Report finds extractive projects overlap protected areas, threatening 30% goal

· Climate

A new report by Earth Insight finds that more than 61.5 million hectares of protected and conserved areas — an area roughly 2.5 times the size of the United Kingdom — overlap with ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks across tropical countries, with another 42.7 million hectares affected by other pressures. The findings were reported as delegates gathered in Yerevan, Armenia, for the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17. Mongabay also interviewed IUCN's Madhu Rao on the state of the world's protected areas, who described pressures ranging from armed attacks on rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo to mining and dams pressing on wildlife land in Cambodia. The reports cast doubt on progress toward the global goal of protecting 30% of nature by 2030.

Why it matters：The 30-by-30 target underpins biodiversity pledges that companies and governments are now building into land-use and lending decisions, and evidence of overlap weakens confidence that the goal will be met.

Key points

  • Earth Insight says 61.5 million hectares of protected areas overlap oil and gas blocks.
  • Another 42.7 million hectares face other extractive and development pressures.
  • The findings were released as CBD COP17 opened in Yerevan, Armenia.

Sources (original reporting)

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