Protection
In an era of massive biodiversity loss, the greatest conservation success story has been the growth of protected land globally. Protected areas are the primary defense against biodiversity loss, but extensive human activity within their boundaries undermines this. ~ Australian environmental scientist Kendall Jones et al
A critical step at this late date is to limit the slaughter and let Nature be. Doing so has proven problematic.
As of 2018, 1/3rd of the world’s Nature preserves have been severely degraded by human incursion. Over 90% of conservation sites have suffered damage from logging, mining, urbanization, and tourism. Nearly 75% of nations have over half of their protected lands under intense exploitative pressure.
These are the places that nations have said they are setting aside for Nature’s needs, not human needs. ~ Australian conservation scientist James Watson
Some ostensible conservation efforts are just publicity stunts. In early 2018, the Brazilian government announced large protected zones in their coastal ocean, but the designations were deep-ocean areas with poor prospects for extractive activities. Lively waters with economic exploitation potential were left unprotected.
