Define a Protected Area
- A geograpgical area managed through legal or other means, to achieve long term conservation of nature associated with ecosystem services and cultural values - IUCN 2008
- Defined by national legislation, standardisation needed
What was the IUCN categorisation scheme established to do?
- Capture full range of protected area values
- Help global accounting & comparisons
- Reduce confusion over protected area names & types across various countries
- Promote international standards
What do the IUCN classifiation scheme numbers mean?
Lower no. on IUCN classification scheme = higher level of protection
→ categories 1-4 = ‘well protected’
→ categories 4-6 = ‘less well protected’
e.g UK national parks are 4
Was the global expansion of the PA network Aichi target for 2020 met?
Yes
But marine more complicated: very little protection for marine areas outside this exclusive economic zone, because these areas don’t have a single governing country = hard to get international agreement
What are the key points of the “Global Deal for Nature” and post-2020 biodiversity targets?
Global Deal for Nature:
- Aims to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 (30x30 target).
- Part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at CBD COP15
Current status:
- Over 100 countries have signed, including the UK.
- Aligns with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which legally protects 30% of land area.
- But, major players US, Brazil, Indonesia are not party
Future target to protect 50% of land and sea by 2050
Name one consequence of PA expansion?
- Study looked at the impact of PAs on agriculture (measured by crop calorie loss)
- General decrease in crop production
= Trade offs with other human goals (i.e food production)
How feasible are the new PA targets?
Increasing intensity of trade-offs and past substantial habitat loss makes new targets (30 x 30: Protecting 30% of Earth’s land and ocean areas by 2030. 50 x 50: Protecting 50% of Earth’s land and ocean areas by 2050) very difficult to achieve
What are the current major issues of PAs?
- Overall extent
- Biased distribution
- Individual protected area size
- Isolation
- Inadequate protection
- Future threats
What are the issues and consequences with the biased distribution of protected areas (PAs)?
Establishment of PAs often driven by economic opportunity rather than biological importance E.g Northeast Greenland National Park (largest globally) created due to lack of competing demands.
Consequences:
- Gaps in the ability of PAs to protect threatened species.
- Many taxonomic groups are underrepresented in global PAs.
- Marine species: Most have only a small portion of their range within PAs.
- Insufficient coverage to maintain viable populations for many species.
What is the average size of individual PAs? and what does this mean for their effectiveness?
- Half are less than 10km2
- 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
- Increasing isolation due to habitat fragmentation
What are the key findings of the study “Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas” Laurence et al. 2016?
- Main finding: Despite being the cornerstone of global conservation efforts, many tropical forest protected areas (PAs) are experiencing declines in biodiversity.
Causes of decline:
- Habitat disruption: Activities e.g logging and agricultural encroachment degrade habitats within PAs
- Hunting and poaching reduce wildlife populations.
- Invasive species: Non-native species alter ecosystem dynamics, often to the detriment of native species.
Conservation implications:
- Effective management and enforcement are crucial to maintain the ecological integrity of PAs.
- Community involvement and sustainable development practices can enhance conservation outcomes.
- Addressing external threats, such as economic pressures and political instability, is essential for the long-term success of PAs.
Give evidence for the effectiveness of PAs
- Looking at data on changes in environ pressures inside and outside reserves
- Shows unsurprisingly, it’s hard for PAs to combat widespread environ changes e.g rainfall
- But, other correlations (e.g livestock grazing, road expansion …) reduced in strength (some even turned to non-significant correlations) which shows PAs can have a positive impact
How effective are PAs in mitigating human effects, e.g light pollution, agriculture?
Data suggests theres increasing human pressure on gaining access to natural resources that are contained within protected areas
Mitigation:
- Light: PAs reduce exposure to human disturbances like light pollution, but edge effects increase it
- Agriculture: PAs slow land-use change and agricultural encroachment but can cause leakage effects into adjacent areas.
Effectiveness:
- Depends on governance, funding, and enforcement; well-managed PAs perform better.
- Remote PAs: Less impacted due to low competing demands but may not protect critical biodiversity hotspots.
Conclusion: PAs help mitigate human impacts but require enhanced planning, enforcement, and sustainable development strategies.
How are PA protecting biodiversity?
- Reducing extinction risk in tropical forest birds
- Data shows the vast majority of species are now having a much larger proportion of range within PAs ! good thing
→ But, reason is that species are contracting their ranges into protected areas
What are the critiques of the fortress conservation approach to PAs?
Critics argue that the fortressification of nature excludes local people and/or majorly restricts their activities
e.g The eviction of Indigenous Maasai communities from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
Describe the people focused approach to PAs + examples
- Supported by research that PAs associated with +ive socioeconomic outcomes for locals were also more likely to report positive conservation outcomes (links to SDG)
- People allowed to benefit from resources in exchange for protecting the PA
E.g Amanda Vincent’s successful work with seahorses in Philippines and Vietnam, working with local people
How can PAs be used to limit the effects of climate change?
- Range shifts: Species adapting to climate change disproportionately shift their ranges through Protected Areas.
- Role of PAs: Act as key stepping stones, enabling species to adjust their ranges in response to changing environmental conditions.
