scholarly journals Raptor declines in West Africa: comparisons between protected, buffer and cultivated areas

Oryx ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Thiollay
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Distance Sampling ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Numida Meleagris ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
Transect Counts

AbstractSince 1970 there has been a dramatic decline of large raptors and terrestrial birds in West African savannahs. Comparative dry season transect counts over 4,697 km of driven transects were performed in 2004–2005 in south-eastern Burkina Faso to assess the abundance of 41 raptor species and large terrestrial species in four National Parks and surrounding hunting zones and cultivated areas. Population sizes were estimated for larger taxa in protected areas using distance sampling and nest searching. Most large vultures and eagles were generally found only in protected areas, with fewer individuals in the surrounding buffer zones and nearly none elsewhere. Conversely, the abundance of most of the smaller species was not different between protected and cultivated areas, and three species were more abundant in cultivated areas. Helmeted guineafowl Numida meleagris, Stanley’s bustard Neotis denhami and Abyssinian ground hornbill Bucorvus abyssinicus were not found outside protected areas. Within the 1.4 million ha of protected areas in and around south-east Burkina Faso, six species of eagles and vultures have estimated populations of c. 100–200 pairs, five species c. 50–100 pairs, five species have populations of <50 pairs, and the secretary bird Sagittarius serpentarius was not recorded. No specific reason for the collapse of large raptors in non-protected areas (which account for 99% of the area of the countries studied) has been identified, but the consequences of fast human population growth and habitat changes, overhunting, disturbances and poisoning may have played a critical role. Updating information on the conservation status of these species would be an important first step towards their long-term conservation.

Balancing effective conservation with sustainable resource use in protected areas: precluded by knowledge gaps

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLA J. VAN WILGEN ◽  
MELODIE A. MCGEOCH
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sustainable Resource Use ◽  
Management Capacity ◽  
Harvest Sustainability ◽  
Adequate Data

SUMMARYDespite significant expansion of the global protected area (PA) network, this investment has not commonly been matched by investment in their management. This includes managing trade-offs between social and biodiversity goals, including resource use in PAs. While some resource-use activities receive significant attention, the full suite of resources extracted from PA systems is rarely documented. This paper illustrates the potential risk of resource use to PA ecological performance through a survey of resources harvested in South Africa's national parks. Even for this comparatively well-managed suite of parks, significant data gaps preclude assessments of harvest sustainability. Harvest quantities were known for < 8% of the 341 used resources, while 23% were not identified to species level. International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List conservation status had not been evaluated for 78% of species, and 31% of all species (83% of marine species) had not been evaluated nationally. Protected areas face ongoing pressure to balance people-based and biodiversity outcomes, but whether or not both objectives can be achieved cannot be assessed without adequate data. Managing PAs in future will require consideration of trade-offs between investing in PA expansion, increasing the monitoring and management capacity of PA agencies, and investing in the research needed to support decision making.

Property rights in protected areas: obstacles to community involvement as a solution in Thailand

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Vandergeest
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Community Forest ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Rural People ◽  
Community Property ◽  
Forest Tenure ◽  
The Government

SummaryConflicts between local people and managers of protected areas (PAs) have often undermined conservation goals in Asia. Since the 1970s, conservation planners have tried to address these problems by incorporating rural development into PA planning. More recently, many conservationists have argued for increasing community involvement in PA management, and for allowing traditional resource uses inside PAs. Based on research in Thailand I make three arguments regarding obstacles to implementing the new approach.In Thailand, laws governing Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks enacted in the early 1960s were premised on the idea that human use and nature preservation were incompatible. Rapid expansion of these PAs in recent years has produced endemic conflict with rural people claiming resources inside PAs. To address this problem, the Thai Royal Forestry Department has cooperated with NGOs providing development assistance to rural people living in buffer zones outside of some PAs. I argue that this approach has met limited success because the main source of conflict is not poverty but claims on resources inside PAs.The second argument is that the Forestry Department has resisted changes to laws making local use inside PAs illegal because these laws are important for consolidating the Department's control over territory and in justifying increasing budgetary allocations. In addition, by redefining itself as an organization devoted to strict defence of forests, the Department has obtained the support of many urban environmentalists. The third argument is that the community forest approach taken by a recent draft Community Forest Bill is an important first step in that it implicitly recognizes community property. At the same time, this approach will also fail to address key problems because it is based on a notion of the traditional village, and does not allow for the commercial nature of rural forest use or the household-based nature of forest tenure.I suggest that the new expansion of PAs be halted, that land claimed by rural households be taken out of PAs, and that the government recognize community management rights in areas that remain classified as protected. More generally, the goals of conservation would be better achieved by replacing an approach based on the rapid expansion of PAs with one promoting conservation outside PAs.

scholarly journals Landscape Changes in Protected Areas in Poland

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 753
Author(s):  
Anna Zbierska
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Nature Protection ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Legal Forms

Land-Use Cover Changes (LUCCs) are one of the main problems for the preservation of landscapes and natural biodiversity. Protected Areas (PAs) do not escape this threat. Poland is among the European leaders in terms of the variety of landscapes and the share of an area designated as a protected area. However, as many as 78% of the habitats have poor or bad conservation status based on EEA reports. This article analyzes the LUCCs between 2000 and 2018 in various types of the Polish legal forms of nature protection areas and the European Natura 2000 network within the country. The research material was: the data of Corine Land Cover (CLC), the Central Register of Nature Protection Forms, and high-resolution layers, such as HRL and orthophotos. The results were compiled according to the CLC class and forms of protection. The matrix of transformations showed that the most frequently transformed CLC class was 312 (coniferous forest). It was transformed into class 324 (transitional woodland shrubs). The changes in PAs were usually smaller than in the surrounding buffer zones, which may indicate their effectiveness. The exception was the areas of the European Natura 2000 network. The scale of land-cover flows (LCFs) changed within particular forms of protected areas, though afforestation and deforestation predominating in all area types. National reserves and parks were the most stable in terms of land cover structures. However, human settlements increased around the protected areas, potentially increasing threats to their ecological integrity.

scholarly journals The Conservation Status of Eagles in South African Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
J C Knobel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
South African ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Birds Of Prey ◽  
Legal Provisions

This contribution is an introductory survey and preliminary evaluation of the conservation status of eagles in South African law. The methodology is primarily an interdisciplinary literature study of legal texts and texts from the natural sciences. Eagles are some of the largest and most powerful avian predators, and the human response to their presence is dualistic and polarised. At the one extreme, many people admire eagles, while at the other extreme they are perceived as a threat to economic and other interests, and may even be actively persecuted in a conviction that they are vermin. This duality in the human perception of eagles is also prevalent in South Africa and complicates their conservation. The mobility of eagles and other birds of prey means that they cannot be restrained by fencing national parks and other protected areas, and this heightens the likelihood of their entering into conflict with human interests. The conservation problems faced by eagles in South Africa can broadly be divided into direct and indirect threats. Direct threats include the intentional killing of eagles, and trade in eagles and their eggs. Indirect threats include non-targeted poisoning (where poisoned bait is used to control other predators, but eagles find the bait, feed on it, and succumb); habitat loss; mortality induced by dangerous structures; and disturbance. The legal status of eagles is influenced by a large body of legislative provisions, ranging from international and regional legal instruments, through national legislation, to provincial legislative measures. An overview of these provisions is given, with concise explanations of how they apply to the legal status of eagles and other birds of prey in South Africa. The conservation status of eagles in South African law is subsequently evaluated by considering the contribution of the applicable laws to three main types of conservation interventions. In respect of the first, habitat preservation, the relevant legal provisions contribute to an impressive array of conserved habitats in national parks and other protected areas. However, the mobility of eagles, and the fact that some species occur mainly outside protected areas, make it imperative for eagles also to be afforded legal protection outside of protected areas. In respect of the second type of intervention, namely management activities to conserve the species in their habitats, an inquiry is made into how the law addresses the threats of the intentional killing of eagles; trade in eagles and their eggs; non-targeted poisoning; mortality induced by dangerous structures; and disturbance. The protection is found to be sound in principle. In respect of the third and most intensive intervention, captive breeding, a regulatory framework is in place, but no such intervention on eagle species is known to be operative in South Africa. In conclusion a number of recommendations are made. The existing laws can be improved by aligning the legal status of species with their Red List status; listing all bird of prey species that are not Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable, as Protected for the purpose of national environmental legislation; and, in the medium rather than the short term, considering the imposition of legal obligations on electricity suppliers to implement measures that will mitigate mortalities on electricity structures. Better application of the existing laws could be achieved by improving compliance and enforcement, and by facilitating the optimal use of Biodiversity Management Plans, environmental research, and environmental education.

scholarly journals Socio-Economic Effects of National Park Governance and Management: Lessons from Post-Socialist Era Estonia

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1257
Author(s):  
Henri Järv ◽  
Raymond D. Ward ◽  
Janar Raet ◽  
Kalev Sepp
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Local Conditions

Despite the significant increase in protected territory globally, there is a common understanding that the designation of protected areas alone does not guarantee their effectiveness nor halt the loss of biodiversity. In addition to biodiversity conservation, protected areas are expected to perform a number of other functions, such as provide ecosystem services and improve local socio-economic conditions. Therefore, the need to strive towards mixed, decentralized conservation management and stakeholder involvement is increasingly emphasized. Although there is limited research, it has been noted that protected areas have not served wider objectives effectively enough. The current study provides insight concerning socio-economic effects of different governance and management practices of protected areas based on perceptions of residents and stakeholders of five national parks of Estonia. It was found that conservation status has an important impact on local socio-economic conditions largely depending on governance and management practices, resulting in both, positive and negative effects. It was concluded that the centralization of nature conservation and the abolition of protected area administrations have led to a gradual distancing of nature conservation from local conditions and the population, causing concern about the preservation of the living environment.

PROTECTED AREAS UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF MEGAPOLIS: DIGRESSION AND RECOVERY WAYS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF KYIV)

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
P.H. Shyshchenko ◽  
◽  
O.P. Havrylenko ◽  
Ye.Yu. Tsyhanok ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
City Council ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Administrative District ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Formal Expansion

The purpose of the study is to identify the main causes of the protected ecosystems digression within the nature reserve fund (NRF) territories of Kyiv city and to substantiate measures to restore their conservation status. Through the analysis of mapping materials and regulations, using the QGIS software the map of the NRF objects distribution in Kyiv has been constructed. The area of these sites is also calculated and the degree of preservation in each administrative district of the city is determined. Each year, the Kyiv City Council declaratively extends the NRF area, but most of urban protected areas (UPA) do not accomplish their tasks and gradually lose the natural value previously created to preserve them. Due to the lack of funding and mismanagement, new ecological conflicts are emerging within these institutions and, as a result, degrading natural ecosystems. For example, the only urban National Natural Park (NNP) in Ukraine “Holosiyivskyi” since its inception in 1994 still has no official boundaries. Holosiyivskyi forest, the central part of the NNP, surrounded by residential buildings and highways from all sides, has the smallest area of reserved zone among the other Park massifs. Another illustrative example is the Lysa Hora Regional Landscape Park (RLP), where residential development comes close to its area. The RLP protected regime is disrupted along its existence and is only a declaration. Therefore, erosion processes are activated, red-book species die, nature use conflicts are widespread, ecosystem values are degraded. The study justifies the inefficiency of the NRF area further formal expansion in the Kyiv city. UPA activities largely do not meet the functions and criteria set by law. To improve the management of NRF institutions, it is proposed to change their functional zoning procedure and to transfer zoning on a landscape basis. In order to reduce the risk of illegal development near the UPA boundaries, it is necessary to develop land management projects for NRF institutions, to define their boundaries and to strengthen control over the implementation of Ukrainian environmental legislation. Creating buffer zones around the UPA protecting them from the adverse effects of urban infrastructure can prevent the chaotic development and further degradation of the ecosystems. The scientific novelty of the study is in identifying the causes of the digression of Kyiv’s protected areas and substantiating measures to overcome them. The spatial distribution of NRF institutions was determined and their structural and functional organization analyzed in order to achieve the purpose of the study.

scholarly journals Microclimatic analysis of mangroves in two distinct categories of Protected Areas and conserved status

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nádia Gilma Beserra de Lima ◽  
Marília Cunha-Lignon ◽  
Emerson Galvani
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Mangrove Forests ◽  
Conservation Units ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Air Temperatures

Mangrove forests provide essential ecosystem services to human communities, including climate regulation. In Brazil, the National System of Nature Conservation Units divides Protected Areas (PAs) into two categories: Full Protection (FP) and Sustainable Use (SU). The FP areas are composed of five categories, including National Parks, and the SU areas comprise seven categories, such as Environmental Protection Areas. The current research compared climatic attributes, leaf area index, and vegetation structure development in mangrove forests in two distinct categories of PAs (FP and SU) along the southern coast of the state of São Paulo (Brazil) to analyze the climatic conditions in different PA categories. A survey of the microclimatic attributes found that the conserved mangroves in the FP PA presented a) greater thermal stability in terms of the maximum, minimum, and mean air temperatures, and b) a better role of mangrove vegetation in (re)distributing the energy inside the forest. Therefore, it is affirmed that FP PAs play a fundamental role in maintaining the good conservation status of mangroves and, consequently, stabilizing the microclimate.

Reply: Protected areas and property rights in Thailand

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER VANDERGEEST
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Local People ◽  
Nature Protection ◽  
Buffer Zones

Dearden et al . (1998) have suggested that my arguments for backing away from zealously pursuing the expansion of protected areas in Thailand (Vandergeest 1996) means giving benefits to local people with no consideration for the wider community or future generations. Let me begin my response by reminding readers of my central argument: that the driving force behind the rapid expansion of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in Thailand was primarily the forest department's need to find new ways of controlling territory and legitimizing budget allocations, rather than nature protection per se. This bureaucratic need was the outcome of widespread occupation of reserve forests, due to both reservation of occupied areas and new migration into demarcated reserved forests, as well as the 1989 ban on legal logging in Thailand. In its rush to convert reserve forest to protected area status, the forest department demarcated as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries many areas occupied and used by local people, producing a situation in which most protected areas in Thailand are surrounded or partially occupied by an alienated local population who feel that their legitimate property rights have been appropriated. The rapid expansion of protected areas in Thailand is thus hardly something that the international conservation community should be celebrating. Nor will ongoing problems with local people be fundamentally resolved through development projects, buffer zones, and participatory conservation alone, although these kinds of projects often have important benefits. I suggested that a more appropriate direction would be to degazette and allocate to households land clearly claimed and occupied by rural households, which I estimate to be about 20% of protected areas. I also suggested that some land gazetted as protected area could be managed as common property, and that conservation could be much more aggressively pursued outside of protected areas.

scholarly journals Buffer Zone Management System in Protected Areas of Nepal

2014 ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narayan Prasad Bhusal
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Management Programme ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Internal Resources ◽  
Zone Management

Maintenance of eco-system diversity is often carried out by establishing national parks, wildlife reserves and other protected areas. The fourth amendment of the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act in 1992 made the provision of buffer zone for protected areas considering buffer zone, an area of 2km in the vicinity of the park could benefit from park revenue (30-50 percent) and in return the community is supposed to participate and assist in park management activities. Between 1996 and 2010 Government of Nepal demarcated buffer zones of 12 protected areas covering a total area of 5602.67 square kilometer in 83 VDCs and two Municipalities of 27 districts where benefiting human population is over 0.9 million. In the buffer zone management programme emphasis has been given on the natural resource management where need of eco-friendly land use practices and peoples participation in conservation for long term sustainability are encouraged. This paper is an attempt to outline the various activities that have been executed under buffer zone management programme of Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation with the internal resources, local communities and support from UNDP, WWF Nepal, CARE Nepal, NTNC and other various partners for the conservation and development of buffer zones in Nepal.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ttp.v11i0.11558The Third PoleVol. 11-12, 2012Page : 34-44

scholarly journals Spatial distribution of the Barbary Partridge (Alectoris barbara) in Sardinia explained by land use and climate

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianpasquale Chiatante ◽  
Marta Giordano ◽  
Anna Vidus Rosin ◽  
Oreste Sacchi ◽  
Alberto Meriggi
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Distance Sampling ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
European Population ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Study Sites

AbstractMore than half of the European population of the Barbary Partridge is in Sardinia; nonetheless, the researches concerning this species are very scarce, and its conservation status is not defined because of a deficiency of data. This research aimed to analyse the habitat selection and the factors affecting the abundance and the density of the Barbary Partridge in Sardinia. We used the data collected over 8 years (between 2004 and 2013) by spring call counts in 67 study sites spread on the whole island. We used GLMM to define the relationships between the environment (topography, land use, climate) both the occurrence and the abundance of the species. Moreover, we estimated population densities by distance sampling. The Barbary Partridge occurred in areas at low altitude with garrigue and pastures, avoiding woodlands and sparsely vegetated areas. We found a strong relationship between the occurrence probability and the climate, in particular, a positive relation with temperature and a negative effect of precipitation, especially in April–May, during brood rearing. Furthermore, dry crops positively affected the abundance of the species. We estimated a density of 14.1 partridges per km2, similar to other known estimates. Our findings are important both because they increase the knowledge concerning this species, which is considered data deficient in Italy, and because they are useful to plan management actions aimed to maintain viable populations if necessary.

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