scholarly journals Managing Biodiversity: Impacts of Legal Protection in Mountain Forests of the Himalayas

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inger Måren ◽  
Lila Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Forest Health ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Walking Distance ◽  
Participatory Management ◽  
Protected Forests ◽  
Agro Forestry

Legal protection has been used as means of conserving forests and associated biodiversity in many regions of the world since the eighteenth century. However, most forests in the global south, even those within protected areas, are influenced by human activities. Himalayan forests harbour much of the biodiversity of the region, maintain subsistence livelihoods, and provide regional and global ecosystem services like water regulation, flood control, and carbon sequestration. Yet few studies have quantitatively studied the impacts of legal protection on forest health and biodiversity. We assess woody biodiversity and forest health in relation to legal protection and biomass extraction in forests inside and outside Langtang National Park in Nepal (n = 180). We found more woody species in protected forests. Of the 69 woody species recorded, 47% occurred at both sites. Within protected forests, we found differences in forest health largely related to the intensity of biomass extraction expressed as walking distance to settlement. The closer the forest was to settlements, the heavier degradation it suffered, showing that within agro-forestry systems in the Himalayas, the resource-consumer distance is typically determining the intensity of biomass extraction. Our research brings forth the need to better address the drivers of resource extraction from protected areas in order to mitigate this degradation. It also brings forth the need to contribute to the development of appropriate participatory management programmes outside areas of formal protection in order to sustain both biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery from these forests for the future.

scholarly journals Attractiveness of protected areas for geotourism purposes from the perspective of visitors: the example of Babiogórski National Park (Poland)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 358-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Widawski ◽  
Zdzisław Jary ◽  
Piotr Oleśniewicz ◽  
Piotr Owczarek ◽  
Julita Markiewicz-Patkowska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
National Park ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

AbstractThis article examines the tourist role of protected areas important for their unanimated nature potential. In Poland the highest form of legal protection is a national park. Babiogórski National Parks is one of 23 national parks in Poland. The aim of this article is to present its tourist attraction based on its geotourist potential considered by tourists who visit this park. At the beginning a brief history of protection of Babia Góra is presented. Based on stock-taking sightseeing method an analysis of the most important tourist attractiveness elements (like infrastructure or tourist values) is done. The focus on the values of unanimated nature is made grouping them into four main categories. As the result of research on infrastructure the most important accommodation units were indicated present at the surroundings of this National Park which is vital for its tourist capacity. For the correct functioning of tourist movement at the protected area the supporting infrastructure is important bearing a lot of functions. The function of channeling of the tourist movement as well as the didactic function are the most important for protection and correct use of geotourist values. Among the many elements of the supporting infrastructure the most important ones are tourist and didactic routes (their course and themes are presented). The most important part of the article is the presentation of the participants of the tourist movement opinions on the Babiogórski National Park tourist attractiveness. A survey was conducted and then analysed on 308 respondents in 2011. They were asked to judge both the quality of infrastructure as well as attraction of geotourist values together with their adaptation to reception by the tourist movement. The results analysis served as a base to appraise the state and perspectives for the geotourism development in Babiogórski National Park from the point of view of the receivers of tourist product i.e. the protected area.

scholarly journals Frequency, Harmfulness and Vulnerability (FHV) Multicriteria Method for Integrated Analysis of Illegal Exploitations and Strategic Participatory Management of Protected Areas in Africa

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Ntiranyibagira Elysée ◽  
Uwiringiyimana Thacienne ◽  
Nsengumuremyi Concorde ◽  
Kibogo Andrew ◽  
Muhirwa Fabien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Participatory Management ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Specific Method ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Multicriteria Method ◽  
The Impact

In Africa, protected areas are facing hudge illegal exploitations and accelerated degradation. Illegal exploitations are interesting indicators of local socio-economic needs and hostility of populations to conservation activities. The study aimed to develop a specific method for the analysis of illegal exploitations and the promotion of successful participatory management. Basically, the Multicriteria method used to determine the impact and the gravity of illegal exploitations relies on three criteria based on offenses themselves and affected resources. The method combines statistical analysis of management data using ANOVA and χ² tests, field observations and semi-structured interviews for validation. For the tested Rusizi national Park, the findings showed that the number of supervised exploitations increased from 1988 to 2015 while the number of supervised operators is limited and highly fluctuating between resources and periods. The public integration ratio is 8 0/000 and corresponds to 61 supervised operators of which 84% are involved in vegetal resources exploitations. In total, 10 illegal exploitations whose impact values range from 1 to 20 and belong to very high and high impact classes were reported.  Average, 651 cases of which 71% cover direct cuts of vegetation were reported annually. Statistically, the most damaging illegal exploitations are made of tree and vegetation cuts, cattle grazing and fishing. Illegal exploitations are seasonal and more important in dry season than in rainy season. They are more important in Delta sector than in Palmeraie sector. The shift from gracious exploitations to lucrative operations, over-taxation of supervised exploitations, low ratio of public integration, political conflicts and unarmed protection contributed to increase and strengthen significantly illegal exploitations. Ultimately, the results revealed the limits of participatory management on illegal exploitations. Consequently, the success of participatory management in Rusizi national Park requires strategic and concerted development projects, more responsive regulatory measures and relevant partnerships with peripheral village.

scholarly journals Forest communities and factors responsible for vegetation pattern in the legally protected areas of the Kashmir Himalaya, India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheikh Marifatul Haq ◽  
Umer Yaqoob ◽  
Hilal Qazi
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Kashmir Himalaya ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Protected Forests

Abstract Background The protected areas (PAs) of any region are contributing people’s livelihoods and are proving to be the backbone of all forms of biodiversity conservation. The reforms in protection rules at global level and legal protection at local level has contributed a lot to the conservation of forests and other associated biodiversity. However, due to various anthropogenic activities and other climatic changes, protected areas and other species rich sites are being exposed to a continuous threat. Realizing the future perspective of potential and economic value of these protected forests, the phytosociological investigations were carried out in protected forests of Jammu and Kashmir in Kashmir Himalaya. Results Floristically, a total of 84 species belonging to 71 genera in 39 families were recorded. The floristic analysis revealed that the dominant plant families in the study area comprises of Rosaceae with (14%) species, followed by Asteraceae (8%) species and Poaceae (7%) species. Species richness of the vascular plants varied from 38–55, and Shannon-Wiener diversity index value of scrub forest type was statistically lower than that of the coniferous forest and other forest types. The average tree density of 890 individual’s ha− 1 was recorded throughout the study area. Conclusions The diversity of various plant species differed across the dimensions. The phytosociological parameters are being affected by discrete levels within soil parameters. Plant community composition displayed a significant change within forest types even when species richness didn’t alter. Furthermore, the prototype of conservation biology has got shifted towards updated patter of biodiversity safeguarding by highlighting various multi-scale approaches. There are some critical abiotic factors, which prove very much helpful in understanding the mechanisms operating at a specific level to create variation in species diversity as well as in community composition.

scholarly journals No Limits of Acceptable Change: A Proposed Research Framework for Informing Visitor Use Management in the Context of Cultural Resources

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 377
Author(s):  
Zachary D. Miller ◽  
Wayne Freimund ◽  
Stefani A. Crabtree ◽  
Ethan P. Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
National Park ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Limits Of Acceptable Change ◽  
The Us ◽  
Visitor Use ◽  
Material Evidence

Cultural resources are commonly defined as resources that provide material evidence of past human activities. These resources are unique, as they are both finite and non-renewable. This provides a challenge for traditional visitor use management since these resources have no limits of acceptable change. However, with nearly every national park in the US containing cultural resources, coupled with ever-growing visitation, it is essential that managers of parks and protected areas have the ability to make science-informed decisions about cultural resources in the context of visitor use management. We propose a framework that can help provide context and exploration for these challenges. Drawing on previous literature, this framework includes risk-based approaches to decision making about visitor use; visitor cognitions related to cultural resources; emotions, mood, and affect related to cultural resource experiences; creating and evaluating interpretive programs; deviant visitor behaviors related to cultural resources; and co-management.

scholarly journals Mammal conservation in Amazonia’s protected areas: A case study of Peru’s Ichigkat Muja - Cordillera del Cóndor National Park

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. e01451
Author(s):  
Jason J. Scullion ◽  
Jacqueline Fahrenholz ◽  
Victor Huaytalla ◽  
Edgardo M. Rengifo ◽  
Elisabeth Lang
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Mammal Conservation
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