Title
Priority Areas for Landscape Protection and Restoration in the Face of Climate Change.
Author(s)
Reside, April; Maxwell, Sean; Trezise, James; Watson, James
Published
2017
Abstract
Connecting up human-dominated landscapes to retain biodiversity is a pressing conservation challenge. The confluence of environmental, social and economic values across landscapes make it very difficult to implement protected areas large enough to ensure species persistence. Compounding this challenge is the threat of rapid climate change, which is increasingly impacting environmental, social and economic values. Bigger-picture planning is urgently required in order to future-proof regions to provide benefits across sectors. Actions that can deliver co-benefits for both humans and the environment include land sharing, restoration, and private land conservation. For example, opportunities exist for carbon offset funding to provide both biodiversity conservation and economic opportunities for landholders. We use scenario planning to develop connectivity conservation solutions for the Great Dividing Range, which contains some of the most biodiverse landscapes in Australia. It is also home to 3/4 of Australia’s human population and produces 30% of the nation’s food. The Range extends the full length of the Australian continent, traversing variable climatic zones, elevation gradients and substrate types, providing refuge to species threatened by climate and land-use change. We generated maps of anthropogenic threats, carbon stock and sequestration potential and biodiversity priorities (based on 1,085 vertebrate species) under two climate change scenarios. With the assistance of key stakeholder groups, we codeveloped maps for a suite of alternative conservation actions that match local social and economic conditions. By accounting for local social and economic values, we believe these proposed conservation actions have a greater chance of being successfully implemented, and are likely to deliver substantial co-benefits. Using this socially inclusive approach that sees all sectors contributing to a strategic conservation effort can benefit both people and nature.

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