A Global Analysis of Protected Area Management Effectiveness

Abstract

We compiled details of over 8000 assessments of protected area management effectiveness across the world and developed a method for analyzing results across diverse assessment methodologies and indicators. Data was compiled and analyzed for over 4000 of these sites. Management of these protected areas varied from weak to effective, with about 40% showing major deficiencies. About 14% of the surveyed areas showed significant deficiencies across many management effectiveness indicators and hence lacked basic requirements to operate effectively. Strongest management factors recorded on average related to establishment of protected areas (legal establishment, design, legislation and boundary marking) and to effectiveness of governance; while the weakest aspects of management included community benefit programs, resourcing (funding reliability and adequacy, staff numbers and facility and equipment maintenance) and management effectiveness evaluation. Estimations of management outcomes, including both environmental values conservation and impact on communities, were positive. We conclude that in spite of inadequate funding and management process, there are indications that protected areas are contributing to biodiversity conservation and community well-being.

Understanding managers’ and scientists’ perspectives on opportunities to achieve more evolutionarily enlightened management in conservation

“…However, some barriers are beyond the control of both groups, such as insufficient resources to make changes to existing management practices (Figure 4a). This is not surprising, given the widely acknowledged shortfall in funding for conservation management (Waldron et al., 2013) is frequently cited as a barrier to implementing more effective management (Addison, Cook, & Bie, 2016; Leverington, Costa, Pavese, Lisle, & Hockings, 2010). …”

Progress towards the CBD protected area management effectiveness targets

“…Africa has the highest percentage area assessed, with many countries in West and Central Africa reaching the 60 per cent target. This is to a large extent due to the strong efforts of IUCN in that region through the PAPACO project 2 (Leverington et al, 2010b), which has collated and conducted evaluations as part of a targeted programme. Latin America and Asia have also assessed a large proportion of their total protected areas by area.…”

“…In some cases assessments are undertaken in response to donor requirements associated with project support for a protected area or as part of an NGO sponsored assessment and improvement project (Hockings et al, 2004a, Leverington et al, 2010b. Assessments are also undertaken in response to central government requirements to monitor and report on protected area management (e.g.…”

A plea for inserting evidence‐based management into conservation practice

“…This apparent gap between conservation investment and ecological outcomes has led to a burgeoning literature on, and application of, protected area evaluation (e.g. see review in Leverington et al, 2010). Recognition of the importance of protected area evaluation is now mainstream: for example, in 2004 the Convention of Biological Diversity's adopted Programme of Work on Protected Areas included targets for countries to develop systems to assess management effectiveness (http://www.…”

“…There is now a plethora of protected area management assessment methods; for example, Leverington et al (2010) describe over 50 different assessment methods applied to over 6000 sites. Most assessment methods can be nested within the IUCN-WCPA framework (Hockings et al, 2006) that sets out six elements of management effectiveness evaluation (context, planning, inputs, process, outputs, outcomes).…”