Mountains,nations, parks,and conservation

Between 1985 and 1991, two new mountain protected areas (MTNPA) covering more than 35,000 km² and based on participatory management models — the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, Nepal, and Qomolangma Nature Preserve, Tibet Autonomous Region — were successfully established through the collaborative efforts of Woodlands Mountain Institute and conservationists in China and Nepal. Characteristics common to both projects include the importance of establishing (1) effective rationales, (2) local support constituencies, (3) a senior advisory group, (4) a task force, (5) linkages between conservation and development, and (6) fund raising mechanisms. The lessons derived from the experiences of Woodlands Mountain Institute are of significant value to others in preserving MTNPA. Increased collaboration and communication between all interested in conservation, however, will remain a critical component for expanding mountain protected area coverage to throughout the world.     

National parks and protected areas,national conservation strategies and sustainable development

The role of national parks and protected areas in National Conservation Strategies (NCS), a key element in the 1980 World Conservation Strategy, is analyzed for the nine countries of Australia, Belize, Canada, Czechoslovakia, India, Senegal, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zambia. These NCS responses are described, evaluated and synthesized primarily for 12 national park and protected area functions identified through a review of the recent literature. National parks and protected areas are found to be involved in the nine NCS in uneven and less than optimal ways. Furthermore, little relationship can be found among the various proposed roles of national parks and protected areas and the socio-economic and other characteristics of the nine countries under study. As a basis for improving both NCS and the role of national parks and protected areas, a better NCS information system is recommended for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) headquarters, Gland, Switzerland. IUCN Commissions also are urged to be more active in NCS work. More research also is recommended especially on the role of national parks and protected areas in regard to regional planning and development, indigenous and local people, and comprehensive land use management. Finally, special efforts should be made by IUCN, and other related international, national, provincial and regional agencies, to ensure their personnel are knowledgeable about NCS and the range of functions that national parks and protected areas can contribute to them, and so to sustainable development globally.     

Defining the forest,defending the forest: Political ecology,territoriality, and resistance to a protected area in the Dominican Republic

Political ecologists have considered the social and economic impacts that nature reserves, national parks and other forms of protected area can have on neighbouring communities, and how this can generate conflicts between them. This paper analyses such conflicts through the lens of territoriality, considering how the way protected area territories are created, delineated, and defined is linked to the social impacts experienced by local people. Conflicts between locals and conservation authorities over protected areas are about rival attempts to define the boundaries of protected areas, who the land should belong to, what it should be used for, and what its purpose is. Yet the ability of local people or conservation authorities to impose their meaning is unequal. It illustrates these processes with the example of a scientific reserve in the Dominican Republic, and a decades-long conflict to define what the reserve should mean, what it should look like, and who it should belong to.     

Think globally,act locally: On the status of the threatened fauna in the Central Himalaya of Nepal

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) publishes the Red List of Threatened Species, the most authoritative information available globally on the conservation status of species. However, the status of globally threatened species remains controversial at local levels because many of them are not protected as part of national statutory law. Such anomalies are examples of controversies in implementing the much-hyped environmental slogan “think globally, act locally”. Here we provide a comparative review between globally threatened species as listed by the IUCN Red List found in Nepal and those of nationally protected species under Nepalese law. We discovered a significantly higher diversity of globally threatened mammals and birds in Nepal than would be expected relative to their global ratios. We established remarkable disparities in species conservation in Nepal: (1) a large number (an average of 85% of species of five taxonomic groups: mammals, birds, amphibians, fishes and reptiles) of IUCN-listed globally threatened species found in Nepal are not protected by national law; (2) most protected species listed are mammals (70%), but more than half of globally-threatened mammals found in Nepal are not protected; and (3) amphibians and fish are not protected, although they represent 12% of the total number of globally-threatened species found in the country. Such large gaps in Nepalese conservation law are an indication of unresponsive and inefficient conservation planning. The Government of Nepal and international conservation partners should: (1) emphasize knowledge-based conservation strategies for all taxonomic groups; and (2) prioritize updating the lists of protected species.     

Peace Parks and jaguar trails: transboundary conservation in a globalizing world

An increasingly utilized strategy for expanding conservation in the developing world has been the promotion of protected areas that supersede national borders. Alternatively known as transfrontier biosphere reserves, transfrontier or transboundary conservation areas, or Peace Parks, these protected areas are aggressively advanced by conservation agencies for their purported ecological and economic benefits. This article provides a comparative assessment of two case studies to understand the various impacts of transboundary conservation. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which unites protected areas in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is contrasted with efforts to protect jaguars along the United States–Mexico border. We argue that while these cases are promising for the purposes of biodiversity protection, they demonstrate that transboundary conservation can minimize political context, contributes to the hegemony of international conservation agendas, and remains closely linked to economic neoliberalism and decentralization in the developing world.

On the way to a better state? The role of NGOs in the planning and implementation of protected areas in Brazil

Protected areas are considered some of the most versatile as well as important instruments of nature conservation and environmental policies. The `classic' model of nature conservation aims at the isolation of large areas in order to preserve their `pristine' nature from human interference. However, the transfer of this model to developing countries led to serious conflicts with local people. From a socio-geographical viewpoint, protected areas can be understood as regulative tools for the shaping and controlling of space. This approach helps to recognise the influence of distinct modes of appropriation of space and nature on the emergence and course of conflicts. In the present article it is used to analyse the leading role played by Brazilian NGOs in the transformation of the classic model of protected area management at the beginning of the nineties. Two case studies – dealing with the implementation of the Amazonian Mamirauá Reserve and with the reform of the Brazilian protected area legislation – are used to illustrate not only the success of the new approaches, but also the expectations and contradictions which surround the future development of protected areas in Brazil.     

Images and use of New Zealand's protected areas by domestic and international visitors

The images and use of national parks and other protected areas in both domestic and international tourism sectors is described. Despite the perceived importance of these areas, little is known about visitor characteristics, use patterns, or even use levels. Baseline data are presented from past and current research, which provide a tentative model of present user images, levels and patterns. Domestic use appears to be seasonal and regional in nature, with frequent users often utilizing less developed and hence less popular areas. International visitors, drawn to New Zealand by its clean, green, nuclear-free image, visit famous, easily accessible, highly developed protected areas. The possible effects of the present government's user pays policy on visitor use and behaviour are discussed, as well as other possible future concerns regarding the interface between tourism and protected areas.     

The impact of tourism and conservation on agriculture in the mountains of Valcea county, Romania

Valcea is one of Romania's Wallachian counties with landscapes which grade from the Carpathians through the Subcarpathians and Piedmont zone towards the plain. Agriculture plays a major role in the economy but there is also a long-established tourist industry and the industrial base (largely bound up originally with wood processing) has been enlarged and diversified under communism. Environmental pressures on sensitive Carpathian ecosystems have increased over the years through agricultural, industrial and tourist pressures. Under the transition conservation measures will have to include national park designation to provide a buffer for clusters of nature reserves which already exist. The paper discusses the nature of the environmental problems and the significance of national parks for the agriculture of the area, with particular reference to the Parang Mountains.     

Approaches to sustainable forestry in the Piatra Craiului National Park

Declared in 1990, the Piatra Craiului is one of Romania's 15 national parks and biosphere reserves. It has exceptional scenic and biodiversity value but is under threat from unsustainable agricultural, forestry and tourism management. The paper examines these threats in a historical context, regarding both the growth of the town of Braşov and areas of dispersed rural settlement on the mountain edge, and argues that a sustainable future will require negotiation between the park authorities and all stakeholders, including the local communities and private woodland owners who have benefited or will benefit from restitution. The way forward is explored with forest management in a central role. First, the certification of woodlands, along with the establishment of forest user groups and community woodlands, should help to reconcile the conflicting interests in the woodlands and in wood processing in support of sustainability. Second, the overgrazing of the meadows which is degrading the pastures, restricting forest regeneration and conflicting with large carnivore conservation, could be moderated by the growth of ecotourism linked with bears and wolves which would generate a new source of income to compensate farmers for reducing their flocks – given the importance of the biodiversity resources and the socio-economic pressures – and the paper therefore considers how new approaches to forest management might provide a basis for conservation and sustainable development. It will be for the recently-established national park management system – developed with World Bank Global Environment Facility funding – to take these ideas forward in due course. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Conservation and rural change in Valcea County

Valcea is one of Romania's Wallachian counties with landscapes which grade from the Carpathians through the Subcarpathians and Piedmont zone towards the plain. Agriculture plays a major role in the economy but there is also a long-established tourist industry and the industrial base (established through the processing of local raw materials: agricultural commodities, timber and salt) has been enlarged and diversified under communism. The tourist industry has also expanded with reference to the mineral waters. But agriculture still plays an important role. Environmental pressures on sensitive Carpathian ecosystems have increased over the years and under the transition conservation measures should include national park designations to provide a buffer for clusters of nature reserves. The paper discusses the nature of the environmental problems and the significance of national and ‘natural’ parks for the development of tourism in the area, with particular reference to Buila-Vanturarita area of the Capatina Mountains. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

桂林喀斯特世界自然遗产提名地珍稀濒危和特有生物物种多样性及保护

珍稀濒危和特有物种是地区生物物种的重要组成,研究珍稀濒危和特有物种的多样性对生物保护和良好生态环境的维护有重要意义。本文在对桂林喀斯特世界自然遗产提名地生物物种调查的基础上,对提名地内的珍稀濒危和特有生物物种及其受威胁级别情况进行了统计,并从种群、群落和生境3个层面对珍稀濒危和特有物种的保护提出了建议。结果表明,在167.5 hm2范围内共有高等植物754种,脊椎动物525种;列入 IUCN红色名录443种、濒危野生动植物国际贸易公约67种、中国物种红色名录145种、中国国家重点保护野生动植物55种,并包括部分古老孑遗植物,珍稀濒危生物多样性较高;此外提名地还拥有87种特有种,是动植物特有种的重要资源地。在珍稀濒危和特有物种多样性的保护上,应根据提名地的珍稀濒危物受威胁级别,有计划地开展种群调查和生境分析,确定不同级别珍稀濒危物种的最小生存种群和最小动态区,并采取就地保护或迁地保护的措施,以促进小种群的发展;加强顶级群落的保护和监测研究,实施封山育林和群落恢复工程,促进群落的正向演替;划定珍稀濒危和特有种群和群落保护范围,建立自然保护区,维护其生存繁衍所必需生境量;此外着重加强对野生兰科植物的研究及生存空间保护,加强洞穴、峰林、峭壁等独特生境的保护。     

Cross-border conservation in East Central Europe: The Danube-Carpathian complex and the contribution of the World Wide Fund for Nature

Cross-border cooperation in environmental matters has become much more evident since 1989 because open frontiers facilitate contact while common tasks emerge as protected areas in frontier zones lose their isolation. Pollution hazards have been discussed more openly since 1989 while further stimuli arise from the harmonisation process in the run-up to EU enlargement and the finance available from Brussels and other international donors to solve pollution problems and create international ecological networks. The paper examines the progress made in the Danube Valley and the Carpathians which together constitute the core of East Central Europe. Particular attention is paid to the role of environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) – and especially the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – in the progress of conservation. Along with the World Conservation Union (IUCN), WWF has demonstrated the value of floodplain wetlands and ensured that wetland restoration is an important part of the Strategic Action Plan for the Danube. And by involving local ENGOs in specific projects the role of the non-governmental sector in environment matters is enhanced. Also, with momentum growing for a pan-European ecological network ('Natura 2000'), WWF has attracted the support of international donors for a ecoregion-based conservation (ERBC) in the Carpathians where priority areas have now been identified. Ecological and diplomatic capacities are thus deployed to maximise the scope for biodiversity conservation commensurate with sustainable socio-economic development. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

风景区泥石流防治特点与技术

中国大部分风景区位于山区,泥石流时有活动,破坏景观资源,危害生态环境,危及游人安全,而风景区泥石流往往暴发频次低,多含有漂木。分析了风景区泥石流防治的需求和特点,提出了风景区泥石流防治以保护自然景观和生态环境为主、灾害治理工程与自然景观相协调的基本目标。通过泥石流形成区源头治理、新型结构(梳齿坝、滤水坝、预制组合结构)和林内分散拦淤等措施,实现风景区的泥石流的治理目标,形成了以减灾工程与自然景观相协调和工程减灾与生态减灾功能相结合的风景区泥石流治理技术。采用这些技术对世界自然遗产九寨沟的14条灾害性泥石流进行治理,有效地控制了泥石流的发生和成灾,达到了保护景观资源、生态环境、游客与居民安全的目的。     

基于最小邻近成本的喀斯特山地城市公园可达性分析

以典型喀斯特城市贵阳市为例,分析地貌特征对于公园绿地供给能力的影响,采用最小邻近成本分析法和空间自相关分析,对贵阳市公园绿地的供给特征以及不同类别公园可达性空间差异进行评价,探讨喀斯特城市公园可达性的提升策略。结果表明:研究区城市公园供给总量较高,但公园斑块面积二元结构明显,且坡度15°以上面积占比53%;公园可达性整体较好,91.89%的居民小区到公园的最小邻近成本低于500 m,但不同类别城市公园可达性存在一定差异。因此,喀斯特山地城市要提升公园服务水平,首先应补足公园服务的盲区,尤其是建成区残存孤峰、小峰丛公园服务能力不足造成的隐性盲区;其次,在老旧城区公园建设需避免盲目求大,应着重提高服务质量与效率,并且发挥自然山体优势建设独具特色的公园服务体系;应结合人口分布特征和不同类别的公园配置状况,合理进行喀斯特山体公园化利用,避免生态环境破坏与公园空置。      

Conservation status of wetlands in Zimbabwe: past and present

The conservation status of dambos, a particular type of wetland associated with the headwaters of rivers draining the central plateau area of Zimbabwe, is examined in terms of past and present utilisation and erosion problems. Pre- and post-1950 phases are recognized within both the commercial farming areas and the Communal Lands (or peasant farming areas). The pre-1950 phase on commercial farms was one of exploitation of dambos mainly for winter wheat production, such cultivation contributing towards locally serious erosion. Consequently legislation was passed to restrict disturbance of wetlands, especially for cultivation. The post-1950 phase on commercial farms was one of conservation, with minimal use of dambos for grazing and limited erosion. The pre-1950 phase within the Communal Lands, the former native reserves, was one involving progressive modification of the traditional farming system through, in particular, centralisation. Dambo cultivation, a well-established practice, continued throughout this place, but towards the end of this period there were localised signs of degradation associated, in part, with grazing. The post-1950 phase was one of increased pressure on land with a growing human and livestock population. Thus dambos were required to support more and more cattle throughout the year, whilst efforts to curtail dambo cultivation were not well-recieved by peasant farmers and may have compromised general conservation in the reserves.     

A critique of development and conservation policies in environmentally sensitive regions in Brazil

More than a strategy for environmental conservation, protected area paradigm has represented a specific conception of nature–society relationship. Originated in a context of capitalist consolidation, rapid urbanisation and frontier development in the US, this paradigm has given rise to a ‘politically viable rationale' in which utilitarian use of natural resources by tourism development would ensure nature preservation. This political rationality has deeply influenced environmental policies in developing countries, fostering a paradoxical model in the history of nature preservation. It also has brought into play diverse interests that have shifted patterns of local nature–society interaction, configuring a complex politicised environment. Established in ‘isolated' regions, protected areas have been implemented often by top–down approaches, disrupting resident peoples' livelihoods strategies through conflicts over the control of natural resources. Understanding the implications of development and conservation policies on resident peoples' livelihoods may represent a starting point for an integrated developmental conservation policy towards the promotion of sustainable livelihoods in environmentally sensitive regions in developing countries. These issues are analysed in the region of the Lençois Maranhenses National Park in Brazil. This paper argues that the context facing the region reveals a standardised conservationist paradigm marked by the absence of wider ecological criteria informing nature protection and a disregard for the strengthening of sustainability in existent socio-economic dynamics. The regional development and conservation policies have not only promoted tensions between resident peoples' livelihoods and the protected area paradigm, but also reinforced the legitimisation of social exclusion and environmental disruption under the prevalent rhetoric of nature protection and tourism development.     

辽宁建昌国家级化石集中产地化石分布特征及保护区划研究

古生物化石是地球历史的见证,是研究生命起源和演化的重要科学依据.辽宁建昌国家级化石集中产地是世界上最重要的燕辽生物群和热河生物群的化石产地,化石种类和化石数量丰富,是受到中外古生物学者关注的热点研究区域.根据近年来的研究成果,对建昌中生代生物化石的地理分布、赋存层位和化石属种等进行归纳介绍,并对古生物化石产地进行保护区...     

Wetland conservation: Change and fragmentation in Trinidad’s protected areas

Conservation efforts often neglect the importance of monitoring of protected areas, which is key to adaptively managing dynamic landscapes. In many developing countries, like Trinidad, protected areas are set aside as a result of an agreement with an international conservation organization, often resulting in inadequate planning and monitoring of the protected area. Monitoring of protected areas allows for an examination of the conservation scheme implemented and enables improved conservation decisions to be made. The research presented provides an example of the use of technology in monitoring conservation strategies in two protected wetlands, Caroni and Nariva, in Trinidad. Remote sensing and fragmentation analyses are used to quantify land cover change within these two protected wetlands. Results show that the classification of Caroni immediately identifies a shift towards anthropogenic land cover types, suggesting an increase in human activity within the park. This finding is further supported by the continuous measures used, such as decreases in mean NDVI and greenness values suggesting a decrease in the amount or health of the vegetation. While the classification of Nariva suggests a return to natural land covers, the continuous measures of land cover change indicate the opposite. Land cover change analyses are limited in Trinidad and in the Caribbean in general, partly due to satellite data availability, thus this research presents remote sensing and landscape fragmentation analyses as new tools for monitoring land cover change and conservation effectiveness in Trinidad.     

Breaking down fences: Recoupling social-ecological systems for biodiversity conservation in Namibia

Herero communities in northern Namibia recently formed the Ehi-rovipuka Conservancy under a national Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRM) that has received international acclaim for wildlife conservation and poverty alleviation. Nearly a century ago ancestors of the Herero were ousted from Etosha National Park, contiguous to the Ehi-rovipuka Conservancy. The communities have been denied access ever since. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were employed to elucidate relationships of the Herero and their communal conservancy with the Etosha National Park. Memory mapping and villager interviews revealed a profound sense of lost traditional territory inside Etosha and a strong desire to return to the Park, not to harvest wildlife but to restore cultural practices and reap certain benefits from the Park. We term the separation of the communities from their traditional territory as a ‘decoupling’ of people from their local environment. We further suggest that the potential benefits that villagers identify from the Park represent mechanisms for ‘recoupling’ local social-ecological systems, requiring the literal and figurative breakdown of the Park fence. We describe a model to illustrate decoupling and recoupling mechanisms, and argue that recoupled social-ecological systems are necessary for long-term conservation of biodiversity. We further suggest a collaborative landscape model for biodiversity conservation featuring institutional linkages and integration between community-conserved areas, integrated conservation corridors for connectivity, and dynamic, mobile reserves collaboratively integrated with national parks management. This model may have applicability in Namibia and similar regions elsewhere with low population densities, high species endemism and prevailing or emerging threats to biodiversity.     

A LabVIEW-based fire monitoring software using multi-criteria AHP approach for detecting geolocation of wildfire

Natural Hazards - High Conservation Value Forests or botanical parks are critical forested areas that need to be appropriately managed and protected against fire, as they contain large...