A blueprint for securing Brazil's marine biodiversity and supporting the achievement of global conservation goals

Aim: As a step towards providing support for an ecological approach to strengthening marine protected areas (MPAs) and meeting international commitments, this study combines cumulative impact assessment and conservation planning approach to undertake a large-scale spatial prioritisation.

Location: Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Brazil, Southwest Atlantic Ocean

Methods: We developed a prioritisation approach to protecting different habitat types, threatened species ranges, and ecological connectivity, while also mitigating the impacts of multiple threats on biodiversity. When identifying priorities for conservation, we accounted for the co-occurrence of 24 human threats and the distribution of 161 marine habitats and 143 threatened species, as well as their associated vulnerabilities. Additionally, we compared our conservation priorities with MPAs proposed by local stakeholders.

Results: We show that impacts to habitats and species are widespread and identify hotspots of cumul...