Researchers: Protecting 1% of Earth's Surface Would Save Rare Wildlife
2024-07-05
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A recent report by environmental researchers says that protecting 1.2 percent of the Earth's land surface could prevent most extinctions.
2Extinction is the permanent disappearance of an animal or plant from the Earth.
3The researchers estimated that such an expansion of nature preserves would cost about $263 billion.
4In 2022, United Nations delegates to the COP15 meeting in Montreal, Canada, promised to protect 30 percent of the Earth's surface by 2030.
5The U.N. calls the promise the "30-by-30 target."
6It aims to protect plants and animals severely affected by climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction.
7In October, U.N. delegates will gather for a COP16 biodiversity meeting in Colombia to discuss plans for reaching the 30-by-30 goal.
8The recent study was published in Frontiers in Science.
9In it, the researchers aimed to identify the highest value areas around the world.
10Carlos Peres said he hopes the areas identified will be included in protection plans.
11Peres was a co-writer of the study and is a conservation ecology expert at the University of East Anglia in Britain.
12Perese said, "Most countries do not actually have a strategy."
13He said, "The 30-by-30 targets still lack a lot of details because it doesn't actually say what 30 percent should be protected."
14The study's proposed protections would cover an additional 1.6 million square kilometers.
15This is an area about one fifth the size of the United States.
16The study includes 16,825 sites that are home to rare and threatened wildlife.
17It is estimated that nearly 16 percent of the world's surface already has some level of protection.
18The study estimated that the cost of purchasing land by governments would be about $263 billion.
19Many of these areas include private property and would be bought at current market values over the next five years.
20"Time is not on our side," Peres said, "because it will become increasingly more expensive and more difficult to set aside additional protected areas."
21Most of the cost of creating protected areas is in buying the land.
22The study did not consider the costs for policing and maintaining the nature preserves.
23About three-quarters of the sites are tropical forests.
24The Philippines, Brazil, and Indonesia are home to more than half of the high-valued areas.
25Russia is the one country with the most high-valued areas.
26The study said about 138,000 square kilometers should be the target of conservation.
27Several African countries are also at the top of the list.
28Madagascar has the fourth-highest number of areas.
29And the Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest area targeted for conservation in Africa.
30The United States is among the top 30 countries in the study.
31The study said about 0.6 percent of the U.S. should be targeted for conservation.
32That is an area about the size of the state of Delaware.
33The researchers only considered land and freshwater areas.
34They did not consider oceans or marine protected areas.
35The study also did not include kinds of animals such as invertebrates, or animals without a backbone, like insects.
36The U.S.-based nonprofit group One Earth paid for the study.
37I'm Anna Matteo.
1A recent report by environmental researchers says that protecting 1.2 percent of the Earth's land surface could prevent most extinctions. 2Extinction is the permanent disappearance of an animal or plant from the Earth. 3The researchers estimated that such an expansion of nature preserves would cost about $263 billion. 4In 2022, United Nations delegates to the COP15 meeting in Montreal, Canada, promised to protect 30 percent of the Earth's surface by 2030. The U.N. calls the promise the "30-by-30 target." It aims to protect plants and animals severely affected by climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction. 5In October, U.N. delegates will gather for a COP16 biodiversity meeting in Colombia to discuss plans for reaching the 30-by-30 goal. 6The recent study was published in Frontiers in Science. In it, the researchers aimed to identify the highest value areas around the world. Carlos Peres said he hopes the areas identified will be included in protection plans. Peres was a co-writer of the study and is a conservation ecology expert at the University of East Anglia in Britain. 7Perese said, "Most countries do not actually have a strategy." 8He said, "The 30-by-30 targets still lack a lot of details because it doesn't actually say what 30 percent should be protected." 9The study's proposed protections would cover an additional 1.6 million square kilometers. This is an area about one fifth the size of the United States. The study includes 16,825 sites that are home to rare and threatened wildlife. 10It is estimated that nearly 16 percent of the world's surface already has some level of protection. 11The study estimated that the cost of purchasing land by governments would be about $263 billion. Many of these areas include private property and would be bought at current market values over the next five years. 12"Time is not on our side," Peres said, "because it will become increasingly more expensive and more difficult to set aside additional protected areas." 13Most of the cost of creating protected areas is in buying the land. The study did not consider the costs for policing and maintaining the nature preserves. 14About three-quarters of the sites are tropical forests. The Philippines, Brazil, and Indonesia are home to more than half of the high-valued areas. 15Russia is the one country with the most high-valued areas. The study said about 138,000 square kilometers should be the target of conservation. 16Several African countries are also at the top of the list. Madagascar has the fourth-highest number of areas. And the Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest area targeted for conservation in Africa. 17The United States is among the top 30 countries in the study. The study said about 0.6 percent of the U.S. should be targeted for conservation. That is an area about the size of the state of Delaware. 18The researchers only considered land and freshwater areas. They did not consider oceans or marine protected areas. The study also did not include kinds of animals such as invertebrates, or animals without a backbone, like insects. 19The U.S.-based nonprofit group One Earth paid for the study. 20I'm Anna Matteo. 21Jake Spring reported this story for Reuters. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. 22_____________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24preserve -n. a protected area for a special purpose 25habitat -n. a place where wildlife naturally lives 26biodiversity -n. the condition of having many different kinds of plants and animals in a place 27conservation -n. efforts to preserve and maintain natural lands and resources 28ecology -n. the study of relationships between living things 29strategy -n. a long-term plan to reach a goal 30expensive -adj. costly; requiring a lot of money 31tropical -n. related to areas of the Earth between about 22 degrees north and 22 degrees south latitude 32marine -adj. related to the sea or oceans 33We want to hear from you. In the Comments section, you can share your opinions and also practice using any of the expressions from the story. Our comment policy is here.