Prioritisation of conservation areas for tropical breeding Laridae under current and future development plans

Abstract

Seabirds represent one of the most threatened groups of birds globally, and their conservation status has deteriorated rapidly in recent decades. One of their main threats is the degradation of the breeding habitats due to the increase of human disturbances in coastal regions. The Caribbean basin faces growing pressures from socioeconomic activities (e.g. tourism, fishing, renewable energies) whilst exhibiting among the lowest levels of protected area coverage globally. Systematic reserve site selection algorithms were implemented to identify important conservation areas for the breeding habitats of Laridae in Cuba, considering four of the most significant human pressures: fishing, wind farms, coastal tourism and nightlight pollution. Several conservation scenarios were tested by varying protection targets and weights assigned to the human pressures. A conservation scenario was also proposed considering the future wind farms development plan for Cuba. The conservation areas identified were compared with the existing marine protected areas to highlight conservation needs for Cuban Laridae. Spatial patterns of the proposed areas were relatively consistent across different socioeconomic prioritisation scenarios, regardless of the conservation target. More than 71 % of the surface of the proposed conservation areas is not covered by the current Cuban marine protected areas. The methodology employed in this study can significantly enhance the efficiency of marine spatial planning decision-making, and underscores the value of incorporating detailed socioeconomic data. Our findings underscore the importance of designing marine protected areas based on conservation and economic interests simultaneously, particularly to conserve highly threatened biota like seabirds.