New Mexico Public Lands and their Significance to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
Background
Scientists
and policymakers are calling for the conservation of 30% of the world’s lands
and waters by 2030 in order to protect global biodiversity and critical
ecosystem services, including those necessary for climate change adaptation and
mitigation. This goal, known as the “30x30 initiative”, is supported by
President Biden at the national level as well as by many state governments.
These include New Mexico, where the percent of protected lands managed
primarily for biodiversity lags behind national levels (6.1% in New Mexico
compared to 12.6% nationally) despite the relatively high proportion of public
lands and rich biodiversity present in the state.
Project Description
The
goal of this study was to assess the potential climate change adaptation and
mitigation value of New Mexico public lands identified by New Mexico Wild as
potential candidates for additional protection. To accomplish this, we
identified or created datasets to represent several critical indicators of
climate change adaptation and mitigation across the landscape, including
biodiversity, connectivity, landscape resilience, carbon sequestration and
storage, and potential greenhouse gas emissions associated with unleased fossil
fuels. Each of these five indicators was used to evaluate the relative value of
protected areas considered in the study, and the top 25% of the study area for
each indicator was overlaid to identify areas that may represent the highest
priorities for additional protection across multiple considerations. The
resulting maps and datasets are intended to assist conservation planners, land
managers, and advocates in determining where strengthening existing protection
of public lands may provide the greatest climate change benefits.
