Global whole landscape connectivity to complement protected area connectivity

Protecting and maintaining ecosystem connectivity is crucial for stemming the biodiversity crisis, but current tools and indicators assessing connectivity primarily focus on connectivity among protected areas, not across ecosystems. Here, we develop a map of global connectivity across all lands that accounts for the cumulative impacts of human modification. We then parse this continuous connectivity into categories directly relevant for conservation actions (i.e., spatial planning, restoration, and protection). We find that most global lands (66%) retain high levels of connectivity, particularly in tundra, boreal, and conifer forest biomes, which often fall outside of protected areas. Conversely, 29% of global terrestrial areas have low levels of connectivity due to high human modification, which is prevalent in Asia, Europe, and North America, and in temperate and tropical forested biomes. Our results underscore that focusing only on connectivity of protected areas misses ecologically important areas that currently lack protection and may fail to identify important conservation and restoration areas for connectivity that could benefit ecosystems. This work is broadly applicable to inform global conservation goals, such as those enumerated in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). We provide summaries to inform global, national, and sub-national decision making and demonstrate how this whole-landscape connectivity data can be used to support GBF targets.