An international study co-led by Dr Tom Pienkowski in the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology has revealed a hidden crisis undermining global climate and biodiversity goals: the quiet abandonment of conservation projects that are still being counted as environmental wins.
Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the study introduces the concept of ‘conservation abandonment’, the defunding, dismantling, or cessation of nature protection initiatives, often without formal notice or accountability. Despite being inactive, these projects are still counted in progress reports, resulting in inflated perceptions of progress. Amidst the collective push to scale conservation measures, insufficient attention has been paid to whether they endure over time. This is particularly concerning for efforts to address climate change, which are being discussed at COP30 in Belem, Brazil this month.
‘We’re seeing a massive global push to scale up conservation action, fuelled by hundreds of billions of dollars of public and private investments. But we have little understanding of how long measures last or how to make sure they persist over time,’ explains Dr Pienkowski, project co-lead and Research Fellow on the E3 Sharing Space for Nature project. ‘This is a major blind-spot in conservation policy, practice, and science and there is an urgent need for a ‘wake-up call’ on this issue.’
Data from 73 countries reveal nearly 3,800 cases of legal reversals, known as “PADDD” events (protected area downgrading, downsizing, or degazettement) since 1892. Together, these decisions have stripped protections from an area roughly the size of Greenland. Two-thirds of these cases were driven by industrial goals and activities such as mining and logging.
Closer to home, international data suggests that 28% of the UK land area is under protection. ‘On paper, this looks very close to the 30% that the UK has committed to reaching by 2030 under international goals,’ says Dr Pienkowski. ‘However, recent work by a coalition of wildlife organisations has found that less than 6% of the UK land is effectively conserved and managed for nature. This suggests that there may be a massive gap between protections recognised on paper and realities on-the-ground in the UK.’
With the focus on COP30, the UK government recently confirmed it will not contribute to the new Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), which aims to raise funds for the protection and restoration of tropical forests, including the Amazon. This study highlights the importance of stable funding for long-term climate and nature benefits, which initiatives such as this can provide. ‘Forest protection and restoration require continuous funding, yet most funding is short-term and focuses on establishment instead of the maintenance of the conservation and restoration projects’, says co-author Dr Morena Mills, from Imperial College London, who co-leads the Catalyzing Conservation initiative where the work was developed.
The authors advocate for the establishment of a global monitoring system to track conservation abandonment, supported by durable financing models and outcome-oriented policy design. Without this monitoring, countless well-intended projects quietly collapse, funding is misdirected, and the achievement of biodiversity targets is jeopardised.
Read the full paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02910-5