Addressing critical gaps in protected area coverage for bird habitats in China

Abstract

Currently, protected areas cover approximately 14% of the Earth's land surface, yet 12.2% of the world's bird species remain unprotected by any designated areas and face significant threats. This study investigates the current status of bird conservation in China, aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of existing protected areas, analyze why certain bird species are not adequately protected, and propose strategies for optimizing protected area configurations. Utilizing citizen science data and the zonation optimization algorithm, we comprehensively assessed the conservation value of birds in China. We then employed anthropogenic stressor data to evaluate the conservation of threatened bird habitats through a binary conflict intensity model. Finally, we conducted a spatial overlap analysis to determine the coverage and effectiveness of Chinese nature reserves in regions with high conservation value and high conflict risk. Our findings indicate that only 10.0% of the highest conservation value bird habitats are covered by protected areas, and just 7.3% of these protected areas effectively safeguard these critical habitats. Additionally, only 5.9% of bird habitats impacted by human activity conflicts are within protected areas, and merely 22.0% of the total protected areas can effectively conserve high conflict risk habitats. Overall, China's current protected area system has substantial shortcomings in safeguarding bird habitats and requires further optimization and expansion to maximize conservation benefits.