Mapping the planet’s critical natural assets

Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer; Rachel A. Neugarten; Richard P. Sharp; Pamela M. Collins; Stephen Polasky; David Hole; Richard Schuster; Matthew Strimas-Mackey; Mark Mulligan; Carter Brandon; Sandra Diaz; Etienne Fluet-Chouinard; L. J. Gorenflo; Justin A. Johnson; Christina M. Kennedy; Patrick W. Keys; Kate Longley-Wood; Peter B. McIntyre; Monica Noon; Unai Pascual; Catherine Reidy Liermann; Patrick R. Roehrdanz; Guido Schmidt-Traub; M. Rebecca Shaw; Mark Spalding; Will R. Turner; Arnout van Soesbergen; Reg A. Watson

doi:10.1038/s41559-022-01934-5

Mapping the planet’s critical natural assets

Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Rachel A. Neugarten, Richard P. Sharp, Pamela M. Collins, Stephen Polasky, David Hole, Richard Schuster, Matthew Strimas-Mackey, Mark Mulligan, Carter Brandon, Sandra Diaz, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, L. J. Gorenflo, Justin A. Johnson, Christina M. Kennedy, Patrick W. Keys, Kate Longley-Wood, Peter B. McIntyre, Monica Noon, Unai PascualCatherine Reidy Liermann, Patrick R. Roehrdanz, Guido Schmidt-Traub, M. Rebecca Shaw, Mark Spalding, Will R. Turner, Arnout van Soesbergen, Reg A. Watson

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32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sustaining the organisms, ecosystems and processes that underpin human wellbeing is necessary to achieve sustainable development. Here we define critical natural assets as the natural and semi-natural ecosystems that provide 90% of the total current magnitude of 14 types of nature’s contributions to people (NCP), and we map the global locations of these critical natural assets at 2 km resolution. Critical natural assets for maintaining local-scale NCP (12 of the 14 NCP) account for 30% of total global land area and 24% of national territorial waters, while 44% of land area is required to also maintain two global-scale NCP (carbon storage and moisture recycling). These areas overlap substantially with cultural diversity (areas containing 96% of global languages) and biodiversity (covering area requirements for 73% of birds and 66% of mammals). At least 87% of the world’s population live in the areas benefitting from critical natural assets for local-scale NCP, while only 16% live on the lands containing these assets. Many of the NCP mapped here are left out of international agreements focused on conserving species or mitigating climate change, yet this analysis shows that explicitly prioritizing critical natural assets and the NCP they provide could simultaneously advance development, climate and conservation goals.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	51-61
Number of pages	11
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01934-5
State	Published - Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank all the participants of two working groups hosted by Conservation International and the Natural Capital Project for their insights and intellectual contributions. For further advice or assistance, we thank A. Adams, K. Brandon, K. Brauman, A. Cramer, G. Daily, J. Fisher, R. Gould, L. Mandle, J. Montgomery, A. Rodewald, D. Rossiter, E. Selig, A. Vogl and T. M. Wright. The two working groups that provided the foundation for this analysis were funded by support from the Marcus and Marianne Wallenberg Foundation to the Natural Capital Project (R.C.-K. and R.P.S.) and the Betty and Gordon Moore to Conservation International (R.A.N. and P.M.C.).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Chaplin-Kramer, R., Neugarten, R. A., Sharp, R. P., Collins, P. M., Polasky, S., Hole, D., Schuster, R., Strimas-Mackey, M., Mulligan, M., Brandon, C., Diaz, S., Fluet-Chouinard, E., Gorenflo, L. J., Johnson, J. A., Kennedy, C. M., Keys, P. W., Longley-Wood, K., McIntyre, P. B., Noon, M., ... Watson, R. A. (2023). Mapping the planet’s critical natural assets. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 7(1), 51-61. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01934-5

Chaplin-Kramer, R, Neugarten, RA, Sharp, RP, Collins, PM, Polasky, S, Hole, D, Schuster, R, Strimas-Mackey, M, Mulligan, M, Brandon, C, Diaz, S, Fluet-Chouinard, E, Gorenflo, LJ, Johnson, JA, Kennedy, CM, Keys, PW, Longley-Wood, K, McIntyre, PB, Noon, M, Pascual, U, Reidy Liermann, C, Roehrdanz, PR, Schmidt-Traub, G, Shaw, MR, Spalding, M, Turner, WR, van Soesbergen, A & Watson, RA 2023, 'Mapping the planet’s critical natural assets', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 51-61. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01934-5

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abstract = "Sustaining the organisms, ecosystems and processes that underpin human wellbeing is necessary to achieve sustainable development. Here we define critical natural assets as the natural and semi-natural ecosystems that provide 90% of the total current magnitude of 14 types of nature{\textquoteright}s contributions to people (NCP), and we map the global locations of these critical natural assets at 2 km resolution. Critical natural assets for maintaining local-scale NCP (12 of the 14 NCP) account for 30% of total global land area and 24% of national territorial waters, while 44% of land area is required to also maintain two global-scale NCP (carbon storage and moisture recycling). These areas overlap substantially with cultural diversity (areas containing 96% of global languages) and biodiversity (covering area requirements for 73% of birds and 66% of mammals). At least 87% of the world{\textquoteright}s population live in the areas benefitting from critical natural assets for local-scale NCP, while only 16% live on the lands containing these assets. Many of the NCP mapped here are left out of international agreements focused on conserving species or mitigating climate change, yet this analysis shows that explicitly prioritizing critical natural assets and the NCP they provide could simultaneously advance development, climate and conservation goals.",

author = "Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer and Neugarten, {Rachel A.} and Sharp, {Richard P.} and Collins, {Pamela M.} and Stephen Polasky and David Hole and Richard Schuster and Matthew Strimas-Mackey and Mark Mulligan and Carter Brandon and Sandra Diaz and Etienne Fluet-Chouinard and Gorenflo, {L. J.} and Johnson, {Justin A.} and Kennedy, {Christina M.} and Keys, {Patrick W.} and Kate Longley-Wood and McIntyre, {Peter B.} and Monica Noon and Unai Pascual and {Reidy Liermann}, Catherine and Roehrdanz, {Patrick R.} and Guido Schmidt-Traub and Shaw, {M. Rebecca} and Mark Spalding and Turner, {Will R.} and {van Soesbergen}, Arnout and Watson, {Reg A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank all the participants of two working groups hosted by Conservation International and the Natural Capital Project for their insights and intellectual contributions. For further advice or assistance, we thank A. Adams, K. Brandon, K. Brauman, A. Cramer, G. Daily, J. Fisher, R. Gould, L. Mandle, J. Montgomery, A. Rodewald, D. Rossiter, E. Selig, A. Vogl and T. M. Wright. The two working groups that provided the foundation for this analysis were funded by support from the Marcus and Marianne Wallenberg Foundation to the Natural Capital Project (R.C.-K. and R.P.S.) and the Betty and Gordon Moore to Conservation International (R.A.N. and P.M.C.). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

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AU - Hole, David

AU - Schuster, Richard

AU - Strimas-Mackey, Matthew

AU - Mulligan, Mark

AU - Brandon, Carter

AU - Diaz, Sandra

AU - Fluet-Chouinard, Etienne

AU - Gorenflo, L. J.

AU - Johnson, Justin A.

AU - Kennedy, Christina M.

AU - Keys, Patrick W.

AU - Longley-Wood, Kate

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AU - Noon, Monica

AU - Pascual, Unai

AU - Reidy Liermann, Catherine

AU - Roehrdanz, Patrick R.

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AU - Shaw, M. Rebecca

AU - Spalding, Mark

AU - Turner, Will R.

AU - van Soesbergen, Arnout

AU - Watson, Reg A.

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Mapping the planet’s critical natural assets

Abstract

Bibliographical note

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

Access

OpenUrl availability

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