How China expanded its protected areas to conserve biodiversity.
Abstract
How has the global network of protected areas developed - and which decisions have
guided this development? Answering these questions may give insight into what might
be possible in the next decade. In 2021, China will host the Convention of Biological
Diversity's Conference, which will influence the coming decade's agenda. We consider
how China expanded its protected areas in the last half-century. Did concerns about
biodiversity protection drive those decisions, or were other factors responsible?
Like other countries, China has protected remote places with few people that are unusually
cold or dry or both. Despite that, species with small geographical ranges that have
the highest risk of extinction are better protected than expected. Importantly, while
the growth of total area and number of protected areas has slowed for the last decade,
increases in protection of forested ecosystems and the species they contain have steadily
increased. China's future reserve expansion must consider where to protect biodiversity,
not just how much area to protect.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23513Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.025Publication Info
Li, Binbin V; & Pimm, Stuart L (2020). How China expanded its protected areas to conserve biodiversity. Current biology : CB, 30(22). pp. R1334-R1340. 10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.025. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23513.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Binbin Li
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Duke Kunshan University
Dr. Binbin Li is the Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences of the Environmental
Research Center at Duke Kunshan University. She holds a secondary appointment with
Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Her research focuses on loss
of biodiversity, endangered and endemic species conservation such as giant pandas,
priority setting and management of protected areas, and promotion of innovative technology,
markets and policies to solve conservation problems and local commu
Stuart L. Pimm
Doris Duke Distinguished Professor of Conservation Ecology in the Nicholas School
of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Stuart Pimm is a world leader in the study of present-day extinctions and what can
be done to prevent them. His research covers the reasons why species become extinct,
how fast they do so, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction and,
importantly, the management consequences of this research. Pimm received his BSc degree
from Oxford University in 1971 and his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University in 1974.
Pimm is the author of over 350 scientific papers and five books. He i
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