Replacing underperforming protected areas achieves better conservation outcomes

Richard A. Fuller (), Eve McDonald-Madden, Kerrie A. Wilson, Josie Carwardine, Hedley S. Grantham, James E. M. Watson, Carissa J. Klein, David C. Green and Hugh P. Possingham
Additional contact information
Richard A. Fuller: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Eve McDonald-Madden: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Kerrie A. Wilson: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Josie Carwardine: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Hedley S. Grantham: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
James E. M. Watson: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Carissa J. Klein: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
David C. Green: Information Technology Services, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Hugh P. Possingham: The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia

Nature, 2010, vol. 466, issue 7304, 365-367

Abstract: Conservation: where to save Suggestions that poorly performing conservation areas should lose their protected status, and the money saved used to better effect elsewhere, tend not to go down well with conservationists or local lobby groups. But according to a study of the performance of the nearly 7,000 protected areas in Australia, that may well be the best policy in the long run. The sale of about 70 delisted sites, those yielding the lowest conservation value per assessed land value, could raise about Aus$21 billion (US$17.7 billion). If that money were then reinvested in sites where biodiversity conservation strategies are more likely to prosper, it should be possible to achieve a greater degree of conservation for the same expenditure. And with the rate of new investment in protected areas continuing to decline worldwide, the authors suggest, it is more important than ever that the most valuable and productive sites are retained in the face of rampant land clearances.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09180

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