Rohner Christoph A, Richardson Anthony J, García-Rodríguez Emiliano, Charles Ryan, Batlle-Morera Amanda, Bortoluzzi Jenny R, Mouton Théophile L, Notarbartolo di Sciara Giuseppe, Armstrong Asia O, Everett Jason D, Bakiu Rigers, Barash Adi, Bariche Michel, Başusta Nuri, Bousquet Caroline, Ćetković Ilija, Giovos Ioannis, Guallart Javier, Milazzo Marco, Morey Gabriel, Naasan Aga-Spyridopoulou Roxani, Niedermueller Simone, Serena Fabrizio, Shakman Esmail, Soldo Alen, Jabado Rima W
International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, P.O. Box 29588, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Marine Megafauna Foundation, West Palm Beach, FL, USA.
iScience. 2025 Aug 11;28(8):113192. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113192. eCollection 2025 Aug 15.
The designation of protected areas needs to accelerate rapidly to achieve Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), raising concerns that protected area quality will be overlooked. Rather than basing systematic conservation planning primarily on species ranges, critical habitats for life history functions should be prioritized to enhance conservation outcomes. Such critical habitats are being identified as "Important Areas," including Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) for chondrichthyans. Solutions from systematic conservation planning scenarios with 73 chondrichthyan species in the Mediterranean and Black Seas greatly differed between approaches that ignore or include ISRAs. Including ISRAs led to higher costs for fisheries but protected a similar surface area (∼27% in both scenarios), while achieving better conservation outcomes. We highlight ways of reducing fishing costs while maintaining ISRA-based solutions. Systematic conservation planning using Important Areas gives decision makers a tool to balance cost with improved conservation quality, ultimately enhancing protected area network effectiveness by prioritizing critical habitats.
保护区的划定需要迅速加速，以实现《全球生物多样性框架》（GBF）的目标3，这引发了人们对保护区质量会被忽视的担忧。与其主要基于物种分布范围进行系统的保护规划，不如优先考虑具有生命史功能的关键栖息地，以提高保护成效。这类关键栖息地正被确定为“重要区域”，包括针对软骨鱼类的重要鲨鱼和鳐鱼区域（ISRA）。在地中海和黑海对73种软骨鱼类进行系统保护规划的情景中，忽略或纳入ISRA的方法所产生的解决方案差异很大。纳入ISRA会导致渔业成本更高，但保护的表面积相似（两种情景下均约为27%），同时能实现更好的保护成效。我们强调了在维持基于ISRA的解决方案的同时降低捕鱼成本的方法。利用重要区域进行系统保护规划为决策者提供了一种工具，可在成本与提高的保护质量之间取得平衡，最终通过优先考虑关键栖息地来提高保护区网络的有效性。
