Reversing the decline at Higher Level: The same statement as SL, with different real cases: southern white rhinos, Cabo Pulmo's reef, Bhutan's forests, the Seychelles magpie-robin, Rwanda's gorillas. At HL the law behind each measure (HL.a) and who pays for it (HL.b) matter as much as the measure itself.
Practise this as you read
- Explain how measures at each of the four levels bring species back.
- Evaluate whether protection, law or money did the most in a named recovery.
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Decline can be turned around: Conservation and regeneration measures can be used to reverse the decline in biodiversity, so that humanity stays within the planetary boundary for biodiversity.
The points to remember
- Biodiversity loss is one of the nine planetary boundaries: inside them is a safe operating space for humanity.
- Species are dying out at least 10 times faster than the boundary allows: it has been crossed.
- Wildlife populations tracked since 1970 have fallen by 73% on average (Living Planet Index, 2024).
- Losing species weakens the ecosystem services people rely on: pollination, clean water, a stable climate.
- Conservation protects what is left; regeneration restores what was lost. Together they can reverse the decline.
Real example: by about 1900 only a few dozen southern white rhinos survived, in what is now Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa. Protection in the reserve, then moving rhinos to other parks from the 1960s, raised them to about 20 000 by 2010.
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Protected areas are the most common measure. On land they let forests grow back; at sea, a no-take zone lets fish recover.
How protected areas reverse decline
- Protected areas stop or reduce logging and land clearing.
- They prevent conversion to farms and cattle ranches.
- On used land, secondary succession rebuilds forest cover, and biodiversity returns with it.
- No-take zones at sea: no fishing, so fish, and the animals that eat them, have more food.
- Safe breeding sites: controlled access, guarded nests, rangers against poachers.
- Tourist income pays for rescue centres, habitat restoration and artificial nests.
Real example: the fishing families of Cabo Pulmo asked for their reef to become a no-take national park in 1995. Ten years later the mass of fish was nearly six times higher, and the families earned more from divers than from fishing.
Say how, not just 'it is protected': 'The species is protected' is too thin. Each reason needs a measure and what it does: 'a no-take zone stops fishing, so there are more fish to eat'.
Forests and wildlife recover when harming them becomes illegal or strictly controlled, and the rules are actually enforced.
What effective enforcement looks like
- Laws ban or limit clearing, hunting, fishing and trade in wildlife.
- Clear rules say where cutting or fishing is allowed and where it is banned.
- Monitoring: rangers, satellite checks and inspections find illegal activity fast.
- Penalties: fines, lost permits, prosecution, cut-off bank loans.
- A law alone is not enough: enforcement decides whether it works.
Remember it as: Rule, watch, punish.
Real example: Bhutan's constitution (2008) says at least 60% of the country must stay forested forever. Today about 70% is forest, and about half the country is in protected areas joined by corridors; its tigers rose from about 103 in 2015 to 131 in 2022.
Laws need enforcement: A reserve that exists only on paper, with no patrols, loses its forest to illegal logging.
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Measures can be taken to conserve and regenerate biodiversity at four levels. The strongest recoveries use all four.
The four levels
- Individual: buy certified products, eat less meat, give to or volunteer for conservation, join citizen science.
- Collective: communities, NGOs and businesses manage land, fund projects, monitor species, campaign.
- National: governments pass laws, create protected areas, and fund and enforce them.
- International: agreements across borders, such as CITES on trade and the CBD's 30% by 2030.
- The biggest recoveries use several levels at once.
| Level | What was done for the magpie-robin |
|---|---|
| Individual | The owners of Fregate, a private island, fund the birds' care. |
| Collective | Nature Seychelles, a charity, removed rats and cats from islands. |
| National | Seychelles law protects the bird and its island homes. |
| International | BirdLife International and global funds paid for the recovery plan. |
Real example: the Seychelles magpie-robin fell to about 15 birds on one island by 1990. After rats and cats were removed and birds were moved to four more islands, there are now more than 300.
Why international?: Many species cross borders, like migrating birds and whales, and trade is global, so no country can protect them alone.
Forests recover faster when people earn money by keeping them standing. Payment for ecosystem services (PES), ecotourism and certification are the main incentives.
Economic incentives
- Payment for ecosystem services (PES): landowners are paid to keep or replant forest.
- The payment makes conservation profitable: it covers what clearing would have earned.
- Ecotourism: living wildlife earns money, which pays rangers and gives local jobs.
- Certification labels reward sustainable producers with better prices and markets.
- Incentives work best when they are fair (small farmers included) and long-term.
PES
- Pays owners to conserve or replant.
- Links to carbon, water and flood control.
Ecotourism
- Income for communities.
- Money for park rangers and enforcement.
Certification
- Access to higher-value markets.
- Rewards sustainable forestry and farming.
Real example: a permit to visit Rwanda's mountain gorillas costs 1500 US dollars, and 10% of park income goes to villages around the park. Living gorillas are worth more to them than poaching or clearing the forest.
Fairness matters: If payments reach only large landowners, small farmers may keep clearing to survive. Including them makes a scheme fairer and more effective.
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How this comes up: Paper 2 Section B asks how measures at different levels reverse the decline in biodiversity [7], or to what extent they can keep humanity within the planetary boundary [9]. Paper 1 asks for reasons a population grew, from a fact file [2].
Wildlife populations tracked since 1970 have fallen by 73% on average.
Explain how measures at individual, collective, national and international levels can reverse the decline in biodiversity. Refer to named examples.
Model answer plan
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Cover every level: Seven marks and four levels: give at least one point per level so the answer has breadth.