Human activity has dramatically changed the global landscape. Human use has converted approximately 21.8% of the world’s land area (Hoekstra et al. 2005). However, rates of land conversion have not affected all biomes equally. While tropical dry forests and temperate grasslands have experienced dramatic levels of conversion, tundra and boreal forests remain largely untouched (Hoekstra et al. 2005). The conservation risk index compares the area of each terrestrial biome in a country that has been converted to other land uses (e.g., fore example conversion from forests to cropland) to the area of each biome that is under protection. This indicator represents a more comprehensive measure of whether countries protect their natural environments on the same spatial scale as the habitats being converted.
The conservation risk index provides a ratio of converted to protected lands for each terrestrial biome within a country. It is also based on two 1-kilometer global spatial datasets: the World Database on Protected Areas 2007 (WDPA 2007), which reports the location and distribution of protected areas, and the Global Land Cover 2000 (GLC 2000), which compares the areas of natural habitat converted to human uses to those not converted. Percent area converted was calculated by comparing land area classified as “cultivated,” “managed,” or “under artificial surfaces” versus unconverted land area as reported in the GLC 2000. Our target is the global average of 1:2 (protected: converted) per terrestrial biome within a country. Sixteen biomes are included in the conservation risk index. Performance is capped at 50% protection by area for each biome, to ensure that the above-target performance of a country in one biome does not mask its below-target performance in another.
Each dot in the histogram is a single country’s proximity-to-target score for this indicator. The tinted box represents the inner quartile range of country values, or points lying between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The small triangle marker at the bottom of the chart indicates the median of country scores.
