Metrics and tools for evaluating conservation target achievement in protected area networks

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11 calls for 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas to be in “effective and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected” protected areas by 2020. This is one of many global and national conservation policies that require progress reporting towards achieving conservation targets. Transparent and repeatable metrics that can be applied broadly are an important step towards meeting these commitments. Currently the most widely used approach for evaluating progress towards these goals is reporting total protected area coverage due to its relatively unambiguous and easily quantifiable nature. However, this alone is not…