Only one-quarter of Colombia's protected areas effectively protect freshwater fishes, researchers find

Only 25% of newly-delineated priority areas identified for the protection of freshwater fishes in Colombia overlap with existing protected areas, according to a recent study published in Diversity and Distributions by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). Strikingly, the required amount of area is similar to that of the existing protected areas. However, a more efficient spatial distribution would be important. This finding is in line with another study, published in Nature Communications, that found that protected areas in Europe are often insufficient to enhance the biodiversity and water quality of rivers because most protected areas were originally designated for terrestrial ecosystems.