Overview
There are three different options when it comes to protecting natural spaces, the first is the \"laissez-faire\" system that relies on natural regulation of natural resources. The second, and more common option is to use \"active management\", which is frequently associated with wildlife, water, and forest managers trying to extract resources. This system usually involves attempting to compensate for damage done by natural processes or extinct species. The third option, a type of active management, is to try and restore conditions rather than just try to make up for damage done. It is not always realistic to try to maintain or replace a region's full biodiversity due to the size of the protected area, its configuration, or the lack of linkages to other protected areas, but this is less of a problem if the region is relatively undisturbed to begin with. A common question with protected spaces is what point in history to protect them to. Historically, we have used a wilderness model, prior to European settlement, to judge our success. Others claim that humans should be a part of the ecosystem of protected areas, but only in a sustainable way.
http://www.naturalarea.org/SSNAP05.aspx?p=fig1.asp (153) has maps of the US states and their protection programs in 2001
Importance
As was discussed in the introduction to this section, biodiversity is very important to humans as a whole, and while there are a number of ways to protect biodiversity, protected areas are one of the most effective tools for conserving species and natural habitats. They also can contribute to the livelihoods and well-being of local communities and society at large. They can protect the species they contain within them, but can also have economic, social, and cultural benefits both directly and by preserving biodiversity, which provides economic, social, and cultural benefits. Economically, there are the issues of ecotourism and the impact on areas surrounding protected spaces that become tourist attractions. The IUCN has also allowed for provisions for extracting natural resources from some natural resources in a sustainable manner, which will ensure the existence of those resources in the future. Protected areas also provide social and cultural benefits by providing
areas for people to congregate in nature and also by adding to the national identity. While the loss of species has been often referred to by some ecologists as \"winking out\", leading conservation scientists such as Reed Noss and E.O. Wilson warn that we are looking at more of a cataclysmic power shutdown than a winking out of individual lights. When ecosystems become stressed or isolated and they become in great danger of a quick downfall.
Wilson notes in his book The Diversity of Life that \"records of stressed ecosystems...demonstrate that the descent can be unpredictably abrupt. All it takes is the loss of a single keystone species to spell a disaster for the whole habitat island...the loss of keystone species is like a drill hitting a powerline. It causes lights to go out all over the place.\"
Problems
There are a number of problems with our current system of protected areas that are preventing them from accomplishing their stated goals. Below are a
number of the problems that have been identified:
- Poor representation of habitats: Many habitats are not very well represented in the world's protected areas. For example, only 0.6% of the world's marine areas are currently protected.
- Lack of Connectivity: A number of large species need large areas of natural habitat in order to properly feed and mate. Very few of the protected natural areas are large enough to support more than a few individuals of these species and many are isolated from other natural habitats. To address this, corridors of natural spaces must be put in place between protected areas to allow for movement between protected areas.
- Lack of Funds: Few countries, even among the most wealthy, have managed to find how to provide long-term sustainable funding for protected areas, let alone a network of protected areas.
- Poor Management: Management activities such as the monitoring of the health of habitats, ensuring that the rules of the protected area are obeyed, and working with local people to balance nature protection with the needs of the local people are often not accomplished in a successful manner.
- Human Activities: Illegal human activities occurring within protected areas including logging, poaching, mining, and encroachment by human settlements and agriculture. There are also concerns about external human effects such as those leading to pollution, climate change, and the introduction of invasive species.
There is also the concern of how to adjust to changes in the protection schemes of the protected areas. Over the long-term it will be necessary to adjust to changes in the areas surrounding protected areas that make it more difficult to maintain the protected area. Some managers may simply give up on protecting the area or adjust the goals of the park that allow for a better fit between the park and its surrounding. The problem is with how much the park should be willing to adjust to make life easier for the park managers.
What Needs to be Done
In short, governments need to fund the protected areas that already exist and allocate more
funding to create new protected areas, as well as increase the connectivity between them. This point of connectivity is very important, as described above. For example, 40% of Canada's species at risk are found in Southern Ontario, the most densely developed area in the country, where all of the natural spaces are small islands. Back in the 1970s, ecologists began to notice that even in larger parks, if they weren't connected to anything else, they were still losing species at an alarming rate. These connections are necessary both for movement for the livelihoods of large predators and migrating species, but also to allow the mixing of gene pools. These
connections between protected areas need to be protected as well and before they are officially protected, the general public must learn to interact in a safe manner with the species that will be moving through residential and commercial areas in order to prevent human-wildlife conflict, described below:
Human-Wildlife Conflict
Not sure this belongs here, but its important As human populations expand and natural habitats shrink, people and animals increasingly come into contact and have increasing numbers of conflicts, which often has a huge impact on both populations. People can lose crops, livestock, property, and sometimes their lives, and as a result, animals are killed in retaliation or to attempt to prevent future conflicts. Human-wildlife conflict is one of the main threats to many species all over the world. It is also a significant threat to some human populations. These conflicts are occurring more and more often and will probably continue to with climate change forcing animals to leave their current habitats and seek out new ones with a more desirable climate. Below is a link to a World Wildlife Fund report about the current state of some sample human-wildlife conflicts, focussing on elephants, and addressing some possible solutions. \"Common Ground\" (PDF - 3.74MB)
Make this an actual link again Although this report focusses on a few specific examples, it has found a basic list of solutions that can be applied to most conflicts, which are listed below:
- Any attempts to limit human-wildlife conflict must include international organizations, NGOs, communities, consumers, and individuals. There must be popular and financial support for any proposed solution.
- Land-use planning must include spaces for wildlife taking into account the fact that there may be changes in wildlife land use requirements. This can be done by protecting key wildlife areas and creating buffer zones.
- Compensation or insurance for animal-induced damage is a possible solution to reduce the incentive for conflict.
- There are some who are calling for a method for payment for environmental services being applied to human-wildlife conflict in the same way it is for adding a price to carbon and therefore a reward for carbon reductions.
- Anyone in the world can look for and purchase products that are wildlife friendly.
- The most important thing is to tailor each solution to a specific problem because each stakeholder is going to have different priorities that will encourage them to reduce wildlife conflicts.