Southeast Asia is one of the most rapidly urbanising regions in the world. Within Southeast Asia, Greater KL is remarkable for its rich wildlife, including threatened mammals, like, tapirs, serows, gibbons, pig-tailed macaques and pangolins.There is a need to identify, protect, restore and connect remaining green spaces in the urban matrix before this opportunity is lost to urban development.  

In a study published in Integrative Conservation, researchers tried to characterise ecological connectivity for mammals within Greater KL and identify important patches and linkages for connecting urban green spaces. 

The researchers first mapped land cover across Greater KL with  Google Earth Engine (GEE) to identify potential habitat. They then modeled connectivity using the remote sensing data, expert-based parameterisation and graph metrics for a range of dispersal guilds representing small and medium terrestrial and arboreal mammals. 

Their analysis showed large differences in the effects of fragmentation within Greater KL on the different dispersal groups, with some groups perceiving the landscape as disconnected. However, their analysis identified a network of green patches and pathways which potentially could support connectivity in the urban landscape. 

Their findings showed that Southeast Asia's Global South megacities have the capacity to support biodiversity in urban settings, as well as the possibility of new models of urban development that promote biodiversity through the protection, restoration and creation of networks of high-biodiversity green spaces. 

“The identification of a network of green patches and pathways provides a foundation for urban development that supports biodiversity in Southeast Asian megacities,” said the researchers.