With protected areas identified as the primary tool to halt the loss of biodiversity, the Convention on Biological Diversity has set targets for protected area expansion. Increasingly, concerns are being raised that target-driven growth, where targets focus largely on quantity (total area protected) rather than quality, may fail to achieve their intended biodiversity outcomes. Therefore, it is important to assess whether growth in area protected is translating into a more robust system of protected areas that better safeguard biodiversity. In this study, we propose a set of seven indicators, drawing on the body of evidence for the elements of protected area design and management associated with better biodiversity outcomes. Many of the features of effective design and management interact with one another, making it essential to use a suite of indicators and consider progress relative to trends across all of these indicators. We implemented the proposed indicators for the Australian National Reserve System, which has undergone significant growth over the past two decades. Our findings demonstrate that relying on trends in total area protected can obscure negative trends in other important indicators which suggest many protected areas in Australia are under increasing pressure. Meanwhile, the level of resourcing for management has not kept pace with increases in total area protected and has certainly not scaled with changes in pressures on protected areas. It is important that the global conservation community strive for a more nuanced set of indicators for conservation progress to identify whether growth in area protected has, or has not, translated into a more robust and effective system of protected areas. Given that most of the indicators we propose can be populated with existing data, we believe this approach could be achievable for protected areas globally.

随着保护区被确定为制止生物多样性丧失的主要手段，《生物多样性公约》为保护区的扩大设定了目标。人们越来越关注目标驱动的增长，而目标驱动的增长主要集中在数量（受保护的总面积）而不是质量上，可能无法实现其预期的生物多样性成果。因此，重要的是要评估保护区的增长是否正在转变成更健全的保护区系统，从而更好地保护生物多样性。在这项研究中，我们根据与更好的生物多样性成果相关的保护区设计和管理要素的证据，提出了一套七个指标。有效设计和管理的许多功能是相互影响的，因此必须使用一组指标并考虑所有这些指标相对于趋势的进度。我们实施了针对澳大利亚国家储备系统的拟议指标，该指标在过去二十年中经历了显着增长。我们的研究结果表明，依靠总保护区的趋势可以掩盖其他重要指标的负面趋势，这表明澳大利亚许多保护区正面临越来越大的压力。同时，用于管理的资源水平并未与保护区总面积的增加保持同步，并且当然也没有随着保护区压力的变化而扩大。重要的是，全球保护界应努力争取一套更细微的保护进展指标，以查明受保护地区的增长是否有，转化为更加健全和有效的保护区系统。鉴于我们建议的大多数指标都可以用现有数据填充，因此我们认为对于全球保护区而言，这种方法是可以实现的。