The precise identification of priority areas for conservation based on connectivity can significantly enhance protection efficacy and mitigate biodiversity loss in fragmented landscapes. Priority area selection efforts are typically conducted in landscapes with a limited number of patches or simplified to focus on large patches, while landscapes with numerous patches are rarely explored. In this paper, we used a forest in Kanas, Xinjiang, China, as a case study to explore priority patches for conservation according to their contribution to maintaining overall landscape connectivity, as well as to assess how structural factors influence patch importance in connectivity, based on graph theory. We found that the rank of patches varied with patch importance indices (which can be used to calculate the contribution of individual patches to maintaining overall landscape). Dispersal distances were selected, as they placed different emphasis on the size and topological location of patches, and different types of links (binary or probabilistic connection) were used. One critical and seven important connected patches were identified as priority patches for conservation after taking multiple connectivity indices and dispersal distances into comprehensive consideration. In addition, neighboring patch density was the dominant factor that influenced patch importance for species with 50 and 100 m dispersal distances, while patch size contributed most for species with 200 m and longer dispersal distances; therefore, we suggested that neighboring patch density and patch size could be used to support efforts to identify priority patches. Overall, our results provide a unique perspective and a more simplified process for the selection of priority protected sites in patch-rich landscapes, allowing us to highlight which action is suitable for optimizing landscape connectivity and biodiversity conservation.

Establishing protected areas (PAs) in the right locations is essential for the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 30% target, yet existing PA networks are often misaligned with conservation needs. We used systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas in Xinjiang, China, under four objectives, biodiversity, landscape connectivity, ecosystem services, and their integration, by minimising a composite human-pressure cost while meeting quantitative representation targets, and connectivity was linked to priority setting by ranking patches by their contribution to overall landscape connectivity. The four solutions each covered 30% of Xinjiang but overlapped on 19.76% of the region, and no single objective satisfied all targets. The extant PA network was poorly aligned with these priorities; only 47.10–51.25% of its area fell within priority areas and 77.22–79.06% of priority areas lay outside existing PAs, leaving range-restricted species such as the Ili pika (Ochotona iliensis) (0.10% protected) largely uncovered. Most additional priority areas were expansion zones adjoining existing PAs, with a few large patches contributing disproportionately to connectivity. We therefore propose a tiered pathway: expand existing reserves, secure high-connectivity bridges, refine small patches through ground surveys, and complement by restoring small patches in human-modified landscapes with community participation and fiscal-transfer support.