scholarly journals International funding agencies: potential leaders of impact evaluation in protected areas?

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1681) ◽  
pp. 20140283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian D. Craigie ◽  
Megan D. Barnes ◽  
Jonas Geldmann ◽  
Stephen Woodley
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
International Funding ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Potential Benefits

Globally, protected areas are the most commonly used tools to halt biodiversity loss. Yet, some are failing to adequately conserve the biodiversity they contain. There is an urgent need for knowledge on how to make them function more effectively. Impact evaluation methods provide a set of tools that could yield this knowledge. However, rigorous outcome-focused impact evaluation is not yet used as extensively as it could be in protected area management. We examine the role of international protected area funding agencies in facilitating the use of impact evaluation. These agencies are influential stakeholders as they allocate hundreds of millions of dollars annually to support protected areas, creating a unique opportunity to shape how the conservation funds are spent globally. We identify key barriers to the use of impact evaluation, detail how large funders are uniquely placed to overcome many of these, and highlight the potential benefits if impact evaluation is used more extensively.

scholarly journals Measuring benefits of protected area management: trends across realms and research gaps for freshwater systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1681) ◽  
pp. 20140274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa M. Adams ◽  
Samantha A. Setterfield ◽  
Michael M. Douglas ◽  
Mark J. Kennard ◽  
Keith Ferdinands
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
National Park ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
Time Lags ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Freshwater Systems ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Area Management

Protected areas remain a cornerstone for global conservation. However, their effectiveness at halting biodiversity decline is not fully understood. Studies of protected area benefits have largely focused on measuring their impact on halting deforestation and have neglected to measure the impacts of protected areas on other threats. Evaluations that measure the impact of protected area management require more complex evaluation designs and datasets. This is the case across realms (terrestrial, freshwater, marine), but measuring the impact of protected area management in freshwater systems may be even more difficult owing to the high level of connectivity and potential for threat propagation within systems (e.g. downstream flow of pollution). We review the potential barriers to conducting impact evaluation for protected area management in freshwater systems. We contrast the barriers identified for freshwater systems to terrestrial systems and discuss potential measurable outcomes and confounders associated with protected area management across the two realms. We identify key research gaps in conducting impact evaluation in freshwater systems that relate to three of their major characteristics: variability, connectivity and time lags in outcomes. Lastly, we use Kakadu National Park world heritage area, the largest national park in Australia, as a case study to illustrate the challenges of measuring impacts of protected area management programmes for environmental outcomes in freshwater systems.

scholarly journals Securing tropical forest carbon: the contribution of protected areas to REDD

Oryx ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörn P. W. Scharlemann ◽  
Valerie Kapos ◽  
Alison Campbell ◽  
Igor Lysenko ◽  
Neil D. Burgess ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
The Tropics

AbstractForest loss and degradation in the tropics contribute 6–17% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Protected areas cover 217.2 million ha (19.6%) of the world’s humid tropical forests and contain c. 70.3 petagrams of carbon (Pg C) in biomass and soil to 1 m depth. Between 2000 and 2005, we estimate that 1.75 million ha of forest were lost from protected areas in humid tropical forests, causing the emission of 0.25–0.33 Pg C. Protected areas lost about half as much carbon as the same area of unprotected forest. We estimate that the reduction of these carbon emissions from ongoing deforestation in protected sites in humid tropical forests could be valued at USD 6,200–7,400 million depending on the land use after clearance. This is > 1.5 times the estimated spending on protected area management in these regions. Improving management of protected areas to retain forest cover better may be an important, although certainly not sufficient, component of an overall strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).

scholarly journals The Importance of Partnerships for Effective Protected Area Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam de Koning ◽  
Oliver Avramoski
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Communications Skills ◽  
To Come ◽  
Area Management

Protected areas work in complex environments in which they have to liaise with governments, scientific and civil society organizations, volunteers, local stakeholders, visitors, and funders. This requires next to thematic expertise on conservation, among others legal, management, financial, administrative and communications skills and capacities. Especially the smaller protected areas struggle to efficiently operate in all these specialized fields and often lack enough in-house capacity and resources. This chapter highlights the lessons learned and evolvement of various forms of partnerships in different countries on different continents (collaborative arrangement in Laos and different formal and informal arrangements in the Western Balkans). Core to the success is to build sufficient capacity within the protected area management authorities so they understand the priorities and the resources needed to fund, manage and implement these priorities. Specialized skills and capacities needed for effective protected area management are limited in most countries and it is inefficient and too expensive to build this capacity in-house. Having a clear vision on what needs to be done and building a strong cooperation between partners through effective communication is the key to success to come to more effective protected area management either on a national, regional or transboundary level.

scholarly journals Hitchhikers’ guide to the legal context of protected area management plans in South Africa

Bothalia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Goosen ◽  
Andrew C. Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
World Heritage Convention ◽  
Legal Context ◽  
The World ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
National Environmental ◽  
Area Management

Background: Although formal protected areas in South Africa date back to the turn of the 19th century, requirements for protected area management plans only became mandatory a century later. Prior to the promulgation of the World Heritage Convention Act 49 in 1999, and subsequently the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 in 2003, requirements for management plans were voluntary, and guidance to the plan’s content was fragmented across an array of international, national and provincial policy instruments.Objectives: As there has been little academic debate on the relevance and content of protected area management plans, an improved understanding of these plans, and the role they play in biodiversity conservation, is required.Method: This article explores the evolution of the management plan, revisiting its historical and current legal context at international and national scales.Results: Despite being the principal legislative framework for management plans, the World Heritage Convention Act and the National Environmental Management Protected Area Act did not consolidate the plethora of management plan requirements, and hence did not bring clarity when these conflicted or were ambiguous.Conclusion: Legal provisions for management plans are highly fragmented. This risks plans not being complete, falling short of the requirement to ensure that protected areas fulfil the purpose for which they were established. A consolidation of relevant provisions, as well as emerging best practices is recommended. This may require the revision of South Africa’s environmental law, to provide greater clarity on the contemporary understanding of the contribution of protected areas to conservation and the well-being of people (viz. the ‘purpose’).

scholarly journals Nature protection across countries: Do size and power matter?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Germán Baldi
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Nature Protection ◽  
The Face ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Limited Spectrum ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Effective Growth

AbstractProtected areas are one of the most effective tools for nature conservation. Consequently, almost all countries have agreed to set increasingly demanding goals for the expansion of their protected area systems. However, there is a large disparity among countries, and research on the cultural drivers of differences remains quite unexplored. Here, we explore the relationship between protected extent and a limited spectrum of socio-economic characteristics, making focus on size and power features. Protected areas under strict conservation categories (I to IV, IUCN) were considered for 195 countries, and relationships were modeled by means of LOESS regressions, violin plots, and a random forest ensemble learning method. Larger and more powerful countries (in terms of land area, gross domestic product, or military expenditure) protect less and in relatively smaller units than smaller and less powerful countries. Out of the twenty most extensive countries of the world, only two exceed 10% of protection. This situation is problematic since an effective growth of the global protected area network depends on the willingness of larger and more powerful countries. We propose different hypotheses a posteriori that explain the role of size and power driving protection. These hypotheses involve direct mechanisms (e.g., the persuasive capacity of large countries) or mechanisms that mediate the interactions of some others (e.g., tourism contribution to GDP and insularity). Independently of mechanisms, our results emphasize the conservation responsibilities of large and powerful countries and contribute to envision conservation scenarios in the face of changes in the number and size of countries.

scholarly journals Predicting Attitudes towards Protected Area Management in a Developing Country Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
David Mwesigye Tumusiime ◽  
Patrick Byakagaba ◽  
Mnason Tweheyo ◽  
Nelson Turyahabwe
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
Local People ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Material Benefits ◽  
Socio Economic Factors ◽  
Area Management

Biodiversity conservation through use of protected areas relies significantly on the attitudes of local adjacent communities. Some studies suggest that attitudes are often shaped by the associated positive and negative externalities and socio-demographic and economic characteristics of local communities living adjacent to protected areas. The current study sought to identify useful predictors of local attitudes towards protected area management. It was conducted at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda where several interventions in form of benefits to improve local people’s attitudes towards the park have been implemented for the last 30 years. The study examined the extent to which these benefits can influence local people’s attitude towards management of the Protected Area (PA). A household survey was conducted among 190 randomly selected respondents and Generalised Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) fitted where the dependent variable was a binary “Good” or “otherwise” response to how the respondent considered own relationship with park management. Socio-economic attributes of the respondents were used as control variables. The importance of cost variables (e.g. crop raiding) was also examined. The study found that only direct and material benefits were consistent predictors of a positive attitude towards management. Non-material and indirect benefits as well as the socio-economic factors and costs did not influence the attitude of local communities towards management. It can be concluded that positive attitude towards protected area management is determined by access to direct and material benefits by local communities and not socio-economic factors or costs incurred. Interventions intended to influence local communities to have a positive attitude towards management ought to emphasize direct and material benefits.

scholarly journals Monitoring and Assessment of Protected Areas’ Management Capacities in the Republic of Serbia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola Banjac ◽  
Rado Maksimović ◽  
Katarina Dragaš ◽  
Jelena Ivetić
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
Management Effectiveness ◽  
Aggregate Function ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Area Management

The necessity to measure the effectiveness of the management of protected areas has been widely recognized. This paper aims to show a realistic state of affairs in protected area management in the Republic of Serbia on the basis of the results of managers’ monitoring and their obligations stipulated by law. It will also answer questions on which form of management is optimal, by means of a proposed assessment model. The research has been performed on a sample of 30 sensu stricto protected areas, managed by 21 different managers. For the purpose of ranking and comparing the degree of protected area management effectiveness, the use of a normalized aggregate function (scoring) has been introduced. Results show that about half of the analyzed protected areas have no adequate management in terms of legally prescribed management criteria, as well as that management effectiveness is related to several external factors. The authors conclude that meeting all criteria stipulated by law, and the existence of professional staff represent fundamental factors for the effective management of protected areas.

Public–Private Partnerships in Ecotourism Development in Protected Areas: A Case Study of Tunkinsky National Park in Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1700
Author(s):  
Lyudmila MAKSANOVA ◽  
Sembrika IVANOVA ◽  
Darima BUDAEVA ◽  
Alyona ANDREEVA
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
National Park ◽  
Protected Area Management ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
Potential Demand

This paper discusses the opportunities offered by public–private partnerships in developing ecotourism infrastructure in protected areas. The paper also addresses the issues contributing to threats and conflicts while implementing infrastructure projects. In order to fulfil research objectives, the authors employ a sociological instrument. Using a snowball method, the authors selected 34 experts with professional competencies in tourism development, natural resource management, protected area management, and public-private partnerships. The results of this study demonstrate a potential demand for the mechanisms of public-private partnerships when developing ecotourism infrastructure. Using the case study of Tunkinsky National Park, the authors identified potential threats and conflicts in the process of preparation and delivery of public-private partnership projects for ecotourism infrastructure development.

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