Management Plans For Protected Areas Research Articles

At the Interface of Legislation and Wildlife Management: A Decade of Experience with Consensual Protected Area Management Planning in Cameroon

At the Interface of Legislation and Wildlife Management: A Decade of Experience with Consensual Protected Area Management Planning in Cameroon

Observations on macrobenthic invertebrates and wader bird assemblages in a protected marine mudflat in Bahrain

Intertidal mudflats in Bahrain provide essential feeding grounds for a good number of shorebirds. The spatial distribution of soft-sediment macrobenthic invertebrate assemblages inhabiting a mudflat designated as a natural marine protected area was investigated to characterize shorebird food supplies. Molluscs accounted for 88% of the total macroinvertebrates community, reflecting a dominance of gastropod grazers. Six species of wading birds were recorded feeding in the protected area. Bird disturbance associated with human recreational activities that may interfere with the conservational benefits of this protected area was explored. This study highlighted the crucial need for management plans for protected areas and for further research concerning bird disturbance.

Is the Atlantic Forest protected area network efficient in maintaining viable populations of Brachyteles hypoxanthus?

Habitat loss and fragmentation are serious threats to biodiversity conservation in the Atlantic Forest. A network of protected areas is essential to the protection of native biodiversity. However, internal and external factors may threaten the preservation of biota, thus population viability analyses (PVA) are important tools in protected area design and management planning. A PVA was carried out, using the computer package VORTEX, to assess the effectiveness of the protected area network within the Atlantic Forest in Brazil in retaining viable populations of the endemic primate Brachyteles hypoxanthus. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest has 42 protected areas within B. hypoxanthus geographic distribution area, and only five of those were considered to retain viable populations for 50 generations, whereas 28 were predicted to suffer from genetic decay, seven from both genetic decay and demographic stochasticity, and two of them are probably extinct populations. The model indicates that although the protected area network of the Atlantic Forest will likely keep B. hypoxanthus populations for the next 50 generations, most of them (35 out of 42, or 83%) will be facing some kind of demographic and/or genetic problem and will probably need management actions to be implemented in order to ensure their persistence.

Protecting mammal diversity: opportunities and constraints for pragmatic conservation management in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

A case study is given of a conservation management planning exercise underway in Cat Tien National Park and its surrounding areas in southern Vietnam. The importance of reliable information in this process is demonstrated using the Park's mammalian diversity. Opportunities and constraints to engage the local communities in conservation management planning and implementation are reviewed. The spatial element in protected area management planning is stressed; in some areas strict preservation management regimes are needed to conserve critical biodiversity values while in other areas conservation benefits could be gained from engaging local communities in resource management. Pragmatic conservation management planning decisions address identified threats, to be resolved by re-demarcation of boundaries, resettlement of people, and community-based conservation initiatives. These should result in a more viable Park as well as provide more secure livelihood conditions for the people elsewhere. This case study is put in the context of the wider conservation management debate.

Les aires protégées : un instrument essentiel pour la recherche en écologie fondamentale et appliquée à la conservation

Protected areas, though they provide a more or less stringent preservation to ecosystems and their biodiversity according to their conservation status, have proven, since several decades, to afford outstanding opportunities regarding biological research. They have provided invaluable information on the basic structure of communities, on the extent and importance of their biodiversity as well as on the functioning of ecosystems and on the mechanisms of fundamental ecological processes. They stand currently as an invaluable tool for the ecological monitoring, especially regarding the follow up of ecosystem health as well as for the global biodiversity assessment and for the improvement of the knowledge of the population status of threatened species. As a conclusion, the relevance of protected areas for ecological research both fundamental and applied is presently unquestioned. Therefore, one has to meet the urgent need to increase the support to the research into these areas, especially in conservation ecology. Another major requirement is to insure a better implementation of the transfer from the results of these researches to the conservation practices in order to improve the efficiency of the management plans of protected areas particularly in what addresses their biodiversity conservation.

Riparian forests, a unique but endangered ecosystem in Benin

Riparian forests are often small in area, but are of extreme ecological and economic value for local people. The interest of riparian forests lies in their resources: basically fertile and moist soils, water, wood and non-timber forest products that are utilised by neighbouring populations to satisfy their basic needs and as source of income. Their abusive overuse is widespread and growing in Benin. As a result rich biological resources, especially plant species, are disappearing before they can be inventoried and assessed. Most recent management plans for protected areas barely consider the conservation of riparian forests. The forest law in Benin recognises their uniqueness, but several problems arise in the implementation of the rules in these particular areas. The most common and widespread tree species in riparian forests in Benin are Pterocarpus santalinoides, Cola laurifolia, Syzygium guineense, Berlinia grandiflora, Elaeis guineensis, Manilkara multinervis, Xylopia parviflora, Dialium guineense, Diospyros mespiliformis and Parinari congensis. Waterways and their forested banks are rich in birdlife, and serve as a focal point for primates and animals of many kinds. Site-specific studies at ground level are essential to assess riparian systems because their narrow linear shapes generally require data on plant community structure, floristic composition and animal presence. Details of vegetation layers under the dominant trees cannot yet be detected by remotely sensed data. This paper presents an overview of the biological diversity of riparian forests in Benin and discusses several issues associated with their protection and conservation.

Management plans for natural protected areas in Mexico: La Sierra de la Laguna case study

Summary Mexican Natural Protected Areas main goals are to protect biodiversity in the core areas and to achieve sustainable development of natural resources in their influence zone. According to Mexican legislation, all newly established biosphere reserves must have a Management Plan (MP). This MP must regulate all activities in the area, and guarantee that the short-and long-term objectives of the reserve will be achieved satisfactorily. In this paper, we outline the required information and topics to be included in all MPs. We describe the main recommendations offered in the MP for a new Natural Protected Area in Mexico: the La Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve. The document provides the Federal authorities with all the basic information, scientificallysupported, for sustainable management of the natural resources of the reserve. The main goal of this MP was to promote the sustainable socioeconomic development of the region, its resources, and its inhabitants.The information provided should be useful to compare with other countries the differences and similarities in official guidelines of MPs, to enhance sustainable use of resources in Natural Protected Areas.

‘Consensus’ participation: an example for protected areas planning

This article forwards the argument that combining institutional and people participation is fundamental to the pursuit of ‘sustainability’. A generalized model of participation is proposed based on building consensus and preventing/resolving conflict between all stakeholders who might be influential in, or affected by, the effect of major developments on a society's goals for sustainability. This ‘consensus’ participation model seeks to overcome problems relating to the exclusive nature of community-based ‘popular’ participation (such as Participatory Rural Appraisal), and the narrow economic nature of current ‘stakeholder’ participation. The model is founded upon two ideas: that to achieve consensus requires stakeholders to negotiate and reach agreement collaboratively, and that certain stakeholders (e.g. the disenfranchised poor and entrenched government bureaucracies) are often polarized from a capability to contribute effectively to this process. In a manner similar to the introduction of methodologies to guide environmental management in project planning (environmental impact assessment, land use evaluation etc.), it is suggested that methodological frameworks are needed to aid the process of integrating ‘consensus’ participation within major development initiatives (large-scale projects, sectoral programmes, strategic land use or resource management planning, and regional and national policy formulation). Based on research in Zambia, an example of a consensus-orientated participation framework is presented, designed to guide preparation of strategic management plans for protected areas. The example is used to draw out some of the benefits of ‘consensus’ participation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘Consensus’ participation: an example for protected areas planning

This article forwards the argument that combining institutional and people participation is fundamental to the pursuit of ‘sustainability’. A generalized model of participation is proposed based on building consensus and preventing/resolving conflict between all stakeholders who might be influential in, or affected by, the effect of major developments on a society's goals for sustainability. This ‘consensus’ participation model seeks to overcome problems relating to the exclusive nature of community-based ‘popular’ participation (such as Participatory Rural Appraisal), and the narrow economic nature of current ‘stakeholder’ participation. The model is founded upon two ideas: that to achieve consensus requires stakeholders to negotiate and reach agreement collaboratively, and that certain stakeholders (e.g. the disenfranchised poor and entrenched government bureaucracies) are often polarized from a capability to contribute effectively to this process. In a manner similar to the introduction of methodologies to guide environmental management in project planning (environmental impact assessment, land use evaluation etc.), it is suggested that methodological frameworks are needed to aid the process of integrating ‘consensus’ participation within major development initiatives (large-scale projects, sectoral programmes, strategic land use or resource management planning, and regional and national policy formulation). Based on research in Zambia, an example of a consensus-orientated participation framework is presented, designed to guide preparation of strategic management plans for protected areas. The example is used to draw out some of the benefits of ‘consensus’ participation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Project management in protected areas—a tale of two systems

This paper examines the application of information technology to project management in the context of the implementation of management plans for protected areas which now cover some 20% of the land surface of developed countries. CMS, an ‘off the shelf’ system intended for use on any conservation site, is compared with PMIS, an organizationally based bespoke system in which site and property management was merely one aspect of an integrated IT system encompassing virtually every function of a large organization, the National Trust. CMS was conceived “bottom up” as a modest experiment by site managers to solve their immediate problems of project control, has been highly successful to date and is in use in over 350 sites within the UK as well as in a number of other countries. PMIS, initiated ‘top down’ as probably the most ambitious attempt to date of any conservation organization to computerize its activities has failed to fulfil early hopes, proving unwieldy and expensive and development was curtailed in late 1995. The implications for protected area and conservation site project management are considerable. Small may not be particularly beautiful but is currently the only available option for those who need a working project management system. In the long term however the choice between ‘off the shelf’ PC-based software and the development of a networked bespoke system will be an increasingly difficult one, particularly for large land managing conservation organizations.

Standardisation of zones within specially protected and managed areas under the Antarctic Environmental Protocol

ABSTRACTA number of countries are revising management plans for protected areas in Antarctica so that they comply with Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Annex V allows for ‘identification of zones…in which activities are to be prohibited, restricted or managed.’ A wide range of terms are, and could be, used to meet site-specific zoning needs. If allowed to develop in an ad hoc way, a confusing and inconsistent set of zones would be likely to evolve. This could be avoided by a coordinated and pro-active approach to identifying the zones needed. Based on field observations and examination of current and proposed management plans, a simple, standardised model of five types of zone is proposed: Restricted, Scientific, Tourist, Facilities, and Historic. Their application, where needed, would meet the full range of management needs within specially protected and managed areas in Antarctica.

Protected areas review: McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea

AbstractAs a result of new provisions in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty a number of countries are reviewing the management plans for protected areas in Antarctica. The United States and New Zealand have initiated a review of the 15 existing sites in the Ross Sea region, using an independent party, the International Centre for Antarctic Information and Research, to facilitate and coordinate the process. Management provisions are being revised to comply with the Protocol, and improved maps for the sites are being prepared using Geographical Information Systems. Visits in 1993/94 gathered field information, and thus far two sites have had new plans drafted: these are proceeding through the international review process. Input and comment is invited from interested parties with experience in these areas.

Appraising Protected Area Management Planning in Nepal

This paper distils Nepal's experience on protected area management planning, with particular reference to implementation of management plan. It also reviews the status of PA management plan and legal provisions related to management plan. Management plan is the road map to guide conservation efforts and sets out the desired future of protected area. Five-year management plan of protected areas have been prepared and implemented. Although park management plans were formulated for most of the parks and reserves, there remained wide gaps during its timely and effective implementation. The aim of this paper is to answer the question "what are the issues in management planning process and implementation". Building on the strength of the past and keeping the existing weaknesses in mind, the management effectiveness should be evaluated and improved.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/init.v4i0.5538The Initiation Vol.4 2011 69-81