Habitat loss and the effectiveness of protected areas in the Cerrado Biodiversity Hotspot

Abstract

The definition of conservation targets is strategic for the protection of biodiversity and must ensure the representativeness and persistence of biodiversity components. This is especially critical in fast-disappearing ecosystems, such as in the Cerrado, where opportunities for conservation are rapidly diminishing. We evaluate how different categories of protected areas (PAs) in the Cerrado contribute to achieve the 17% conservation target defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Deforestation rates in sustainable use PAs (IUCN categories IV to VI) are similar to those outside PAs, indicating they are not adequate to ensure the protection of biodiversity. Conversely, strict PAs exhibit significantly less deforestation and should form most of the target content. Because strict PAs represent only 3% of the Cerrado, Brazil is far from achieving the 17% target defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Urgent measures toward the creation of strict PAs in the Cerrado are needed, to ensure the representativeness and persistence of its conspicuous biodiversity.