About the research
The Living Planet Index, which monitors selected species populations, has declined by 30 per cent globally, and by almost 60 per cent in developing countries in the tropics, which account for the greatest share of global biodiversity. One of the strategies to conserve biodiversity is sparing land from human development to protect wildlife contained therein. This perspective study, conducted by Silvio Crespin and Jorge García-Villalta, sets out to show that some nations no longer have enough natural areas to set aside for the proposed target of 17 per cent of land for biodiversity conservation, and what is left is not enough to adequately meet the spatial needs of large species. The study offers a solution by integrating the seemingly opposing land-sharing (the multiple use of land for agriculture and conservation) and land-sparing (the conservation of protected areas) strategies in a complementary fashion. In other words, the solution consists in extending usable habitat for species with large spatial needs in the areas dedicated to agriculture and conservation, and into neighbouring countries. Such integration could result in the creation of an effective network of protected areas, thereby increasing the probability of safeguarding species with populations that overlap national borders.
In particular, it gives an example of how the existing Mesoamerican Biological Corridor can function as its framework in Central America by fixating on the Republic of El Salvador and its carnivores. The largest neighbouring protected area in El Salvador is not enough to maintain viable populations of 87 per cent of the country’s existing carnivores. Therefore a solution resides in land management, where policy is addressed by suggesting the integration of land-sparing and land-sharing strategies through the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
Methodology
Focusing on carnivores, the minimum area required to maintain a population of 500 individuals was calculated by collating population density data to assess the suitability of the largest protected area in El Salvador for carnivores. Consequently, the ratio between minimum area (MA) and park area (PA) was calculated, where an MA/PA > 1 indicates inadequate park size to sustain a viable population.
Publications
Crespin S. J. & García-Villalta J. E. (2014) ‘Integration of land-sharing and land-sparing conservation strategies through regional networking: the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor as a lifeline for carnivores in El Salvador’, AMBIO, 43 (6), pp. 820–4. DOI: 10.1007/s13280-013-0470-y.