Using Earth Observation to Monitor ­Species-­Specific Habitat Change in the Greater Kejimkujik National Park Region of Canada

Abstract

The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) adopted a de‰nition that describes a protected area as clearly de‰ned geographical space, recognized, dedicated, and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values (Dudley 2008). In general, protected lands include areas such as national parks, national forests, national seashores, all levels of natural reserves, wildlife refuges and sanctuaries, and designated areas for conservation of native biological diversity and natural and cultural heritage and signi‰cance. Protected lands also include some of the last frontiers that have unique landscape characteristics and ecosystem functions. Along the shoreline and over the ocean and sea, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has de‰ned marine-protected areas (MPAs) as any area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated ˜ora, fauna, and historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or the entire enclosed environment (Kelleher 1999). As reported by the World Database onCONTENTS1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................1 1.2 Remote Sensing of Changing Landscape of Protected Lands ................5 1.3 Remote Sensing for Inventory, Mapping, and ConservationPlanning of Protected Lands and Waters ...................................................9 1.4 Remote Sensing of Frontier Lands ............................................................ 13 1.5 Remote Sensing in Decision Support for Managementof Protected Lands ....................................................................................... 16 1.6 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................... 17 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................ 19 References ............................................................................................................... 20Protected Areas (IUCN and UNEP-WCMC 2010), as of 2009, worldwide approximately 13% of the lands are designated as protected areas and about 0.8% waters along the shoreline and over the ocean are set as MPAs. In the United States, 14.81% of the terrestrial lands have been set as protected, and along the shoreline and over the ocean 24.75% of the terrestrial waters up to 12 nautical miles are set as MPAs. Protected lands and waters serve as the fundamental building blocks of virtually all national and international conservation strategies, supported by governments and international institutions. Those provide the core of efforts to protect the world’s threatened species and are increasingly recognized as essential providers of ecosystem services and biological resources; key components in climate change mitigation strategies; and in some cases also vehicles for protecting threatened human communities or sites of great cultural and spiritual value (Dudley 2008).