Beyond total area protected: A new set of metrics to measure progress in building a robust protected area estate

Cook, Carly N.; Valkan, Rebecca S.; McGeoch, Melodie A.

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101963

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…However, while reviewing studies and characterizing cases we also recognized that many conservation initiatives may have hybrid collaborative arrangements that can change over time in terms of the relative contribution of external versus local agents. As with well-being and governance, we adopted a broad definition of conservation effectiveness that can be represented by various ecological indicators, such as land or resource uses, elements of biodiversity, or ecosystem services, and can have multiple interpretations depending on different actors' perceptions or priorities (Cook et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation

Dawson¹,

Coolsaet²,

Sterling³

et al. 2021

E&S

518

148

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Debate about what proportion of the Earth to protect often overshadows the question of how nature should be conserved and by whom. We present a systematic review and narrative synthesis of 169 publications investigating how different forms of governance influence conservation outcomes, paying particular attention to the role played by Indigenous peoples and local communities. We find a stark contrast between the outcomes produced by externally controlled conservation, and those produced by locally controlled efforts. Crucially, most studies presenting positive outcomes for both well-being and conservation come from cases where Indigenous peoples and local communities play a central role, such as when they have substantial influence over decision making or when local institutions regulating tenure form a recognized part of governance. In contrast, when interventions are controlled by external organizations and involve strategies to change local practices and supersede customary institutions, they tend to result in relatively ineffective conservation at the same time as producing negative social outcomes. Our findings suggest that equitable conservation, which empowers and supports the environmental stewardship of Indigenous peoples and local communities represents the primary pathway to effective long-term conservation of biodiversity, particularly when upheld in wider law and policy. Whether for protected areas in biodiversity hotspots or restoration of highly modified ecosystems, whether involving highly traditional or diverse and dynamic local communities, conservation can become more effective through an increased focus on governance type and quality, and fostering solutions that reinforce the role, capacity, and rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. We detail how to enact progressive governance transitions through recommendations for conservation policy, with immediate relevance for how to achieve the next decade's conservation targets under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation

Dawson¹,

Coolsaet²,

Sterling³

et al. 2021

E&S

518

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They are also known to make significant contributions to the protection of important biodiversity, such as large mammals in South Africa (Clements et al, 2018). As conflicts over land use objectives on public land grow, the ability to expand public PAs is likely to be reduced (Cook, Valkan, & McGeoch, 2019), and existing protections are being removed from some PAs (i.e., PA downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement—Cook, Valkan, Mascia, & McGeoch, 2017; Golden Kroner et al, 2019). Therefore, the contribution PPAs can make to achieving global biodiversity targets is only likely to grow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of privately protected areas in achieving biodiversity representation within a national protected area network

Ivanova

Cook

2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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As the world nears the target of protecting 17% of terrestrial environments, there remain significant gaps in achieving the ecologically representative system of protected areas (PAs) called for under the Convention on Biological Diversity. There is increasing recognition of the contribution that privately protected areas (PPAs) can make to protecting biodiversity, offering the potential to increase existing levels of protection for species and ecosystems, but also to protect biodiversity that currently lies outside existing PA networks. Despite the potential importance of PPAs for achieving an ecologically representative PA network, the complementarity between public and private PAs has received little attention. Our study provides a detailed assessment of the role PPAs play in protecting biodiversity in a megadiverse country. Using the Australian PA network as an example, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the contribution PPAs make to the representation and level of protection of species, ecosystems, and key biodiversity areas. We found that while making up only 1.3% of Australia's land area, PPAs protect a wide range of biodiversity, contributing to the protection of 85% of vertebrate species, 80% of threatened ecological communities, 95% of major vegetation types, and 40% of key biodiversity areas. However, our findings reveal that PPAs largely protect biodiversity already within the PA network, and because of their small size, they currently make only minor contributions to the adequacy of protection for biodiversity. Nevertheless, we show that conservation on private land will be critical to strengthening the PA network, with between 70 and 90% of currently unprotected or poorly protected biodiversity occurring largely on private land. Analyses such as ours, which examine the importance of both public and private PAs to achieve conservation targets, are essential to ensure effective planning of PA networks into the future.

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“…Instead, area or percent reserved should be considered a single input to a comprehensive decision process for effective conservation outcomes. Simply targeting total area may be ineffective in preventing the future decline or anticipate species or communities at risk of becoming threatened (Cook, Valkan, & McGeoch, 2019;Ferraro, 2009;Ferraro & Pattanayak, 2006;Pressey, Visconti, & Ferraro, 2015). Indeed, biodiversity declines can be slowed if priority, evidence-based approaches, are actioned that adequately reflect socio-ecological values (Eklund, Coad, Geldmann, & Cabeza, 2018;Legge et al, 2018).…”

Section: Car Principles and Avoided Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

What drives modern protected area establishment in Australia?

Hernandez

Benham

Miller

et al. 2021

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Protected areas are a fundamental mechanism for ensuring the persistence of biodiversity. The strategic policy objectives set by governments for protected area land acquisition are strong determinants of biodiversity outcomes. An examination of these objectives is necessary to determine those most influential in designing protected area networks and understand why Australia's extinction rates exceed those elsewhere despite actively establishing protected areas over the past several decades. To examine spatio-temporal trends in policy objectives for protected areas, we evaluated the strategic priorities in Federal, State, and Territory policy documents across Australia between 1992 and 2019 using thematic analysis.We classified priorities into seven themes: adequacy, Indigenous and cultural values; representation of ecosystem and species types; threatened species and their habitat; social and recreational values; unique values and avoiding threatening processes. We found that the representation of ecosystem and species types was the most prevalent theme in policy documents, and the least common theme was social and recreational values. We posit several reasons for this trend and warn that emphasizing extent, in terms of area or representativeness, may diminish the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact for biodiversity outcomes. We found that policies were generally supportive of the strategic identification of particular species or communities that would quantifiably benefit from protection (referred to as avoided loss). Risked-based approaches to the establishment of protected areas are supported by modern conservation literature to enhance the protected area network's effectiveness. To maximize limited resources, we recommend that governments continue encouraging urgency to avoid species and habitat loss in their strategic priorities. This urgency should be accompanied by clear and consistent funding for on-the-ground actions which facilitate the socio-ecological outcomes that characterize modern protected area policy.

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Beyond total area protected: A new set of metrics to measure progress in building a robust protected area estate

Cited by 13 publications

References 42 publications

The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation

The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation

The role of privately protected areas in achieving biodiversity representation within a national protected area network

What drives modern protected area establishment in Australia?

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