Assessing Biodiversity

Venezuela Caribbean ecoregions. Click on image to enlarge.

Comprehensive regional assessments are meant to evaluate the full spectrum of biodiversity in a given ecoregion, identifying areas of biological significance where conservation efforts have the greatest potential for success.

The area of study in this project consisted of 165,000 km² of coastal and marine environment in the Venezuelan Caribbean. The region is divided into 13 ecoregions (see map) and 30 conservation targets that ranged from deep-water coral communities to sea turtle communities to mangrove forests.

Ecological and biological experts determined key attributes for each target including their existing condition (size, landscape context, viability), vulnerability, and rarity, which were then used in determining conservation status. Indicators were selected to be used by energy companies for quantifying the state of each conservation target. Experts developed conservation goals for each target, ranging from 30 to 100% of the geographic area after offshore exploitation practices were determined.

Golfete de Coro, Venezuelan Caribbean. Left, Bahia Amuay. Conservation goals ranged from 30 to 100% of the current distribution of each ecological and biological target. Photos © Eduardo Klein