Giving nature half of Cyprus: The quest for conservation allies

Abstract

Increasing conservation targets to protect biodiversity and safeguard sustainability is seen as one-way for humankind. The Half earth concept proposed by E.O. Wilson led to a debate over whether and how this can be achieved given increasing societal needs and pressure for land. The new European Biodiversity Strategy (EBS) for 2030 calls among other things for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems setting an ambitious target of 30 % of the EU’s land areas under legal protection with 10 % of EU land under strictly Protected Areas. A concept which is gaining ground globally as a potential ally in this effort is ’other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs). The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how biodiversity conservation can be achieved on a Mediterranean island, beyond existing Protected Areas, by ’giving nature half’ on the terrestrial realm. We assess the role of conservation ’allies’ in Cyprus, by identifying potential OECM areas on the island, according to the IUCN criteria. We mapped their spatial relationship with the Natura 2000 network and propose OECM areas, which present greater conservation potential in the long term. Potential OECMs areas, which may act complementary to the N2K, extend to c. 50 % of the island. What we propose herein can serve as a model for rethinking and redesigning nature conservation in Mediterranean islands.