Fig. 1 Areas of the terrestrial realm where increased conservation action is needed to protect biodiversity and store carbon. Numbers in parentheses show the percentage of total land area of Earth contributed by each set of layers. Unprotected habitats drawn from the 11 biodiversity data layers underpinning the Global Safety Net augment the current 15.1% protected with an additional 30.6% required to safeguard biodiversity. Additional CSAs add a further 4.7% of the terrestrial realm. Also shown are the wildlife and climate corridors to connect intact habitats (yellow lines). Data are available for interactive viewing at www.globalsafetynet.app.
Fig. 2 Interdependence of carbon and biodiversity. Currently unprotected high-carbon areas with median total carbon >215 MT/ha overlap extensively (92.0%) with areas selected under target 1, highlighting the importance of these lands for biodiversity conservation and climate stabilization. Other areas important for biodiversity but of lower carbon value, i.e., <215 MT/ha, are also shown. Additional CSAs, including tier 1 and tier 2 CSAs, are also selected to bridge the gap for adequate carbon storage beyond areas identified in target 1.
Fig. 3 The Global Safety Net made more visible in a close-up of five biogeographic realms. Shown here are Neotropic (A), Nearctic (B), Afrotropic (C), and Palearctic and Indo-Malayan (D) (adjacent realms partly included). Existing protected areas are expanded to account for additional lands requiring increased conservation attention (target 1), augmented by additional CSAs (target 2), and connected by potential wildlife and climate corridors (target 3). Numbers in parentheses show the percentage of total land area of Earth contributed by each set of layers. To explore the component terrestrial layers of the Global Safety Net, please visit www.globalsafetynet.app. Indigenous lands are not shown but overlap extensively with proposed areas for increased conservation attention (see table S2 for ecoregions depicted in Fig. 3).
- Table 1 Elements of the Global Safety Net to expand protection of terrestrial biodiversity and stabilize climate beyond the current extent of protected areas and a scoping exercise to enhance connectivity.
Dataset name Area Total land surface Est. total carbon (24) Overlap with mapped indigenous lands (26) (km2) (%) (megaton) (km2) (%) Total land surface* 134,126,000 100.00 2,923,028 37,900,308 28 Global terrestrial
protected areas20,210,878 15.07 484,929 8,032,078 40 Unique contribution of currently unprotected lands† Target 1. Conserving the diversity and abundance of life on Earth (terrestrial) Cluster 1: Species
rarity‡3,047,787 2.27 75,638 526,739 17 Cluster 2: Distinct species
assemblages8,072,308 6.02 239,978 3,235,858 40 Cluster 3: Rare
phenomena8,414,171 6.27 442,625 4,092,873 49 Cluster 4: Intactness 21,515,364 16.04 602,157 7,157,106 33 Subtotal 41,049,630 30.61 1,360,399 15,042,327 37 Target 2. Enhancing carbon drawdown and storage Tier 1 climate
stabilization areas§2,337,236 1.74 82,878 309,899 13 Tier 2 climate
stabilization areas||3,946,581 2.94 48,122 549,335 14 Subtotal 6,283,826 4.69 131,000 859,234 14 Total area to achieve
targets 1 and 247,333,457 35.29 1,420,499 15,871,809 34 Total area for greater
conservation attention
within the Global
Safety Net (including
current protected areas
(14))67,544,335 50.36 1,905,428 23,903,887 35 Target 3. Wildlife and climate corridors: A scoping exercise¶ Area required if targets 1
and 2 achieved3,584,614 Area required if targets 1
and 2 are not achieved
(existing protected
areas only)5,705,206 *On the basis of Earth’s total terrestrial area excluding Antarctica.
†Subtracts overlap with previous datasets.
‡All layers in cluster 1, except rare plant species, include a 1-km buffer around each site.
§Includes ecoregions with median total carbon density above 215 MT/ha.
||Includes ecoregions with median total carbon density between 50 to 215 MT/ha.
¶On the basis of corridor width of 2.5 km.
- Table 2 Fifty ecoregions that contribute most to enhancing biodiversity protection and carbon storage through the addition of currently unprotected lands.
Ecoregion name ID Realm Potential contribution of
unprotected landsMedian total
carbon density
(MT/ha)Est. total
carbon
(megatons)Overlap with mapped
indigenous lands(km2) (% of land
surface)(km2) (%
overlap)Target 1: Conserving the diversity and abundance of life on Earth (terrestrial) Cluster 1: Species rarity 3,047,787 2.27 75,638 526,739 17 Sahelian Acacia Savanna 53 Afrotropic 64,794 0.05 32 207 12,873 20 Central Range Papuan
Montane Rain Forests139 Australasia 49,794 0.04 661 3,291 1,007 2 Sulawesi Montane Rain
Forests157 Australasia 45,021 0.03 520 2,341 31,674 70 Madagascar Humid Forests 17 Afrotropic 41,708 0.03 306 1,276 – 0 Mindanao-Eastern Visayas
Rain Forests247 Indomalayan 41,492 0.03 315 1,307 6,890 17 Registan-North Pakistan
Sandy Desert838 Palearctic 41,450 0.03 22 91 132 0 Southern Anatolian
Montane Conifer and
Deciduous Forests804 Palearctic 40,482 0.03 151 611 – 0 Sulawesi Lowland Rain
Forests156 Australasia 38,542 0.03 389 1,499 17,016 44 Uruguayan Savanna 574 Neotropic 36,728 0.03 162 595 1 0 Northwest Andean
Montane Forests486 Neotropic 36,137 0.03 506 1,829 4,727 13 Taimyr-Central Siberian
Tundra781 Palearctic 35,932 0.03 549 1,973 29,660 83 Eastern Mediterranean
Conifer-Broadleaf Forests791 Palearctic 33,990 0.03 103 350 220 1 Northeast Siberian Taiga 714 Palearctic 32,581 0.02 504 1,642 502 2 Humid Chaco 571 Neotropic 31,479 0.02 196 617 4,572 15 Cerrado 567 Neotropic 30,602 0.02 128 392 250 1 Eastern Cordillera Real
Montane Forests460 Neotropic 30,133 0.02 470 1,416 7,509 25 Luzon Rain Forests 241 Indomalayan 29,630 0.02 257 761 3,099 10 Dry Chaco 569 Neotropic 29,224 0.02 151 441 2,896 10 Somali Acacia-
Commiphora Bushlands
and Thickets55 Afrotropic 29,107 0.02 104 303 12,055 41 Napo Moist Forests 483 Neotropic 28,275 0.02 498 1,408 16,295 58 Albertine Rift Montane
Forests1 Afrotropic 27,559 0.02 286 788 1,697 6 Central Asian Northern
Desert817 Palearctic 27,436 0.02 71 195 – 0 Kazakh Steppe 732 Palearctic 27,040 0.02 246 665 – 0 Central Bushveld 38 Afrotropic 25,579 0.02 69 176 – 0 Taklimakan Desert 843 Palearctic 25,165 0.02 63 159 11,549 46 Subtotal of top 25 ecoregions 879,881 0.66 24,335 164,623 19 Cluster 2: Distinct species assemblages 8,072,308 6.02 239,978 3,235,858 40 Great Sandy-Tanami Desert 210 Australasia 485,000 0.36 44 2,134 404,287 83 Southwest Amazon Moist
Forests505 Neotropic 390,591 0.29 299 11,679 100,613 26 Northeast Congolian
Lowland Forests24 Afrotropic 335,644 0.25 270 9,062 46,102 14 Carpentaria Tropical
Savanna184 Australasia 302,470 0.23 72 2,178 154,446 51 Central Congolian Lowland
Forests3 Afrotropic 290,187 0.22 286 8,299 112,087 39 Northwest Congolian
Lowland Forests26 Afrotropic 280,551 0.21 304 8,529 81,550 29 Guianan Lowland Moist
Forests465 Neotropic 270,402 0.20 311 8,410 65,002 24 Borneo Lowland Rain
Forests219 Indomalayan 246,876 0.18 588 14,516 179,866 73 Madeira-Tapajós Moist Forests 476 Neotropic 237,641 0.18 273 6,488 21,861 9 Kimberly Tropical Savanna 186 Australasia 219,780 0.16 77 1,692 156,686 71 Subtotal of top 10 ecoregions 3,059,146 2.28 72,987 1,322,501 43 Clusters 3 and 4: Rare phenomena and intactness 29,929,535 22.31 1,044,782 11,249,979 38 East Siberian Taiga 710 Palearctic 3,191,009 2.38 432 137,851 2,296,934 72 West Siberian Taiga 720 Palearctic 1,101,626 0.82 955 105,205 852,961 77 Scandinavian and Russian
Taiga717 Palearctic 907,079 0.68 464 42,088 188,611 21 Northeast Siberian Taiga 714 Palearctic 893,387 0.67 504 45,027 635,724 71 North Saharan Xeric Steppe
and Woodland833 Palearctic 876,310 0.65 17 1,490 140,665 16 Canadian Middle Arctic
Tundra414 Nearctic 811,954 0.61 559 45,388 176,023 22 South Sahara Desert 842 Palearctic 772,701 0.58 11 850 396,380 51 Taimyr-Central Siberian
Tundra781 Palearctic 742,422 0.55 549 40,759 557,934 75 Eastern Canadian Shield
Taiga374 Nearctic 712,100 0.53 386 27,487 1,007 0 Canadian Low Arctic Tundra 413 Nearctic 683,279 0.51 563 38,469 162,758 24 Subtotal of top 10 ecoregions 10,691,867 7.97 484,615 51 Target 2: Enhancing carbon drawdown and storage Tier 1 climate stabilization areas 2,342,989 1.78 83,087 311,330 13 Sarmatic Mixed forests 679 Palearctic 252,482 0.19 422 10,655 – 0 Kazakh Steppe 732 Palearctic 178,348 0.13 246 4,387 – 0 West Siberian Taiga 720 Palearctic 105,467 0.08 955 10,072 56,333 53 Tian Shan Montane Steppe
and Meadows767 Palearctic 103,509 0.08 229 2,370 30,866 30 New England-Acadian
Forests338 Nearctic 99,898 0.08 345 3,446 445 0 Subtotal of top 5 ecoregions 739,704 0.55 31,227 87,643 12 - Table 3 Top countries that contribute most to enhancing biodiversity protection through the addition of currently unprotected lands (target 1).
Country name Potential contribution of unprotected lands Overlap with mapped indigenous lands (km2) (% of land surface) (km2) (% overlap) Cluster 1: Species rarity 3,047,787 2.27 526,739 17 Russia 209,303 0.16 85,912 41 Indonesia 167,755 0.13 81,534 49 Turkey 154,675 0.12 – 0 China 128,963 0.10 36,686 28 Argentina 119,732 0.09 32,961 28 Brazil 114,098 0.09 911 1 Philippines 107,095 0.08 19,008 18 Kazakhstan 104,034 0.08 – 0 Australia 99,955 0.07 41,080 41 Papua New Guinea 99,468 0.07 – 0 Subtotal of top 10 countries 1,305,078 0.97 298,093 23 Cluster 2: Distinct species
assemblages8,072,308 6.02 3,235,858 40 Australia 1,580,457 1.18 1,033,319 65 Brazil 1,025,312 0.76 42,350 4 Indonesia 810,872 0.60 524,929 65 Democratic Republic of the Congo 726,843 0.54 188,665 26 Colombia 542,762 0.40 257,344 47 Peru 449,408 0.34 169,896 38 Papua New Guinea 266,264 0.20 91,577 34 China 264,675 0.20 10 0 Bolivia 229,561 0.17 63,642 28 Guyana 154,616 0.12 21,539 14 Subtotal of top 10 countries 6,050,770 4.51 2,393,273 40 Clusters 3 and 4: Rare
phenomena and intactness29,929,535 22.31 11,249,979 38 Russia 9,715,587 7.24 6,703,659 69 Canada 6,711,800 5.00 557,055 8 Australia 2,143,745 1.60 1,149,499 54 United States of America 2,116,096 1.58 240,141 11 China 1,191,623 0.89 707,847 59 Saudi Arabia 858,089 0.64 281 0 Algeria 715,269 0.53 260,128 36 Libya 660,683 0.49 87,753 13 Argentina 568,778 0.42 128,449 23 Brazil 512,384 0.38 10,957 2 Subtotal of top 10 countries 25,194,055 18.78 9,845,767 39
Supplementary Materials
Supplementary material for this article is available at http://advances.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/6/36/eabb2824/DC1
Additional Files
Supplementary Materials
A “Global Safety Net” to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize Earth’s climate
E. Dinerstein, A. R. Joshi, C. Vynne, A. T. L. Lee, F. Pharand-Deschênes, M. França, S. Fernando, T. Birch, K. Burkart, G. P. Asner, D. Olson
The PDF file includes:
- Legends for tables S1 and S2
- Fig. S1
- Table S1
Other Supplementary Material for this manuscript includes the following:
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