Researchers published a global conservation study in Nature Communications evaluating expanded protected area strategies under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The framework aims to expand high-quality protected areas globally despite economic constraints, climate change, and human pressures. The paper analyzed "30 by 30" and "50 by 50" expansion targets, combining species diversity with carbon storage across near-current and future climates.
Single-criterion strategies focusing on carbon alone or five taxonomic groups—plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles—achieved effectiveness rates of 42.3 ± 4.10% and 68.8 ± 8.39% for the two targets. Multi-goal strategies reached effectiveness levels of 44.07 ± 0.42% and 67.0 ± 0.89%. The study measured effectiveness as the represented proportion of global species richness and carbon stocks. Multi-goal strategies reduced connectivity by 2.35%, but they improved cost-efficiency with a 2.06% lower cost and raised individual-metric effectiveness by a mean of 0.76%.
Geographic distribution varied significantly depending on the selection criteria. Moving from single-criterion to multi-target strategies increased conserved-area coverage in high-latitude, higher-income countries by 3.14% and 5.59%. Conversely, coverage in low-income countries dropped by 7.31% and 12.6% under multi-goal models. Single-goal strategies targeting threatened species directed a larger share of protected area coverage to the Global South. The study noted that rebalancing North-South responsibilities and easing burdens on low-income nations needing financial support or compensation mechanisms provides equity insights for implementing both the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement.
The research paper was submitted on October 23, 2024, accepted on July 27, 2026, and published on August 5, 2026. Authors Zhongde Huang and Zhou Fang contributed equally to the paper alongside co-authors including Jie Wang, Yunhong Tan, Alexandre Antonelli, and Daniele Silvestro. Participating institutions included the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, ETH Zurich, and the University of Oxford. Funding came from the Swedish Research Council, MISTRA, the Kew Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Yunnan Science and Technology Department, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
