Michael Hoffmann, Jo Howard-McCombe, Tiffany Lewis, Nicholas B.W. MacfarlaneZoe E. Melvin, Rossana Stoltz Merizalde, Meredith G. Morehouse, Shyama Pagad, Beth Polidoro, Wes Sechrest, Gernot Segelbacher, Kevin G. Smith, Janna Steadman, Kyle Strongin, Jake Williams, Stephen Woodley, Thomas M. Brooks

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Governments recently adopted new global targets to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. It is therefore crucial to understand the outcomes of conservation actions. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 186 studies (including 665 trials) that measured biodiversity over time and compared outcomes under conservation action with a suitable counterfactual of no action. We find that in two-thirds of cases, conservation either improved the state of biodiversity or at least slowed declines. Specifically, we find that interventions targeted at species and ecosystems, such as invasive species control, habitat loss reduction and restoration, protected areas, and sustainable management, are highly effective and have large effect sizes. This provides the strongest evidence to date that conservation actions are successful but require transformational scaling up to meet global targets.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	453-458
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	384
Issue number	6694
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj6598
State	Published - Apr 26 2024
Externally published	Yes

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Langhammer, P. F., Bull, J. W., Bicknell, J. E., Oakley, J. L., Brown, M. H., Bruford, M. W., Butchart, S. H. M., Carr, J. A., Church, D., Cooney, R., Cutajar, S., Foden, W., Foster, M. N., Gascon, C., Geldmann, J., Genovesi, P., Hoffmann, M., Howard-McCombe, J., Lewis, T., ... Brooks, T. M. (2024). The positive impact of conservation action. Science, 384(6694), 453-458. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj6598

Langhammer, PF, Bull, JW, Bicknell, JE, Oakley, JL, Brown, MH, Bruford, MW, Butchart, SHM, Carr, JA, Church, D, Cooney, R, Cutajar, S, Foden, W, Foster, MN, Gascon, C, Geldmann, J, Genovesi, P, Hoffmann, M, Howard-McCombe, J, Lewis, T, Macfarlane, NBW, Melvin, ZE, Merizalde, RS, Morehouse, MG, Pagad, S, Polidoro, B, Sechrest, W, Segelbacher, G, Smith, KG, Steadman, J, Strongin, K, Williams, J, Woodley, S & Brooks, TM 2024, 'The positive impact of conservation action', Science, vol. 384, no. 6694, pp. 453-458. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj6598

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title = "The positive impact of conservation action",

abstract = "Governments recently adopted new global targets to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. It is therefore crucial to understand the outcomes of conservation actions. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 186 studies (including 665 trials) that measured biodiversity over time and compared outcomes under conservation action with a suitable counterfactual of no action. We find that in two-thirds of cases, conservation either improved the state of biodiversity or at least slowed declines. Specifically, we find that interventions targeted at species and ecosystems, such as invasive species control, habitat loss reduction and restoration, protected areas, and sustainable management, are highly effective and have large effect sizes. This provides the strongest evidence to date that conservation actions are successful but require transformational scaling up to meet global targets.",

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AU - Pagad, Shyama

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AU - Sechrest, Wes

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The positive impact of conservation action

Abstract

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