article · Science
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework establishes ambitious targets to halt human-induced species extinction and prevent biodiversity loss, yet lacks explicit operational pathways. An analysis of global tracking data covering 11 million geopositions from 15,845 individuals across 121 species assesses how mobile marine megafauna utilise ocean space. The findings show that 63 percent of the total area occupied by these species is used 80 percent of the time, serving as critical residential zones or migratory corridors. As a result, the framework's Target 3 goal of protecting 30 percent of marine space is insufficient for the effective conservation of wide-ranging animals, leaving vital habitats exposed to human threats. Achieving global conservation goals will require pairing spatial protection with specific mitigation measures, such as regulating fishing activities and separating wildlife from marine vessel traffic.
Global conservation strategies often rely on fixed spatial boundaries, yet highly mobile ocean wildlife moves across vast oceanic territories. Understanding that core movements concentrate within specific corridors and residence zones demonstrates that blanket percentage targets alone leave animals vulnerable. This evidence helps policy makers and ocean managers design better-coordinated protections that address human activities in the places where marine wildlife faces the highest risk.
This spatial analysis could inform maritime navigation systems, commercial shipping routing software, and fisheries management tools seeking to avoid wildlife collisions or bycatch. Maritime transport operators, commercial fisheries, and marine spatial regulators are the primary end users. The research represents an early-stage spatial evidence base that would need translation into regulatory frameworks or operational vessel routing algorithms before reaching commercial application.
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The recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals but no clear pathway for how zero loss of important biodiversity areas and halting human-induced extinction of threatened species will be achieved. We assembled a multi-taxa tracking dataset (11 million geopositions from 15,845 tracked individuals across 121 species) to provide a global assessment of space use of highly mobile marine megafauna, showing that 63% of the area that they cover is used 80% of the time as important migratory corridors or residence areas. The GBF 30% threshold (Target 3) will be insufficient for marine megafauna's effective conservation, leaving important areas exposed to major anthropogenic threats. Coupling area protection with mitigation strategies (e.g., fishing regulation, wildlife-traffic separation) will be essential to reach international goals and conserve biodiversity.
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DOI: 10.1126/science.adl0239
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