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The Role of Protected Areas in Conserving Lowland Biodiversity in Grassland and Savannah Ecosystems in Latin America

Grasslands and savannahs are among the most threatened terrestrial ecosystems, yet they harbor critical endemic biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. In Latin America, these biomes cover approximately 13% of the land surface and underpin extensive cattle ranching while holding deep socio-cultural significance. In Colombia's Llanos Orientales and Argentina's Pampas, Protected Areas (PAs) and Private Reserves (PRs) are vital for conservation, though they occupy only 3.7%–12.8% of the landscape. Emerging initiatives like Civil Society Reserves and Regenerative Ranching are gaining traction, but their contributions to productivity and biodiversity data remain underexplored. This project aims to analyze the connectivity between PAs including the PRs in the Casanare department and the flooded Pampa in the Buenos Aires province.