One common objective of conservation efforts is to improve ecological connectivity between and around habitat fragments. Protected areas are often employed as a method of restoring connectivity by establishing and maintaining corridors. Many international and national environmental agreements, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, include the creation and/or maintenance of protected areas. With over 260,000 protected areas across the world, it’s important to quantify if and how effective they are in relation to biodiversity conservation goals.
Santiago-Ramos, J. and Feria-Toribio, J.M. 2021. Assessing the effectiveness of protected areas against habitat fragmentation and loss: A long-term multi-scalar analysis in a mediterranean region. Journal for Nature Conservation 64: 126072.
A recent study examined the effectiveness of protected areas on reducing habitat fragmentation in the Andalusian Autonomous Community, located along the southern edge of the Iberian peninsula. This area is part of the Andalusian Network of Protected Natural Spaces (RENPA), a regional network in southwestern Europe, and Natura 2000, a network of protected habitats across the EU. This location was chosen due to the diversity of the habitats it contains, the region’s history of conservation efforts, and its large physical size.
The loss of natural cover and habitat fragmentation was measured at multiple scales (whole region of Andalusia, RENPA, sets of Nature parks, and individual parks). Ten nature parks were included in this study and were analysed over a time period of 50 years (1956-2007). The time scale was divided into two periods: before RENPA was established (pre-1984) and after RENPA was in place (post-1984).
One main finding was that five of the ten nature parks had a net increase in natural cover, and a decrease in the degree of fragmentation. Natural cover was found to be generally stable in the region. However, ecological connectivity declined at the regional scale over the study period. This is thought to be due to the loss of key connections of habitats in non-protected areas throughout the region.
The authors suggest that expanding the area and number of protected areas is not the solution to maintaining or restoring ecological connectivity. Instead, management for conservation should address unprotected areas, especially ones near existing protected areas to minimize the loss of connectivity. Future research is needed to better understand how the composition of habitat(s) in protected areas relates to measures of fragmentation, as well as a look at protected areas of smaller physical size and located in different geographic conditions. Future studies could consider how these landscape changes specifically impact the biodiversity of the region.
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