Are protected areas enough to save life on Earth?

The IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, defines a protected area as:

A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.  Here is our question- Are protected areas enough to save life on Earth? 

We know that the global number and extent of nationally designated protected areas has increased dramatically over the past century. By 2008, there were over 120,000 protected areas covering a total of about 21 million square kilometres of land and sea, an area more than twice the size of Canada.  While that sounds like a lot, it really isn’t.  Most of the areas being protected are on land.  Ocean areas are beginning to be protected more now. 

Dr Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the CBD is quoted to have said, "We are experiencing the greatest wave of extinctions since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Extinction rates are rising by a factor of up to 1,000 above natural rates. Every hour, three species disappear. Every day, up to 150 species are lost. Every year, between 18,000 and 55,000 species become extinct.” 

So protected areas are up and species extinctions are up.  Our conservation strategy is not yet working.  With human populations also going up what is the solution?  We are consumers.  We have created a global society that is not sustainable with our finite resources.  We all know that!  Those who have- do not want to give anything up, and those who do not have- want more.  There is only one really positive solution for the long term good of all life.  Education, education, and more education!  Education of teachers to know what the conservation issues really are.  Education of students of all ages to know what needs to be done for a better tomorrow for all life on Earth.  

We need more protected areas, not just outside human cities, but inside as well.  We need connections between protected spaces so species can move from one area to the next.  We need to learn how to live with wildlife in our backyards.  Education is required for all of this to happen.

Youth are making a big difference today.  Just speak to youth involved in TUNZA, GYBO (Global Youth and Biodiversity Organisation) or Biodiversitymatters youth.  They are involved with governments and NGOs.  They are looking at biodiversity success stories and building from this knowledge.  This could really be our greatest hour.  The time has come to slow down this modern extinction event.   

Mike Leveille

Biodiversitymatters 

Image above of a blue-jeans frog from Costa Rica by Michael Leveille