ESP PhD candidate publishes important study on the rollback of protected lands
Rachel Golden Kroner, PhD candidate in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, is lead author of an important study recently published in the journal Science on the rollback of protected lands, with a focus on legal backsliding in the United States and Amazonian countries.
Golden Kroner, along with co-authors Thomas Lovejoy and David Luther (also of George Mason University) and a cohort of scientists from around the world found more than 3700 legal changes that scaled back protections in 73 countries, and an additional 800 proposals in 24 countries. This phenomenon appears to be accelerating, with 78% of events enacted since the year 2000.
In addition, to accompany the paper, the authors and their team have also launched a new website, which hosts their data and provides an overview of this project: https://www.padddtracker.org/
You can read the publication in the journal Science here: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6443/881
Coverage from news outlets has been fairly robust. Below are some samples:
The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/30/us-rollback-protected-areas-emboldening-others-scientists-warn
Popular Science:
https://www.popsci.com/protected-wild-spaces-government-conservation
Rolling Stone:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/largest-reduction-of-protected-lands-under-trump-843457/
