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# Conservation areas can enlarge a network without connecting it
- URL: https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/2026-10-27-oecms-add-area-not-necessarily-connectivity/
- Published: 2026-10-27T13:23:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-27T13:23:02.000Z
- Description: A global audit finds many alternative conservation sites touch protected areas, but few bridge fragmented ones.
- Author: Benjamin Worlund
- Tags: area-based conservation, ecological connectivity, Governance, Land, Wildlife, Methods, #ecological-intelligence, #brief-2026-10-27, #priority-read, #peer-reviewed, #geo-global, #edition-lead

Evidence

Peer-reviewed

Geography

6,234 reported OECMs across 14 countries

System

Area-based conservation networks; protected-area configuration

## WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Sharma and colleagues developed a spatial typology for other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), assessing whether sites enlarge, connect, buffer, or aggregate protected areas. Nearly a third of 6,234 mapped OECMs across 14 countries directly adjoined protected areas. Roughly 3% structurally connected, buffered or aggregated otherwise isolated or fragmented protected areas, while around two thirds lay within 10 km of an existing protected area.

## WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

The first question is not how many new hectares appear in a conservation inventory, but what ecological role each hectare can actually perform. Adjacency may enlarge an existing footprint without restoring movement pathways. Map conservation additions against barriers, viable habitat and species-specific dispersal before equating area with ecological connectivity.

## CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

The study quantifies geometric network roles, not confirmed animal movement, management quality or biodiversity outcomes; the 14-country reporting sample is not a census of all OECMs.

## SOURCE

Nature Ecology & Evolution — Sharma, van der Velden & Cook (26 Oct 2026)  
[View original evidence ↗](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03222-y?ref=intelligence.wildlandseco.com)

From the Morning Brief · 2026-10-27

[Read the full Morning Brief →](https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/morning-brief-2026-10-27/)