Ecosystem services: The promise and peril of the approach

The network of protected areas, even ambitiously expanded, is likely to sustain only a tiny fraction of Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystem services over the long run.  For conservation to have enduring success, over meaningful scales, it must attract the willing and long-term participation of people deriving their livelihoods from the target systems.  Innovative approaches that achieve this goal, in diverse places worldwide, are changing the way people think about conservation and broadening the population practicing and investing in it.  I will give an overview of these approaches, and their strengths and risks, while highlighting important research opportunities for advancing this work.