Insufficient protection and intense human pressure threaten islands worldwide

• Autores: Nori, Javier; Villalobos Camacho, Crisoforo Fabricio; Osorio Olvera, Luis Alfredo; Loyola, Rafael
• Año de publicación: 2022
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: AICHI TARGETS; HUMAN FOOTPRINT; ISLAND ENVIRONMENTS; PROTECTED AREAS; THREATENED SPECIES
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

The small size, degree of isolation, and particular evolutionary processes occurring in islands make them highly diverse and an essential target for conservation. For the same characteristics, they are also extremely vulnerable to human-mediated disturbances. During the last centuries, nearly 80% of species extinctions have occurred on islands. While there is information on the human threats, level of protection, and conservation importance of islands, an integrative picture combining these aspects and aimed at determining conservation priorities to inform decision-making is still missing. Here, we jointly analyzed these three aspects producing a worldwide island conservation assessment based on terrestrial vertebrates. Considering the Aichi target of >17% of protection and all protected area categories, we found that 5397 islands, encompassing a quarter of the worldwide island area, face high human modification and have a low level of protection, with 33% of them showing extreme levels of human modification. Also, if we were to consider the new threshold of protected area coverage proposed to accurately protect the world's biodiversity and ecosystems (Nature Needs Half initiative), 77% of the world's islands would face this dramatic scenario. Furthermore, most large islands harboring the highest number of threatened vertebrates are found on this critical situation (low protection and high human modification). Based on the analysis of these conservation scenarios, we identified potential priority islands that provide opportunities to improve island conservation worldwide. The mbest opportunities are located in 58 islands with a low level of protection and human modification, which harbor more than 5 threatened vertebrates’ species and are located in different regions of the world.
Fil: Nori, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina
Fil: Villalobos Camacho, Crisoforo Fabricio. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. Instituto de Ecología; México
Fil: Osorio Olvera, Luis Alfredo. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México
Fil: Loyola, Rafael. Universidade Federal de Goiás; Brasil