Transformational changes for achieving the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework ecological connectivity goals
Ecological connectivity is important to maintaining the “unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on earth” (from the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species).
Ecological connectivity is also important so that wildlife can travel to find more favourable habitat in a rapidly changing climate.
Ecological connectivity can be maintained by protecting habitat that connects fragmented landscapes (i.e., areas impacted by human development, such as agriculture, transportation development, or forestry, energy, and mining) and restored in areas where it has been lost (i.e., by installing wildlife overpasses and underpasses on roads).
Read this open access paper on the FACETS website.
Ecological connectivity can also be maintained by better protection of areas that are intact (i.e., areas yet to be developed).
Despite the recognized importance of ecological connectivity to the long-term survival of species, protecting corridors, lessening the impacts that the fragmented landscape has on species, and cross-sector collaboration to protect and restore connectivity has proven difficult.
In this perspective, we highlight the ways in which ecological connectivity can be achieved through four transformative changes, including:
(1) making ecological connectivity retention an explicit goal within and across sectors (e.g., conservation, transportation, agriculture, energy, forestry);
(2) ensuring that there are adequate financial resources and incentives to support ecological connectivity;
(3) fostering collaboration with a focus on cross-sector action to retain and restore ecological connectivity; and
(4) ensuring that diverse forms of knowledge are used to support decisions related to ecological connectivity (Indigenous, Western, and local).
We detail 15 key actions that can be used to support the implementation of these four transformative changes.
Read the paper — Transformational changes for achieving the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework ecological connectivity goals by Christopher J. Lemieux, Karen F. Beazley, David MacKinnon, Pamela Wright, Daniel Kraus, Richard Pither, Lindsay Crawford, Aerin L. Jacob, and Jodi Hilty
