Making protected areas pay biodiversity dividends

With human activity pushing more and more species to the brink of extinction--species abundance has declined by 40% between 1970 and 2000 alone--the need to protect biodiversity has never been more urgent. In a new essay published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, conservation biologist Luigi Boitani and his colleagues argue that the next meeting of the World Conservation Congress in October is the perfect opportunity to codify policies that can make significant gains in biodiversity conservation and stanch the loss of species, habitat, and ecosystem services.