Conservation Of Protected Areas Research Articles

Video-mediated dialogue for promoting equity in protected area conservation

AbstractImproving equity in the context of protected areas conservation cannot be achieved in situations where people have different capabilities to participate. Participatory video has the potential to uncover hidden perspectives and worldviews and to build trustworthy, transparent and accountable relationships between marginalized communities and external agencies. We present findings from video-mediated dialogues between Indigenous peoples and decision makers involved in the management of three protected areas in Guyana. Participatory films created by Indigenous researchers in their communities were screened and discussed with protected area managers. We recorded their responses and presented them back to the communities. We show how the video-mediated process provided a rich and contextualized understanding of equity issues. It enabled recognition and respect by protected area managers for Indigenous lived experiences and the contribution of their values and knowledge. For Indigenous peoples, the participatory video process built confidence and critical reflection on their own activities and responsibilities whilst allowing them to challenge decision makers on issues of transparency, communication and accountability. We show that equity is an evolving process and that different protected areas with their differing histories and relationships with Indigenous communities produce distinct outcomes over time. Thus, promoting equity in protected areas and conservation must be a long-term process, enabling participation and producing the conditions for regular, transparent and honest communications. Standardized indicators of protected areas equity could be useful for reporting on international targets, but video-mediated dialogue can facilitate deeper understanding, greater representation and a recognition of rights.

Community Development for Bote in Chitwan National Park, Nepal: A Political Ecology of Development Logic of Erasure

The conflict between development and conservation concerns is a perennial topic in sustainable development, and especially significant for marginalized social groups. In Nepal, fortress conservation in protected areas (PA) gave way to a community-based development and natural resource management (CBNRM) narrative of inclusion and participation in so-called buffer zone (BZ) initiatives around national parks. Studies to date show mixed outcomes of the community-based model for marginalized communities, especially for traditional indigenous river and forest dwellers. Academic and government reports of successes and failures of community-based projects in Nepal assume progress is based on traditional indigenous livelihood practices being abandoned and participation in state modernization initiatives in parks and reserves. Thus, despite promises of participation, evidence to date shows a de facto continuation of fortress conservation thinking and erasure of customary knowledge and livelihoods. Based on an ethnographic inquiry informed by political ecology conducted in two villages of Bote IPs (in the buffer zone area) of the Nawalparasi District of Chitwan National Park (CNP), we describe how state interventions and regulations under the guise of community-based participation actively ignore the moral ecology of traditional riverine livelihoods while pursuing a modernization project. Echoing calls by other scholars and stakeholders, we argue that a new approach to conservation and development that respects the environmental ethics of traditional livelihoods is long overdue in Nepal.

Benefit-sharing from protected area tourism: A 15-year review of the Rwanda tourism revenue sharing programme

The success of protected areas depends to a large degree on the support of local communities living in and around these areas. Research has shown that where communities receive tangible and/or intangible benefits, from protected areas they are often more supportive of conservation. Rwanda introduced a tourism revenue sharing policy in 2005 to ensure that local communities receive tangible benefits specifically from protected area tourism and to enhance trust between the Rwanda Development Board (the then Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks) and local communities, and to incentivize the conservation of wildlife and protected areas. This study reviewed the tourism revenue sharing programme over the last 15 years, including primary and secondary data, which included interviewing more than 300 community members living around three national parks, as well as other relevant stakeholders. The results show that the tourism revenue sharing programme has resulted in a positive linkage between the national parks and development. Since 2005, ~80% of the funding was used for infrastructure and education projects. The funds are distributed through local community cooperatives, and most local people who are members of these cooperatives had received or were aware of tangible benefits received by the community and tended to have more positive attitudes toward tourism and the national parks. Despite a large amount of tourism revenue being disbursed over the 15-year period, there are still challenges with the programme and the overall impact could be enhanced. Recommendations as to how to address these are presented.

Spatio-temporal genetic structure of the striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) populations inhabiting national parks in South Korea: Implications for conservation and management of protected areas

Population or habitat connectivity is a key component in maintaining species and community-level regional biodiversity as well as intraspecific genetic diversity. Ongoing human activities cause habitat destruction and fragmentation, which exacerbate the connectivity due to restricted animal movements across local habitats, eventually resulting in the loss of biodiversity. The Baekdudaegan Mountain Range (BMR) on the Korean Peninsula represents “biodiversity hotspots” and eight of the 22 Korean national parks are located within the BMR. Given the striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) is the most common and ecologically important small mammals in these protected areas, the population genetic assessment of this species will allow for identifying “genetic diversity hotspots” and also “genetic barriers” that may hinder gene flow, and will therefore inform on effective conservation and management efforts for the national park habitats. We collected samples from hair, tail, or buccal swabs for 252A. agrariusindividuals in 2015 and 2019. By using mitochondrial DNA cytochromeb(cyt b) sequences and nine microsatellite loci, we determined levels of genetic diversity, genetic differentiation, and gene flow among eight national park populations ofA. agrariusalong the BMR. We found high levels of genetic diversity but the occurrences of inbreeding for all the nine samples analyzed. Our results also indicated that there was detectable temporal genetic variation between the 2015 and 2019 populations in the Jirisan National Park, which is probably due to a short-term decline in genetic diversity caused by reduced population sizes. We also found a well-admixed shared gene pool among the national park populations. However, a significant positive correlation between geographic and genetic distances was detected only in mtDNA but not microsatellites, which might be attributed to different dispersal patterns between sexes. There was a genetic barrier to animal movements around the Woraksan National Park areas. The poor habitat connectivity surrounding these areas can be improved by establishing an ecological corridor. Our findings of the presence of genetic barriers in some protected areas provide insights into the conservation and management efforts to improve the population or habitat connectivity among the national parks.

Inland capture fisheries, dam reservoirs, and protected areas for wildlife conservation in India: conflicts and ways forward

Inland capture fisheries, dam reservoirs, and protected areas for wildlife conservation in India: conflicts and ways forward

Application of Phytosociological Information in the Evaluation of the Management of Protected Areas

The classification system of plant communities using phytosociological methods can be applied to their conservation in protected areas, as well as in establishing adequate protections and granting legal status to such areas. A new integrative index is developed to classify plant communities for the evaluation of the conservation status of protected areas, obtained from the product of three statistical indices of diversity: Syntaxonomic Distinctness, Rarefaction and Areas Prioritisation, which has been named DRA (acronym of the three indices used). The DRA is used to assess whether the status granted to Protected Areas matches the values provided by the plant communities within them and which were the basis for the identification and description of the Habitats of Community Interest (Habitats Directive-92/43/CEE). The proposed method was applied to the network of protected natural areas on the Andalusian coast, including 14 areas with different protection status, where, once the plant communities they contain were identified, the DRA index was applied to each of them and compared with the Legal Protection Index, i.e., the current protection regime; it becomes clear, objectively, that not all the statuses assigned, whether the IUCN criteria or those of the Andalusian government, correspond to the real levels of protection they should have on the basis of their plant communities.

Filling the gap in distribution ranges and conservation status in Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Abstract South American subterranean rodents of the genus Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae, tuco-tuco) are one of the most diverse genera among mammals. Recently described species, new taxonomic revisions, and new distribution range delimitation made the revision of distribution areas and conservation status of these mammals mandatory. Implementing the first part of the DAMA protocol (document, assess, monitor, act), here we compile updated sets of species distribution range maps and use these and the number of collection localities to assess the conservation status of ctenomyids. We integrate potential for conservation in protected areas, and levels of habitat transformation to revise previous conservation status assessments and propose the first assessment for all Data Deficient or not evaluated species of tuco-tucos. Our results indicate that 53 (78%) of these species are threatened and that 47 (69%) have little or no overlap with protected areas, emphasizing the urgent need to conduct conservation efforts. Here, 18 of 22 species previously classified as Data Deficient resulted in them being put in an at-risk category (VU, EN, CR). In addition, nine species that have not been previously evaluated were classified as threatened, with these two groups comprising more than 47% of the known species. These results posit that the Ctenomyidae are the rodent family with the greatest number of species at risk of extinction. Finally, a total of 33 (49%) species have been reported from three or fewer localities; all considered threatened through the approach implemented in this study. These geographically restricted taxa should be given more attention in conservation programs since the richness of this genus relies on the survival of such species.

Stakeholder perspectives on socio-economic challenges and recommendations for better management of the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area in South Africa

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) regulate human behaviour within their boundaries to support long-term conservation of marine ecosystems and associated human benefits. As complex socio-ecological systems, the success of MPAs is fundamentally reliant upon community and stakeholder engagement, support, and compliance. Using the Aliwal Shoal MPA in South Africa as a case study, 48 stakeholder interviews were conducted to explore perceptions of existing challenges and potential solutions relating to management of the MPA. Analysis identified several challenges including: i) non-compliance with existing laws; ii) insufficient marine law enforcement; iii) national corruption; iv) poor physical infrastructure, and v) perceived racially biased MPA regulations. To address these challenges, interviewees highlighted the following potential solutions: i) development of awareness raising initiatives to foster marine stewardship and support for the MPA; ii) improving the visibility of marine conservation and MPA management activities; iii) investing finances generated by the Aliwal Shoal MPA regulations (such as diving permit fees) directly into MPA management; iv) identifying and enhancing local skills and knowledge that could contribute to enhancing conservation activities; and v) exploring innovative technical solutions that can improve community awareness and compliance with MPA regulations. While not representative of the entire spectrum of stakeholders, this paper provides useful insights that can be used by national MPA implementing agencies, local management bodies and conservation organisations as they try to improve engagement with local stakeholders to optimise social, economic, and ecological benefits, and contribute to improved governance. Additionally, the paper contributes to the global call for improved communication and engagement with stakeholders about MPAs, especially considering the increased emphasis placed on protected areas for global conservation.

Beyond nature conservation? Perceived benefits and role of the ecosystem services framework in protected landscape areas in the Czech Republic

Protected areas safeguard species and habitats, but also provide ecosystem services (ES) and quite often simultaneously protect landscape character and associated cultural values. Exploratory qualitative research and interviews specifically have been rarely used to investigate benefits of protected areas and associated challenges in their delivery as perceived by their managers. There is also a lack of attention to the potential role of the ES framework in nature conservation decision-making in protected areas. We address the gaps by identifying: (1) perceived benefits (by their managers) that protected landscape areas provide; (2) challenges and trade-offs that protected landscape areas face in delivering these benefits; (3) role of the ES framework in protected landscape areas decision-making. We conducted a qualitative analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with heads of Protected Landscape Areas Administrations in the Czech Republic. Cultural or non-material benefits were the most referenced group closely followed by regulating benefits. However, the single most frequently referenced benefit was Habitat creation and maintenance, emphasizing the role of protected landscape areas in protecting and managing habitats and ecosystems. The positive and negative themes showed a key role of various types of land-use management (esp. agriculture and forestry) and their enhancing or deteriorating effects on specific benefits (esp. Habitat creation and maintenance). All respondents perceived future implementation of the ES framework as a possible contribution to support goals of nature conservation and decision-making in protected landscape areas. This study provides empirical evidence for a strong societal role of protected landscape areas by safeguarding specific benefits and their essential role in nature conservation. The use of the ES framework sheds light on key benefits of protected landscape areas but also key challenges and trade-offs in delivering these benefits.

Forest conservation in Indigenous territories and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon

Conflicts between forest conservation and socio-economic development in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) have persisted for years but the effects of Indigenous territory (ITs) and protected area (PAs) status on deforestation there remain unclear. To address this issue, we analysed time-series satellite images and qualified annual forest area in the BLA under different governance and management regimes. Between 2000 and 2021, areas classified as ITs or PAs increased to cover 52% of forested areas in the BLA while accounting for only 5% of net forest loss and 12% of gross forest loss. In the years (2003–2021) after establishment, gross forest loss fell 48% in PAs subject to ‘strict protection’ and 11% in PAs subject to ‘sustainable use’. However, from 2018 to 2021 the percentage rate of annual gross forest loss in ITs/PAs was twice that of non-designated areas. Our findings reveal the vital role of, and substantial progress achieved by, ITs and PAs in Amazonian forest conservation as well as the dangers of recent weakening of Brazil’s forest policies. The Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) has Earth’s largest tropical rainforest and a history of tension around its fate. Between 2001 and 2018, this study finds that Indigenous territories and protected areas in the BLA have expanded and reduced deforestation markedly, with some gains eroded in recent areas.

Mogućnosti i dobrobiti volontiranja u zaštićenim područjima u Srbiji

Improving the management of protected areas through the implementation of planned management measures is of key importance for the adequate protection and conservation of protected areas. One of the many opportunities that can be undertaken in this sense is volunteering, which is a basic and key means of active participation of citizens in solving the issues of wider community. Volunteering contributes to the creation of a stable and, for the individual, attractive social community that offers the possibility of action in the field of nature protection and management of protected areas. The aim of this paper is to analyze the results achieved through various volunteering activities within protected areas, as models of good practice, as well as to provide an overview of the possibilities for increasing the capacity of managers in human and material resources in the process of managing protected areas, which includes the process of involving volunteers. The results of various projects show that volunteers can contribute to the management's activities in different ways, and primarily by performing specific tasks for which the managers lack enough capacity. Moreover, volunteering within protected areas achieves a higher level of awareness among individuals, especially young people, about growing problems in the field of nature protection, challenges in managing protected areas, but also about the way each individual can contribute to the conservation of nature for future generations.

Leverage points and levers of inclusive conservation in protected areas

Leverage points and levers of inclusive conservation in protected areas

Elegant conservation: reimagining protected area stewardship in the 21st century

We present an approach to the conservation of protected areas that aligns cultural truths with scientific truths to increase community capacity for conservation. This alignment, which we call elegant conservation, asks protected area managers to reimagine how conservation can be inclusive of cultures and subcultures whose members value protected areas, but not in the same way. Reimagining how protected area managers approach conservation requires them to observe closely and holistically, with fresh eyes, human consciousness and behavior as well as relationships between people and between people and nature. Our approach connects the humanities, Western sciences, and other forms of knowledge, including Indigenous knowledge, in a manner that more sustainably builds social support for conservation. We first offer a heuristic of seven conditions that protected area managers can analyze when sizing up conservation issues and the people involved. We then propose a heuristic of five human tendencies—elements of human consciousness—that can help protected area managers and their partners organize constructive responses to any conservation issue. Our model of elegant conservation offers a pragmatic, holistic, inclusive alternative to top-down, reductive management approaches and is an outgrowth of modern American intellectual history, especially since the end of the Cold War, ca. 1989–1990. Elegant conservation presents an opportunity to help people find common ground and move protected area management beyond its origins in settler colonialism at a time of national and planetary crisis.

Flora of Ceará, Brazil: Vitaceae

Abstract We examined here the diversity and distribution of Vitaceae species in Ceará state, Brazil, as part of the “Flora of Ceará Project: knowing to conserve”, analyzing the morphological characters of specimens collected in the field, those available in the ALCB, BHCB, EAC, CEN, EAFM, HCDAL, HST, HUEFS, HUVA, HVASF, IAN, IPA, K, MBM, MOSS, NY, P, R, UEC, and US herbaria or in the specialized literature. We include here an identification key, occurrence maps, morphological descriptions, and comments concerning their ecology. The main morphological features for species delimiting were leaf type and symmetry, trichome and tendril types, presence or absence of streaks on branches, stipule, flower bud and fruit shape. Eleven species of Vitaceae included within two genera were recorded in Ceará: Cissus albida, C. blanchetiana, C. campestris, C. erosa, C. gongylodes, C. subrhomboidea, C. sulcicaulis, C. tinctoria, C. verticillata, C. xerophila, and Clematicissus simsiana. The species were registered in 45 municipalities, with C. erosa and C. verticillata being widely distributed. Those species inhabit different phytoecological areas in Ceará, although preferentially growing in Stepic Savanna (Caatinga). Six species occur in nine legally protected conservation areas. Ceará state holds 40.74% of the registered species of the family found in northeastern Brazil.

Habitat of Maranthes corymbosa Blume in Sempu Island Nature Reserve and the ex situ conservation efforts

Sempu Island Nature Reserve is an island conservation area that located in East Java. One of tree species that grows in the Sempu Island Nature Reserve is Maranthes corymbosa. This species is known as “triwulan” by local people. Triwulan is known as one of the plant species that has potential as building materials. Therefore, even though the conservation status of this species is still classified as safe according to the WCMC (1998) or World Conservation Monitoring Centre (i.e. LC or Least Concern), it can still experience threats because of the benefits of the wood which are known to the public. The condition of M. corymbosa itself in Sempu Island NR is still relatively well preserved because it may be due to the status of Sempu Island NR as a relatively protected conservation area. This study aims to determine the condition of the natural habitat of M. corymbosa in the Sempu Island NR and to provide additional information about several conservation efforts that have been carried out. M. corymbosa was commonly found in habitats at lowland areas, with low light intensity or shady places and in cool or humid areas in Sempu Island NR. Ex situ conservation efforts for this species have been carried out by several botanical gardens in Indonesia (Purwodadi BG, Bogor BG and Cibodas BG), one of which is by making it a collection in the garden area.

Institutions and conservation: The case of protected areas

We study the link between institutions and the establishment of protected areas for natural resources conservation. Using difference-in-differences we estimate the impacts of democratization on the share of countries’ area under protected areas in a panel of 144 countries over 1992–2018. We find that countries that democratized devote higher shares of their land to protected areas, but only in the medium- and long-run. Our preferred estimates indicate that, fifteen years after democratization, the share of countries’ area under PAs increases on average by one percentage point more than what would have been implemented without democratization. We also find evidence that democratization leads countries to implement the different types of protected areas in a non-homogeneous way. Our results are robust to several estimators and treatment definitions, confirming the critical role of institutions for natural resources conservation.

Rare and declining bird species benefit most from designating protected areas for conservation in the UK

There have been recent renewed commitments to increase the extent of protected areas to combat the growing biodiversity crisis but the underpinning evidence for their effectiveness is mixed and causal connections are rarely evaluated. We used data gathered by three large-scale citizen science programmes in the UK to provide the most comprehensive assessment to date of whether national (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and European (Special Protection Areas/Special Areas of Conservation) designated areas are associated with improved state (occurrence, abundance), change (rates of colonization, persistence and trend in abundance), community structure and, uniquely, demography (productivity) on a national avifauna, while controlling for differences in land cover, elevation and climate. We found positive associations with state that suggest these areas are well targeted and that the greatest benefit accrued to the most conservation-dependent species since positive associations with change were largely restricted to rare and declining species and habitat specialists. We suggest that increased productivity provides a plausible demographic mechanism for positive effects of designation.

Building eco-surplus culture among urban residents as a novel strategy to improve finance for conservation in protected areas

The rapidly declining biosphere integrity, representing one of the core planetary boundaries, is alarming. In particular, the global numbers of mammals, birds, fishes, and plants declined by 68% from 1970 to 2016. One of the most widely accepted measures to halt the rate of biodiversity loss is to maintain and expand protected areas that are effectively managed. However, doing so requires substantial finance derived from nature-based tourism, specifically visitors from urban areas. Using the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) for conducting analysis on 535 Vietnamese urban residents, the current study examined how their biodiversity loss perceptions can affect their willingness to pay for the entrance fee and conservation in protected areas. We found that perceived environmental degradation, loss of economic growth, loss of nature-based recreation opportunities, and loss of knowledge as consequences of biodiversity loss indirectly affect the willingness to pay through the mediation of the attitude towards conservation. Notably, perceived knowledge loss also has a direct positive influence on the willingness to pay for the entrance fee and conservation. In contrast, perceived loss of health is negatively associated with the attitude towards conservation. Based on these findings, we suggest that building an eco-surplus culture among urban residents by stimulating their subjective cost-benefit judgments towards biodiversity loss can be a promising way to generate more finance from nature-based tourism for conservation in protected areas and ease the domestic government’s and international organizations’ funding allocation problems. Eco-surplus culture is a set of pro-environmental attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people to reduce negative anthropogenic impacts on the environment and conserve and restore nature.

English

This study was designed to assess Pare people’s perception about the role of protected areas in biodiversity conservation. Viewpoints on factors causing biodiversity loss, related consequences and people’s participation in forest husbandry activities were also investigated. Data were collected from Same and Mwanga Districts using semi structured interview. Results indicated generally that majority of people in the two districts regardless of sex have positive perception on the role of protected areas (p<0.01). However, consequences of biodiversity loss are more serious in Same than in Mwanga District. This contradicts the general perception. Factors that cause biodiversity loss were scored less serious in Same District and only less that 50% of people participate in forestry husbandry activities. The need to understand people’s perception prior to establishment of protected areas is emphasized. Where the general perception is positive, ascertain existence of supportive evidence as it may be misguiding as observed in Same District.   Key words: Conservation of forest biodiversity, perception of Pare people, role of PAs, consequences of biodiversity loss.

Experimental evidence of the impact of framing of actors and victims in conservation narratives.

Media narratives play a crucial role in framing marine conservation dilemmas by depicting human actors, such as fish consumers or the fishing industry, as responsible for negative effects of their actions on species and ecosystems. However, there is little evidence documenting how such narratives affect preferences for reducing bycatch. Behavioral science research shows that people can act less prosocially when more actors are responsible for a collective outcome (responsibility diffusion effect) and when more victims need to be helped (compassion fade effect); thus, the media's framing of actors and victims may have a significant effect on preferences. We conducted the first test of responsibility diffusion and compassion fade in a marine context in an online experiment (1548 participants in the United Kingdom). In 9 media narratives, we varied the type of actors responsible for fisheries bycatch (e.g., consumers and industry) and victims (e.g., a single species, multiple species, and ecosystems) in media narratives and determined the effects of the narratives on participants' support for bycatch policies and intentions to alter fish consumption. When responsibility for negative effects was attributed to consumers and industry, the probability of participants reporting support for fisheries policies (e.g., bycatch enforcement or consumer taxes) was ∼30% higher (odds ratio=1.32) than when only consumers were attributed responsibility. These effects were primarily driven by female participants. Narratives had no effect on personal intentions to consume fish. Varying the type of victim had no effect on policy support and intentions. Our results suggest that neither responsibility diffusion nor compassion fade automatically follows from increasing the types of actors and victims in media narratives and that effects can depend on the type of outcome and population subgroup.