scholarly journals Making parks make a difference: poor alignment of policy, planning and management with protected-area impact, and ways forward

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1681) ◽  
pp. 20140280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Pressey ◽  
Piero Visconti ◽  
Paul J. Ferraro

Policy and practice around protected areas are poorly aligned with the basic purpose of protection, which is to make a difference. The difference made by protected areas is their impact, defined in program evaluation as the outcomes arising from protection relative to the counterfactual of no protection or a different form of protection. Although impact evaluation of programs is well established in fields such as medicine, education and development aid, it is rare in nature conservation. We show that the present weak alignment with impact of policy targets and operational objectives for protected areas involves a great risk: targets and objectives can be achieved while making little difference to the conservation of biodiversity. We also review potential ways of increasing the difference made by protected areas, finding a poor evidence base for the use of planning and management ‘levers’ to better achieve impact. We propose a dual strategy for making protected areas more effective in their basic role of saving nature, outlining ways of developing targets and objectives focused on impact while also improving the evidence for effective planning and management.

Oryx ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
William D. Moreto ◽  
Richard Charlton

AbstractRecent studies have highlighted that illegal activities occurring within protected areas, including the poaching of fauna and flora, cannot be addressed with increased law enforcement alone. Moreover, research on the increasingly militarized nature of front-line conservation efforts has pointed to potentially detrimental aspects of such approaches. This has led to a shift in focus to identifying ways to further engage local communities in the prevention and reduction of wildlife crimes. However, few studies have examined the potential for changing the responsibilities of front-line conservation personnel or their views on such changes. Such insight is vital in forecasting the successful adoption of, or possible resistance towards, a more community-oriented policy. We examined rangers’ perceptions in Uganda to assess their attitudes towards traditional enforcement strategies and alternative, non-enforcement approaches for reducing illegal activities in protected areas. Our findings suggest that although respondents believed that traditional enforcement strategies (e.g. foot patrols) are important and effective in reducing wildlife crime, these strategies on their own were insufficient to address illegal activities. Study participants emphasized the importance of expanding the role of front-line rangers, in line with approaches suggested in the policing literature. We discuss the implications of our findings for transdisciplinary conservation science research and front-line conservation policy and practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1681) ◽  
pp. 20140270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Ferraro ◽  
Robert L. Pressey

Success in conservation depends on our ability to reduce human pressures in areas that harbour biological diversity and ecosystem services. Legally protecting some of these areas through the creation of protected areas is a key component of conservation efforts globally. To develop effective protected area networks, practitioners need credible, scientific evidence about the degree to which protected areas affect environmental and social outcomes, and how these effects vary with context. Such evidence has been lacking, but the situation is changing as conservation scientists adopt more sophisticated research designs for evaluating protected areas' past impacts and for predicting their future impacts. Complementing these scientific advances, conservation funders and practitioners are paying increasing attention to evaluating their investments with more scientifically rigorous evaluation designs. This theme issue highlights recent advances in the science of protected area evaluations and explores the challenges to developing a more credible evidence base that can help societies achieve their goals of protecting nature while enhancing human welfare.


TERRITORIO ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 36-43
Author(s):  
Rob H. G. Jongman

This article looks at ecological networks developed in Europe for the conservation of biodiversity. The role of connectivity and connection in the fragmented European landscape is discussed. This leads to the consideration that landscape characteristics should be included in conservation strategies and in the structures of ecological networks. The conservation of biodiversity in ecological networks is moving out of protected areas and requires conservation measures in the broader countryside involving land users and basically obtaining their consent. Its introduction in relation to the spatial scale of ecological networks and to the difference between European countries in planning has been studied only recently as has the role of stakeholders, followed as a logical consequence by public support.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e92-e102
Author(s):  
Lyndon Reilly

BackgroundEvidence suggests that positive parenting can impact men’s mental wellbeing and child development, and male parents have a unique and critically important role as parents. Unfortunately, limited literature is available regarding the First Nations male parenting and the challenges they encounter raising children. Furthermore, the qualitative studies examining First Nations male parents do not appear effective for translating policy and practice. In effect, important knowledge from these qualitative studies is not informing or shaping First Nations male parenting programs. A systematic collation and meta-synthesis of existing qualitative studies may strengthen the evidence base and assist with the integrative knowledge into policy and practice. MethodsA meta-synthesis of qualitative studies were performed to explore the experiences, barriers and facilitators to parenting among First Nations males. A systematic search in Social Sciences Citation Index, CINAHL, ProQuest, Informit Databases, Expanded Academic, Scopus and Google scholar for e-journals was conducted to identify studies that explored First Nations male parenting, barriers and facilitators. Thematic synthesis was performed to identify the key elements influencing (challenging or facilitating) them. ResultsNine qualitative studies were identified in the review, including eight peer-reviewed articles and one dissertation. Four themes emerged: (1) the complexity of roles and relationships; (2) poverty and exclusion; (3) sharing and receiving knowledge and (4) keeping strong. Elements across studies were identified as a barrier, facilitator or both to male parenting. Conclusions There is compelling evidence demonstrating the critical role of male parents to their own and their children’s development and wellbeing. This meta-synthesis generates a much-needed empirical foundation to guide further research, policy and practice for First Nations male parents. The meta-synthesis and the resulting explanatory theory can be used by communities, practitioners and policymakers to identify the barriers and facilitators that support and promote First Nations male parenting from an indigenous understanding of history and contemporary society.


Author(s):  
E.M. Waddell ◽  
J.N. Chapman ◽  
R.P. Ferrier

Dekkers and de Lang (1977) have discussed a practical method of realising differential phase contrast in a STEM. The method involves taking the difference signal from two semi-circular detectors placed symmetrically about the optic axis and subtending the same angle (2α) at the specimen as that of the cone of illumination. Such a system, or an obvious generalisation of it, namely a quadrant detector, has the characteristic of responding to the gradient of the phase of the specimen transmittance. In this paper we shall compare the performance of this type of system with that of a first moment detector (Waddell et al.1977).For a first moment detector the response function R(k) is of the form R(k) = ck where c is a constant, k is a position vector in the detector plane and the vector nature of R(k)indicates that two signals are produced. This type of system would produce an image signal given bywhere the specimen transmittance is given by a (r) exp (iϕ (r), r is a position vector in object space, ro the position of the probe, ⊛ represents a convolution integral and it has been assumed that we have a coherent probe, with a complex disturbance of the form b(r-ro) exp (iζ (r-ro)). Thus the image signal for a pure phase object imaged in a STEM using a first moment detector is b2 ⊛ ▽ø. Note that this puts no restrictions on the magnitude of the variation of the phase function, but does assume an infinite detector.


1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (04) ◽  
pp. 151-153
Author(s):  
P. Thouvenot ◽  
F. Brunotte ◽  
J. Robert ◽  
L. J. Anghileri

In vitro uptake of 67Ga-citrate and 59Fe-citrate by DS sarcoma cells in the presence of tumor-bearing animal blood plasma showed a dramatic inhibition of both 67Ga and 59Fe uptakes: about ii/io of 67Ga and 1/5o of the 59Fe are taken up by the cells. Subcellular fractionation appears to indicate no specific binding to cell structures, and the difference of binding seems to be related to the transferrin chelation and transmembrane transport differences


Author(s):  
M. S. Sudakova ◽  
M. L. Vladov ◽  
M. R. Sadurtdinov

Within the ground penetrating radar bandwidth the medium is considered to be an ideal dielectric, which is not always true. Electromagnetic waves reflection coefficient conductivity dependence showed a significant role of the difference in conductivity in reflection strength. It was confirmed by physical modeling. Conductivity of geological media should be taken into account when solving direct and inverse problems, survey design planning, etc. Ground penetrating radar can be used to solve the problem of mapping of halocline or determine water contamination.


Author(s):  
Brian Willems

A human-centred approach to the environment is leading to ecological collapse. One of the ways that speculative realism challenges anthropomorphism is by taking non-human things to be as valid objects of investivation as humans, allowing a more responsible and truthful view of the world to take place. Brian Willems uses a range of science fiction literature that questions anthropomorphism both to develop and challenge this philosophical position. He looks at how nonsense and sense exist together in science fiction, the way in which language is not a guarantee of personhood, the role of vision in relation to identity formation, the difference between metamorphosis and modulation, representations of non-human deaths and the function of plasticity within the Anthropocene. Willems considers the works of Cormac McCarthy, Paolo Bacigalupi, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, Doris Lessing and Kim Stanley Robinson are considered alongside some of the main figures of speculative materialism including Graham Harman, Quentin Meillassoux and Jane Bennett.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Spezia ◽  
Hichem Dammak

<div> <div> <div> <p>In the present work we have investigated the possibility of using the Quantum Thermal Bath (QTB) method in molecular simulations of unimolecular dissociation processes. Notably, QTB is aimed in introducing quantum nuclear effects with a com- putational time which is basically the same as in newtonian simulations. At this end we have considered the model fragmentation of CH4 for which an analytical function is present in the literature. Moreover, based on the same model a microcanonical algorithm which monitor zero-point energy of products, and eventually modifies tra- jectories, was recently proposed. We have thus compared classical and quantum rate constant with these different models. QTB seems to correctly reproduce some quantum features, in particular the difference between classical and quantum activation energies, making it a promising method to study unimolecular fragmentation of much complex systems with molecular simulations. The role of QTB thermostat on rotational degrees of freedom is also analyzed and discussed. </p> </div> </div> </div>


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