Abstract
The proliferation of private land conservation areas (PLCAs) is placing increasing pressure on conservation authorities to effectively regulate their ecological management. Many PLCAs depend on tourism for income, and charismatic large mammal species are considered important for attracting international visitors. Broad-scale socioeconomic factors therefore have the potential to drive fine-scale ecological management, creating a systemic scale mismatch that can reduce long-term sustainability in cases where economic and conservation objectives are not perfectly aligned. We assessed the socioeconomic drivers and outcomes of large predator management on 71 PLCAs in South Africa. Owners of PLCAs that are stocking free-roaming large predators identified revenue generation as influencing most or all of their management decisions, and rated profit generation as a more important objective than did the owners of PLCAs that did not stock large predators. Ecotourism revenue increased with increasing lion (Panthera leo) density, which created a potential economic incentive for stocking lion at high densities. Despite this potential mismatch between economic and ecological objectives, lion densities were sustainable relative to available prey. Regional-scale policy guidelines for free-roaming lion management were ecologically sound. By contrast, policy guidelines underestimated the area required to sustain cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), which occurred at unsustainable densities relative to available prey. Evidence of predator overstocking included predator diet supplementation and frequent reintroduction of game. We conclude that effective facilitation of conservation on private land requires consideration of the strong and not necessarily beneficial multiscale socioeconomic factors that influence private land management.
Highlights
Many of the challenges encountered by societies in managing natural resources arise because of a mismatch between the scale of management and the scale of ecological processes being managed (Cumming et al 2006)
Many private land conservation areas (PLCAs) depend on tourism for income, and charismatic large mammal species are considered important for attracting international visitors
The financial objectives of many PLCAs and their reliance on incomegenerating activities may result in ecological management decisions that are heavily influenced by the expectations of paying visitors (Langholz and Lassoie 2001, Cousins et al 2010, Miller et al 2013, Maciejewski and Kerley 2014a)
Summary
Many of the challenges encountered by societies in managing natural resources arise because of a mismatch between the scale of management and the scale of ecological processes being managed (Cumming et al 2006). In the absence of regional and global institutions with the power to regulate fishing harvests at spatial and temporal scales that are appropriate for (often poorly understood) fish population dynamics, societies have overexploited fish populations (Hilborn et al 2005). Mitigating such challenges requires an understanding of the multiscale processes that influence management and the development of approaches for realigning socioeconomic and ecological system elements.
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