Authors: Lewin, Amir; Rachmilevitch, Shimon ;Roll, Uri;

Drylands encompass a large part of Earth’s land surface, supporting vital human and natural environments. These unique and fragile desert ecosystems are especially vulnerable to increasing land conversion to agriculture and other land uses. Yet drylands are often neglected as regions for conservation concern, predominantly from a global perspective. A major barrier facing conservation planning in such regions is the application of several classifications and designations (e.g., dryland, desert, arid landscape, etc.) – comprising similar, broad and non-overlapping regions. We examined several dryland designations, categorizations, definitions, and mapping initiatives to evaluate the degree of global congruence among desert regions. We find that relative to other biomes, deserts are among the least protected by designated conservation areas aimed at protecting biodiversity (i.e., IUCN categories I-IV). We also identify ‘core’ regions of drylands identified as such across all designations, in addition to many regions falling under one or few dryland designations. These attributes were further highlighted in major dryland regions separately, revealing regions of very low protection and high human land-use pressures (e.g., Asia). Clarifying and identifying dryland classifications and their spatial distributions is integral to determing potential threats and requisite conservation interventions in desert regions globally.