Protected Areas

Question 1

History

Answer 1

Historical PA movement: Motivations: religion & resource management
Late 19th century PA movement: Yellowstone NP in 1872
Motivations: wilderness preservation
Modern PA movement: Motivations: species, habitats, ecosystem services

Question 2

A Protected Area is…

Answer 2

Previously over 1000 definitions, defined by national legislation
Need for standardisation raised in 1962 World Parks Conference
IUCN agreed definitions in 1994, revised in 2008

Question 3

A Protected Area is…
‘an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means’ (IUCN 1994)

Answer 3

‘a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values’ (IUCN 2008)

Question 4

IUCN Categories IUCN categories established to:

Answer 4

• Capture full range of protected area values • Help global accounting & comparisons
• Reduce confusion over protected area names & types across various countries
• Promote international standards

Question 5

IUCN Categories
• Ia - Strict Nature Reserve: protected area managed mainly for science e.g. Sundarbarns NP, India
• Ib - Wilderness Area: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection

Answer 5

• II - National Park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation e.g. Kakadu, Australia
• III - Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features e.g. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Question 6

IUCN Categories
• IV - Habitat/Species Management Area: protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention e.g. Selous game reserve, Tanzania
• V - Protected Landscape/Seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation e.g. Dartmoor NP

Answer 6

• VI - Managed Resource Protected Area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems e.g. Kiunga Marine National Reserve, Kenya

Question 7

Currently the extent of terrestrial and marine PAs are going up but the living planet index is falling (more for terrestrial than for marine)

Answer 7

Mora & Sale 2011 Marine Ecology Progress Series 434, 251-266

Question 8

Current PAs major issues

Answer 8

- Overall extent
• Biaseddistribution
• Individualprotectedareasize
• Isolation
• Inadequate protection
• Future threats

Question 9

Total area protected

Answer 9

25000000 km^2

Question 10

Aichi target #11

Answer 10

Currently missing 3million km^2 of terrestrial PAs and 11 million km^2 of marine PAs for 2020 target

Question 11

Restoration & Aichi target 11

Answer 11

Currently need shortfall of protected areas to be met by protection of unconverted lands but this is not true in India, and China and Malaysia and Indonesia

Question 12

Biased distribution - marine

Answer 12

Hotspots best 2% of cells for endangered marine mammals

Little overlap between hotspots & MPAs

Question 13

Biased distribution - terrestrial

Answer 13

Protected areas often established due to lack of economic potential
Related to opportunity & availability rather than biological characteristics
Gap analysis - Rodrigues et al 2004

Question 14

Pouzols et al. 2014 Nature 516, 383-386

Answer 14

Cumulative average coverage of species ranges in different fractions of terrestrial land.

Question 15

Kopnina 2016 Half the earth for people (or more)? Addressing ethical questions in conservation Biological Conservation 203, 176-185

Answer 15

50% of terrestrial biomes
Needed for viable populations & ecosystem services
Feasible? – loss of habitat & social impacts

Question 16

Half of protected areas are under 10km^2

Answer 16

But most species need >10km^2 for functioning

Question 17

Individual protected area size

Answer 17

Declining size of new sites
Can’t maintain viable populations of species that require large home ranges
Edge effects greater relative influence in small reserves

Question 18

Increasing isolation

Answer 18

Fragmentation and edge effects

Question 19

Inadequate protection - multiple threats

Answer 19

Human encroachment and resource extraction are common
204 parks in 16 tropical countries Van Schiak et al. 1997
Poaching, logging, encroachment

Question 20

Reserve effectiveness
Laurence et al 2012 Nature 489, 290-294
60 reserves across the tropics: Africa, Asia and the Americas
Interviews 20-30 yrs change in: 31 animal and plant groups
21 environmental change drivers inside and outside reserve

Answer 20

Many reserves are suffering and losing biodiversity

Question 21

Reserve health increases with increased protection

Answer 21

Internal and external pressures correlate such as temperature, rain, wind, flooding, drought, air and water pollution

Question 22

Two possible solutions:

1. Parks focus/fortress conservation: - forceful exclusion of local people (gorilla protectress being killed)

Answer 22

2. People focus/community based conservation:
   People allowed to benefit from resources in exchange for protecting the PA (seahorse protectress supporting seahorse medicine market and conservation of populations)

Question 23

Kibale NP, UGANDA

Answer 23

People living on park edges are poorer and the poor experience lowest growth in wealth - park as a poverty trap?

But risk of land loss for the poor inversely correlated with proximity to the park
89% of villagers on park edge want access for timber, but it is illegal
38% illegally extract timber, significant reductions with resource access agreements (honey hives)
$250 increased income

McKenzie et al 2011 Environmental Conservation 39, 38-50 Naughton-Treves et al 2011 PNAS 108, 13919-13924

Question 24

Van der Braber et al 2018 Conservation Letters

https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12576

Answer 24

Inequality and Poverty in PAs

Question 25

Inadequate protection? - but the best available?

Answer 25

IUCN red list 181 mammal species exhibited genuine changes in conservation status: 144 declined & 37 improved
All species occurred in PAs, so in isolation not effective for delivering conservation, but part of the solution

Question 26

Human population growth and urbanisation is expanding

Answer 26

in PA buffer zones more than rural zones

Question 27

PAs in the future: what about climate change?

Answer 27

Predicted turn-over in priority avian species in African IBAs

Turnover > 50% at 42% of sites

But 90% of species retain climate space in IBAs

7-8 species have no climatic representation

Question 28

Future threats

Hole et al 2011 Conservation Biology 25, 305-315

Answer 28

Best cells for priority species in three future time periods

PAs index of added value considering dispersal

Question 29

PAs and range shifts

Answer 29

species colonise protected areas

Question 30

Summary
Rapid growth in PAs but continuing declines in biodiversity
Much discussion of appropriate coverage targets

Answer 30

Numerous problems with PAs and their biodiversity is often in decline
Total exclusion of people from PAs rarely works
PAs can be effective, including in the future, but spatial
planning and management need to be improved