for those who don't click through, the catch:

Of the 173 different ecological regions scientists have mapped around the world, fewer than 100 have greater than 17% of their land protected, the scientists estimated. Regions that are primarily ice and rock – polar and alpine landscapes – are significantly overrepresented in the catalog of protected areas. That’s not a big surprise, since those regions are often less attractive for human settlement or exploitation by farming or other activities. By contrast, deserts, woodlands, grasslands and temperate forests all fall below the 30% target.

Then there is the question of whether land that’s conserved on paper is really being protected.

The new research points to the potential gains that can be made, particularly with the recognition of the conservation potential of these OECMs. But “conserving 30% of land and seas is not sufficient on its own,” said Heather Bingham, a co-author who heads the Protected Planet Initiative. “The target also calls for these areas to be managed effectively for positive biodiversity outcomes, and to be placed where they will have the greatest impact on biodiversity.”

O’Neill, et. al. “Global conservation area coverage substantially exceeds current estimates.” Nature. Oct. 14, 2026.

Image: Based on tjhunt/iStock.com. ©Anthropocene Magazine

also, it's not the point, but does the image credit being "based on" a stock image mean that they've run it through gen ai, on an article about conservation? hopefully not & it just means a human edited it 🤞🫣