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Protected areas (PA) play an important role in the fight against climate change and the loss of biodiversity. However, a new study has revealed that protected areas worldwide are not as effective as previously thought in preventing deforestation.
PAs are special areas designated to help conserve nature. These areas play a key role in reducing carbon emissions and protecting biodiversity from deforestation.
The research, published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management on September 17, 2024, examined the impact of government protection on forested areas from 2000 to 2022.
The importance of PAs was recognised in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011–2020) and was highlighted in Target 3 of the new Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims for 30 per cent of the world's lands and waters to be protected by the year 2030.
The new study, on the other hand, suggested that these protected areas are not very effective in stopping forest loss around the world. The research highlighted how important it is to manage these areas better and create strong policies to really protect our forests.
The research was carried out by Timothy Neal, a professor of economics at the Institute for Climate Risk and Response at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Neal used a statistical method called regression discontinuity design (RDD) and analysed over 300,000 protected areas globally. He found that, on average, protected areas are only 30 per cent effective in slowing deforestation. While this indicates some benefit, it is insufficient to safeguard critical ecosystems.
The study also found significant variation in how effectively protected areas function across different regions. For example:
In Brazil, protected areas were about 35 per cent effective.
In Africa, countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo showed effectiveness rates close to zero.
In Asia, Malaysia’s protected areas were 56 per cent effective, while Indonesia’s were only 11 per cent.
Countries like Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and the Philippines also struggled, with their protected areas showing little effectiveness. Similarly, in Africa, Gabon and Madagascar reported effectiveness rates around 10 per cent.
In developed countries, protected areas tended to perform better. However, the study cautioned that even in nations like Australia, issues could arise. Major bushfires had reduced the effectiveness of protected areas there from an earlier 70 per cent to around 25 per cent after the fires.
The study stressed that simply designating more land as protected was not sufficient. It was crucial to ensure these areas were properly managed and safeguarded. This raised concerns among conservationists and policymakers about improving protections in regions where deforestation rates remained high.
Previous studies had similarly indicated that, in many cases, protected areas did not significantly slow down deforestation.
The author of a 2021 paper published in journal Nature Ecology & Evolution that found PAs see continued deforestation, earlier said it’s not enough to just label a forest area as ‘protected’ and assume it is truly protected. Christopher Wolf from Oregon State University in a press statement had said: “When we assess how well conservation works, we can’t simply focus on how much land is officially protected. Nearly one-third of all protected areas face heavy human pressure.”
According to the authors, protected areas often struggled due to poor monitoring, weak enforcement and limited funding and generally only slowed deforestation. Larger protected areas also tended to experience higher rates of forest loss, the research noted.
This study not only highlighted the urgent need to rethink forest protection strategies but also emphasised the importance of using advanced technology, such as satellite data, to monitor and address deforestation in real-time.
The researchers suggested several ways to improve the effectiveness of protected areas, particularly in developing countries. These included:
Expanding REDD+ schemes, designed to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Increasing foreign aid to support forest conservation.
Using real-time satellite alerts to track forest loss.
Additionally, the researchers called for further studies to better understand the relationship between protected areas and forest loss.