Articles on Protected areas

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Cleared habitat in Niassa Reserve, Mozambique. James Allan

December 14, 2016

Half the world’s ecosystems at risk from habitat loss, and Australia is one of the worst

James Watson, The University of Queensland; Eve McDonald-Madden, The University of Queensland; James Allan, The University of Queensland; Kendall Jones, The University of Queensland; Moreno Di Marco, The University of Queensland, and Richard Fuller, The University of Queensland

Since 1992, an area of land two-thirds the size of Australia has been converted to human use.

Fires in 1997 in Indonesia released over a billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Indonesia’s forests burned again in 2015. AAP

September 16, 2016

The world’s carbon stores are going up in smoke with vanishing wilderness

James Watson, The University of Queensland; Bill Laurance, James Cook University; Brendan Mackey, Griffith University, and James Allan, The University of Queensland

The world has lost 10% of its wilderness areas in the past 20 years and, with it, vast stores of carbon.

Zebras are among the larger wildlife doing well in protected areas. Stephen Woodley/IUCN

September 5, 2016

Protected areas are helping save our favourite animals – but let’s not forget the others

Megan Barnes, The University of Queensland

New research shows protected areas are doing well at protecting large, iconic wildlife, but less well at helping smaller species.

China has experienced deforestation in some parts of the country placing valuable biodiversity at risk of extinction. Shutterstock

December 9, 2015

South Africa and China: lessons on how to balance conservation and tourism

Meryl Burgess, Stellenbosch University

China needs to do more to manage the balance between conservation and tourism to protect its rich biodiversity.

The translocation of rhinos can help conservation and build their populations. Nikki le Roex

November 23, 2015

How translocating rhinos promotes genetic health and keeps them safe

Nikki le Roex, Stellenbosch University

Conservationists are increasingly looking to translocating rhinos. This not only ensures their safety but also enables improvements to their genetic health.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, protected as the world’s first national park in 1872. But how do we best protect nature in the future? YellowstoneNationalPark/flickr

September 18, 2015

Nature can’t pay its own way – so let’s take the market out of conservation

Benjamin Neimark, Lancaster University

You can't simply 'value' nature as though it were a commodity able to be bought and sold.

The potential rezoning of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area for tourism development begs the question: just what is wilderness, and what is it good for? The Wilderness Society/AAP

January 29, 2015

Explainer: wilderness, and why it matters

Brendan Mackey, Griffith University and Nicole Rogers, Southern Cross University

The Tasmanian government this month released a draft of the revised management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, which proposes rezoning certain areas from “wilderness zones” to “remote…

Kakadu National Park is Australia’s largest – but we need to make sure parks are actually protecting wildlife from threats. Rita Willaert/Flickr

November 11, 2014

We have more parks than ever, so why is wildlife still vanishing?

Bob Pressey, James Cook University and Euan Ritchie, Deakin University

While we can never know for sure, an extraordinary number of animals and plants are threatened with extinction — up to a third of all mammals and over a tenth of all birds. And the problem is getting worse…

Diversity is the key. Agricultural Research Service

September 19, 2013

Protect a sixth of the land, save two thirds of species

Lucas Joppa, University of Kent

The scene was typical for an international gathering of governments: bureaucrats, sat behind nameplates and speaking through interpreters. But the less than typical result of the votes cast at this 1992…

Russia has turned its back on marine protected areas in Antarctica. Where to now? Flickr/US Embassy New Zealand

July 18, 2013

Antarctic marine reserves: how many ways can you say “Nyet”?

Tony Press, University of Tasmania

Russia blocked the approval of new marine protected areas in the Antarctic this week, demanding more scientific information and a definition of marine protected areas. The surprise move postpones a joint…

Top contributors

James Watson
Associate Professor, The University of Queensland
Brendan Mackey
Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University
James Allan
PhD candidate, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Queensland
Euan Ritchie
Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
Tony Press
Adjunct Professor, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC, University of Tasmania
Bill Laurance
Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
Megan Barnes
Postdoctoral fellow, Decision Science, The University of Queensland
Bob Pressey
Professor and Program Leader, Conservation Planning, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Lucas Joppa
Honorary Research Fellow, Durrell Institute for Conservation Ecology, University of Kent
Nicole Rogers
Senior lecturer, School of Law & Justice, Southern Cross University
Nikki le Roex
Postdoctoral Fellow in Conservation Genetics, University of Cape Town
Richard Fuller
Associate Professor in Biodiversity and Conservation, The University of Queensland
Benjamin Neimark
Lecturer, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University
Meryl Burgess
Research analyst at the Centre for Chinese Studies and PhD candidate in Political Science, Stellenbosch University
Ian Craigie
Postdoc, James Cook University