DURHAM, NC – Many of Earth’s most important tropical protected areas are struggling to sustain their biodiversity, according to a study published today in Nature.

More than 200 scientists from around the world contributed to the new report, including John Terborgh, director of the Center for Tropical Conservation at 91ÉçÇø¸£Àû and Research Professor Emeritus at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and Patricia Alvarez, also at the Center for Tropical Conservation.

The report documents changes – mostly declines – that have taken place in recent decades to more than 30 different categories of plant and animal species within protected areas across the tropical Americas, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. It identifies a host of environmental factors, including deforestation of surrounding lands and encroachment into preserves by illegal colonists, hunters, miners and loggers,that driving the declines.

Terborgh and Alvarez contributed data on changes in biodiversity at Manu National Park in Peru, where Terborgh, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, has conducted ecological research for more than 30 years, and Alvarez for more than 12.

Among other findings, the report documents that 85 percent of the protected areas in the study have lost nearby forest cover over the last two to three decades, while only two percent saw an increase in the surrounding forest.

The scientists found that an alarmingly wide array of species are being hurt by these changes, including big predators and other large-bodied animals, many primates, old-growth trees, and stream-dwelling fish and amphibians.

The bottom line, the paper’s authors say, is that governments, conservation groups and other stakeholders need to do a better job protecting the world’s protected areas – and that means taking off the gloves and fighting both internal and external threats, as well as building greater consensus and support for protected areas among local communities. Such efforts, the scientists say, will help ensure protected areas are more resilient to future threats such as climate change.

William Laurence of James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama was lead author of the study.