Publisher : Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2019
Thematic : Key Biodiversity Areas
Language : English
Note
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sets to create connections and build infrastructure across
Eurasia, Asia, and parts of the African continent in its initial phase and is the largest infrastructure project
of all time. Any infrastructure project on this scale will necessarily pass through ecofragile regions and key
biodiversity areas (KBAs). This creates an imperative to identify possible areas of impact and probable effects
on conservation values to facilitate adaptive planning and to mitigate, minimize, or avoid impacts. Using
the highest resolution route maps of the BRI available, I overlaid the proposed road and rail routes on KBAs,
protected areas, and predicted biodiversity hotspots for over 4138 animal and 7371 plant species. I also
assessed the relationship between the proposed route with the distribution of mines across BRI countries and
the proportion of deforestation and forest near routes. Infrastructure, especially mining, was clustered near
the proposed route; thus, construction and development along the route may increase the size and number of
mines. Up to 15% of KBAs were within 1 km of proposed railways. Thus, planned and probable development
along the routes may pose a significant risk to biodiversity, especially because the majority of KBAs are
unprotected. Many biodiversity hotspots for different taxa were near the route. These hotspots varied between
taxa, making systematic management and environmental impact assessments an effective strategy for at
least some taxa. A combination of planning and mitigation strategies will likely be necessary to protect the
most important areas for biodiversity proximal to development, especially in currently unprotected KBAs and
other regions that need protection. A fuller assessment of trade-offs between conservation and other values
will be necessary to make good decisions for each project and site being developed, including potentially
modifying parts of the route to minimize impacts. Modification or foregoing of infrastructure may be needed
if stakeholders consider the conservation costs too high.
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Keywords : coral-reefs
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
