By Michelle Werts

How’s this for a bargain: By protecting 17 percent of the world’s land, we can preserve 67 percent of the world’s plant species. Not such a bad return on investment, eh?

A new study published last week in Science revealed that two goals set by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity in 2010 (protecting 17 percent of the world’s land and protecting 60 percent of the world’s flora) could actually be accomplished simultaneously. The scientists pinpointed Central America, Ecuador, the Caribbean and Taiwan as key locales for biological diversity, with China, the Middle East and South Africa also being areas of importance. And areas that are good for plant diversity are also likely good for other types of biodiversity, such as insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and more.

As reported by E&E News, the paper cautions that simply creating new national parks or other types of protected spaces isn’t necessarily the solution for preserving biodiversity, as sometimes that action forgets one very crucial element: people. Many of our protected wilderness spaces are often removed from human populations, but are biological hotspots also removed? “Present conservation efforts bias towards lands that are high, cold, dry or otherwise far from people — often a mismatch with where conservation needs are pressing,” states the published study, begging the question of what to do next.

At American Forests, we recognize the diversity of ecosystems that need protecting and that many of those ecosystems contain lots and lots of people — hence our urban forest work that evaluates the needs of the natural resources in urban areas in concert with the needs of the city’s population. Sometimes, it’s an interesting balancing act, but the data doesn’t lie: If we help Mother Nature, she helps us with cleaner air and water, which makes us happy, healthier and stronger.