Fairness and Transparency Are Required for the Inclusion of Privately Protected Areas in Publicly Accessible Conservation Databases

Abstract

There is a growing recognition of the contribution that privately-owned land makes to conservation efforts, and governments are increasingly counting privately protected areas (PPAs) towards their international conservation commitments. The public availability of spatial data on countries' conservation estates is important for broad-scale conservation planning and monitoring and for evaluating progress towards targets. Yet there has been limited consideration of how PPA data is reported to national and international protected area databases, particularly whether such reporting is transparent and fair (i.e., equitable) to the landholders involved. Here we consider PPA reporting procedures from three countries with high numbers of PPAs-Australia, South Africa, and the United States-illustrating the diversity within and between countries regarding what data is reported and the transparency with which it is reported. Noting a potential tension between landholder preferences for privacy and security of their property information and the benefit of sharing this information for broader conservation efforts, we identify the need to consider equity in PPA reporting processes. Unpacking potential considerations and tensions into distributional, procedural, and recognitional dimensions of equity, we propose a series of broad principles to foster transparent and fair reporting. Our approach for navigating the complexity and context-dependency of equity considerations will help strengthen PPA reporting and facilitate the transparent integration of PPAs into broader conservation efforts.

Guidelines for privately protected areas

“…Recognition often comes from government (see Case Study 1 from Australia and 7 from New Zealand and Best Practice 1.2.1), and this is highly desirable, if the area is to be reported through official channels into the World Database on Protected Areas (see Section 7). It is not the only option, as PPA owners sometimes choose not to engage with state processes that are specifically designed to recognise PPAs (Clements et al, 2018). Independent recognition can also sometimes be given by international organisations such as IUCN (e.g.…”

“…It is essential for coordinators of national networks to communicate to PPA owners whether their properties will be counted towards targets. Some landholders may also want recognition but not have their properties count towards targets (see Clements et al, 2018 and Section 7).…”

Emerging Paradigms for Biodiversity and Protected Areas

“…Additionally they identify potential errors of inclusion and exclusion, and hypothesize such errors may disproportionately influence mapping of small areas. Similarly to Clements et al [32], they note that database errors probably do not accrue to large public ownerships, but rather smaller, private protected areas. In order to accurately assess how well the protected areas estate meets biodiversity goals, a base requirement is accurate, complete, and accessible data on coverage and effectiveness of protected areas.…”

“…In this special issue, several authors address the issue of databases. Clements et al [32] identify the emerging phenomenon of private lands conservation as a concern for database development and management. They review reporting procedures from three countries and recommend a process by which data can be reviewed according to 10 principles and subsequently included in the WDPA.…”

Understanding the Biodiversity Contributions of Small Protected Areas Presents Many Challenges

“…It relies on voluntary submission by land trusts, many of whom do not want to share to a large public database due to privacy and other concerns [12]. More research is needed on the structure of datasets that serve spatial data on protected areas in regards to smaller areas, and errors of commission and omission, before a firm knowledge of size distribution of protected areas can be obtained, and this needs to be undertaken on a global scale [13].…”