Conservation at the edges of the world

Remote areas harbor some of the world’s most undisturbed ecosystems. Major conservation gains can be made by effectively protecting nature in these remote zones. Conducting conservation work in remote settings presents both unique challenges and promising opportunities. We discuss how five commonly used approaches for conservation (buy and protect conservation; conservation motivated by the intrinsic values of nature; ecosystem service based conservation; ecotourism driven conservation; and conservation enabled by community planning) can be optimally applied to protect ecosystems in these special settings. In this discussion we draw examples from two model remote sites: Palmyra and Tabuaeran Atolls. Spatial analyses conducted using population density as a proxy for remoteness indicate that many existing recognized protected areas already include remote regions, but that the vast majority of the overall remote zones on the planet are not yet formally protected. Initiating discussions that directly consider both the roadblocks and opportunities for conservation in remote areas will help increase our odds of successfully protecting biodiversity in these unique and strategically important contexts.

偏远地区拥有一些世界上受干扰最少的生态系统。通过有效保护这些偏远地区的自然环境，可以在保护方面取得重大进展。在偏远环境中开展保护工作既带来独特的挑战，也带来有希望的机遇。我们探讨了五种常用的保护方法（购买并保护式保护；基于自然内在价值的保护；基于生态系统服务的保护；生态旅游驱动的保护；以及通过社区规划实现的保护）如何能够在这些特殊环境中得到最佳应用以保护生态系统。在讨论中，我们以两个典型的偏远地区——巴尔米拉环礁和塔布埃兰环礁为例。以人口密度作为偏远程度的替代指标进行的空间分析表明，许多现有的公认保护区已经包括偏远地区，但地球上绝大多数偏远地区尚未得到正式保护。发起直接考虑偏远地区保护的障碍和机遇的讨论，将有助于提高我们在这些独特且具有战略重要性的环境中成功保护生物多样性的几率。