Protect 30% of planet by 2030 – U.N. nature rescue plan

PARIS, France – Thirty percent of Earth's surface across land and sea should become protected areas by 2030 to ensure the viability of ecosystems essential to human wellbeing, according to a UN plan released Monday, January 13.

The draft proposal to halt the degradation of nature and the gathering pace of species loss will be vetted by nearly 200 countries gathering in October for a make-or-break biodiversity summit, the 15th since 1994.

Up to now, UN targets to safeguard or restore ecosystems have failed for lack of political backing, implementation and enforcement.

But the need for action has never been so urgent: last year the first UN "state of nature" report in two decades found that one million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction.