Global conservation priorities for wetlands and setting post-2025 targets

Wetland conservation is becoming increasingly important as wetland areas decline globally. However, no comprehensive global-scale mapping of wetland conservation priorities and targets has been published. This information is needed to extend the current protected area network and improve the conservation efficiency for wetlands. Here, we propose a cost-effective assessment model for wetland conservation by integrating wetland conservation value- and human impact-related indicators to identify global wetland conservation priorities. These priorities cover 28% of the potential global wetland distribution, and of that, only 44% is currently protected by existing protected areas. To protect more wetland conservation priorities, we propose three target-setting scenarios for protected area expansion that offer additional contributions of 9.40%, 42.40%, and 55.97%, respectively. These three global targets can be downscaled to the national level and used to update national wetland biodiversity conservation strategies and action plans under a harmonized legal and regulatory regime at different scales and jurisdictions. Wetland conservation priority areas account for 28% of global wetland area yet less than half currently fall within protected areas, suggests a cost-effective assessment model for wetland conservation that integrates wetland conservation value and human impact-related indicators.