A new map reveals which areas concentrate the greatest risk to biodiversity from human pressure

The research was published in the journal One Earth ahead of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Armenia (Illustrative Image Infobae) Every November 1st, World Ecology Day is commemorated, a date that invites us to focus on the relationship between species, ecosystems, and human activity. In this context, a recent international analysis of 33,604 terrestrial vertebrate species made it possible to locate the areas where threatened animals, ecosystems under pressure, and human activities that compromise their survival coincide. The study identified 13% of the Earth's land surface as a critical zone for biodiversity conservation. These territories are home to species with limited distribution and populations exposed to multiple risks. The research, published in the journal One Earth, was produced by an international team that analyzed data on 33,604 terrestrial vertebrate species included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The goal was to build a tool that allows for more precise identification of where protection measures are needed. Tropical regions concentrate a significant portion of the priority areas for protecting threatened species (Illustrative Image Infobae) The researchers detected that a considerable portion of these areas is located in tropical regions and broadleaf forests. In these territories, a high variety of species, animal populations exposed to the risk of extinction, and threats linked to human activity all coincide. In Argentina, ecosystems such as the Paraná rainforest in Misiones and the yungas in the country's northwest feature formations of this type and concentrate high biological diversity. The survey also indicates that more than a third of the world's population lives in these priority zones. For this reason, it proposes that conservation policies must take into account the needs of local communities and not be limited to protecting isolated ecosystems. "Identifying areas that harbor exceptionally high levels of unique biodiversity while facing threats from human activities provides the information that decision-makers need to help reverse the global biodiversity crisis," said Piero Visconti, director of the Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). The method considers seven major pressures on wildlife. These include agricultural expansion, logging, urbanization, hunting, pollution, invasive exotic species, and climate change. Priority areas for wildlife protection are concentrated in tropical regions and broadleaf forests (Illustrative Image Infobae) Logging appears as the most widespread threat: it affects 66% of the critical zones identified. Agricultural expansion ranks second, present in 44% of those areas. The weight of each pressure, however, varies depending on the animal group and the territory. The analysis also showed that 61% of the critical zones were identified based on the vulnerability of a single vertebrate group. Amphibians and reptiles, for example, face a higher incidence of invasive species, while for mammals, agriculture, urbanization, and hunting carry more weight. This approach broadens the criteria of traditional biodiversity hotspot maps, which relied mainly on endemism—the presence of species exclusive to a region—and on habitat loss. The new model uses a grid to evaluate each area and assigns greater weight to species that live in few places or that face a higher risk of disappearing. The grid cells are approximately 50 by 50 kilometers in size. Therefore, the map makes it possible to set priorities at a global scale, although it does not replace the local surveys needed to define specific measures in each territory. According to the authors, nearly one in five critical zones would not have been detected if the analysis had only taken habitat destruction into account. This figure reflects that environmental threats can vary from one territory to another and that a single strategy is not enough to respond to all scenarios. "Different parts of the world face very different combinations of threats, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for protecting biodiversity," explained Jonas Geldmann, associate professor at the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen and lead author of the study. The scientists plan to expand the monitoring system to plants, fungi, and insects in future research (Illustrative Image Infobae) The map is intended to serve as a reference to guide investments, land management plans, and public policies. At COP17, participants will review progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes 23 targets that should be met before 2030. Among the challenges are the protection and restoration of ecosystems, the reduction of pressures affecting species, and a more equitable distribution of the benefits associated with natural resources. The study has so far focused on terrestrial vertebrates, as they are the groups for which sufficient information exists at a global scale. However, the researchers propose that the system could be expanded in the future to include plants, fungi, insects, and other invertebrates. "This framework could eventually incorporate plants, insects, and other organisms, which would give us a more complete picture of global conservation priorities," said Harith Farooq, a researcher at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Lúrio University in Mozambique.