Using biodiversity features to promote an Ecosystem-Based Conservation framework in terrestrial ecosystems

Protected areas are a key component of global conservation, and the world is aiming to increase protected areas to cover 30% of land and water through the 30 × 30 Initiative under the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. However, factors affecting their success or failure in regard to promoting mammal population recovery are not well studied, particularly using quantitative approaches comparing across diverse taxa, biomes, and countries. To better understand how protected areas contribute to mammalian recovery, we conducted an analysis of 2706 mammal populations both inside and outside of protected areas worldwide. We calculated the annual percent change of mammal populations within and outside of terrestrial protected areas and examined the relationship between the percent change and a suite of human and natural characteristics including biome, region, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected area category, IUCN Red List classification, and taxonomic order. Our results show that overall mammal populations inside and outside of protected areas are relatively stable. It appears that Threatened mammals are doing better inside of protected areas than outside, whereas the opposite is true for species of least concern and Near Threatened species. We also found significant population increases in protected areas classified as category III and significant population decreases in protected and unprotected areas throughout Oceania. Our results demonstrate that terrestrial protected areas can be an important approach for mammalian recovery and conservation.

trialspecies,therelativemeritsofdifferentapproachesto ensure the long-term persistence of those species remain highly contentious. Most would agree, however, that both establishing protected areas and exercising some form of restraint on extraction of forest resources are among the most effective of all viable conservation measures. Deforestation, wildfires, logging, and hunting are among the leading drivers of species losses in tropical forests, and de facto or de jure protection from these threats can be conferred by either effective enforcement of regulations or physical remoteness. Attempts to assess conservation success of protected areasatlargescaleshaverestedprimarilyonconventional use of remote sensing to quantify spatial or temporal differences in rates of change in land cover due to deforestation and wildfires, rather than on empirical demographic or community-level metrics (Gaston et al. 2008). Q2 However, the former approaches fail to detect most types of subcanopy anthropogenic disturbances that also result, directly or indirectly, in species losses (Peres et al. 2006). Moreover, the effects of habitat loss and degradation on population extirpations and declines are nonlinear, so vegetation cover alone is rarely a robust proxy for the viability of terrestrial biotas. Remotesensing data show vast tracts of apparently intact tropical forests, but in reality levels of hunting and other forms of extraction in these areas are often unsustainable (Peres & Lake 2003). Fundamental questions yet to be answered include whether ostensibly intact protected areas retain full complements of forest species and how the extent of cryptic patterns of disturbance is related to human population density in both protected and unprotected areas. I considered the global to regional emergence of sustainable-use reserves, emphasizing the world’s largest tropical forest region, Amazonia. Sustainable-use reserves often have intermediate levels of disturbance, so I examined the degree of use of natural resources by resident communities and used human population density as a proxy for level of extraction. In both protected and unprotected areas, I also estimated responses of game vertebrate assemblages to hunting on the basis of the relative biomassextractedfromasubsetoftheforestfauna.Iused analysesofcovariance(ANCOVA)toexaminetheassociationbetweenhumandensityandgamebiomassharvested across different reserve categories. Finally, I considered the long-term capacity of sustainable-use forest reserves to maintain populations of all resident species.

Underprotected Marine Protected Areas in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot

Biodiversity loss is increasing worldwide due to anthropogenic pressures. Protected areas are viewed as a primary tool to prevent biodiversity loss. However, protected areas do not always meet local needs and biodiversity goals simultaneously. Increasingly, local, and Indigenous communities globally are initiating protected areas that better reflect local needs while at the same time meeting conservation objectives. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how an Indigenous, community-driven approach to protected area planning differs from the model more typically used by conservation and government agencies in Canada. Using literature and examples of community-based protected areas in Canada, this research sought to synthesize the current conservation framework. Focusing on the Belcher Islands, Nunavut, this research examines the proposed protected area of Qikiqtait, a community-based, Indigenous-led protected area initiated by the community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatially compare Priority Areas for Conservation (PACs) derived from two different approaches: the community of Sanikiluaq, and World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF). The analyses indicated a large overlap between areas of importance for the community and areas of conservation importance for the region identified by the WWF. Overall, the community planning offers a finer spatial resolution more suitable to local planning, as well as encompassing a broader range of conservation and livelihood priorities. Following the literature review and spatial analysis, this research concludes that while Canada’s conservation framework is increasingly making space for greater Indigenous leadership and participation, lessons remain on how to achieve optimum potential in community-based protected areas.

Official protection plays a major role in the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable management of endangered species habitat. Bozin and Marakhil Forest is a protected area in the Kermanshah province of Iran, and covers 23,724 ha of semi-arid Zagros forests. It was designated a protected area in 1999 to protect habitat for roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). However, debate has surrounded the efficiency and effectiveness of protected areas for species\' habitat conservation in the region due to the ongoing socioeconomic problems in the area. Using remote sensing data from 2001 and 2009, we evaluated the effects of this protected designation on forest area and structure at two spatial scales. We processed and classified Landsat images of the two dates covering the protected area and the adjacent unprotected areas for the broad scale analysis. We classified IKONOS and GeoEye images of the two dates covering a part of protected and unprotected areas for fine scale analysis. The fine scale analysis showed a higher forest loss in unprotected area. The difference between spatial pattern metrics at the fine scale at the beginning and the end of the study period showed that no structural change occurred as result of protection. Broad scale analysis showed no change in forest area in either the protected or unprotected areas during the study period. Spatial pattern analysis at broad scales showed that the protected area had a higher forest patch contiguity and patch extent, and lower patch isolation, at the end of study period (p-values: 0.002, 0.014, and 0.002). A temporal analysis demonstrated that these differences were not due to the improvement of habitat in the protected area, since no change in structure occurred in that area through time. Instead, changes occurred due to fragmentation in the unprotected area through time. At the fine scale, protection improved the area of forests while at broad scale its effect was observed on forest structure. These results demonstrate that eliminating or reducing human activity in an area through official protection may prevent further degradation within the area, but may have substantial impact on habitat at multiple scales in the surrounding area. This presents a risk of isolating populations within the park, further placing them at risk of stochastic extinction. The practice calls into question the efficiency of protected areas from both the ecological and socioeconomic viewpoints.

Protected areas for conservation and poverty alleviation: experiences from Madagascar Charlie J. Gardner*, Martin E. Nicoll, Tsibara Mbohoahy, Kirsten L. L. Oleson, Anitry N. Ratsifandrihamanana, Joelisoa Ratsirarson, Lily-Arison Ren e de Roland, Malika Virah-Sawmy, Bienvenue Zafindrasilivonona and Zoe G. Davies WWF Madagascar and Western Indian Ocean Programme Office, BP738, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar; Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK; D epartement de Biologie, Facult e des Sciences, Universit e de Toliara, Toliara 601, BP 185, Toliara, Madagascar; Blue Ventures Conservation, Level 2 Annex, Omnibus Business Centre, 39-41 North Road, N7 9DP London, UK; ESSA-D epartement Eaux et Forets, Universit e d’Antananarivo, BP 175 Antananarivo, Madagascar; and The Peregrine Fund, BP 4113 Antananarivo, Madagascar

SummaryMost attention on tropical biodiversity conservation has focussed on protected areas. Recognising and enhancing the value of biodiversity outside, as well as inside, protected areas is increasingly important given recognition that biodiversity targets will not be met through protected areas alone. We investigated the extent to which protection influences colony occupancy and colony size of a species of conservation concern, the rock-nesting White-necked PicathartesPicathartes gymnocephalus. We used mixed models to compare long term trends at 42 colonies located both inside and outside a protected area of forest, Gola Rainforest National Park, and considered colonies further inside the boundary as being better protected. Colony occupation was primarily predicted by the level of protection, with occupation highest within protected areas, but was not different between colonies situated close to or far from the boundary. Mean colony occupation was consistently high in protected areas, and lower in unprotected areas. The surface area of colony rocks was also an important predictor with larger rock faces having a higher probability of occupancy. Our best models also included distance to forested habitat, presence of cleared forest and evidence of hunting as less important predictors. Over the eight-year study, after controlling for rock surface area, active colony size declined significantly. However, declines were only significant in colonies in unprotected forest, whilst colonies located within protected areas were buffered from significant decline. Together this suggests colony occupancy and the number of active nests are influenced by protection and human disturbance. Although a lack of demographic and population dynamic work on picathartes prevents identifying mechanisms, we show that despite unprotected colonies having lower occupancy and fewer active nests they can persist in human altered and disturbed areas, partly because larger traditionally used rocks remain important nesting sites.

Urban growth is a major threat to biodiversity conservation at the global scale. Its impacts are expected to be especially detrimental when it sprawls into the landscape and reaches sites of high conservation value due to the species and ecosystems they host, such as protected areas. I analyzed the degree of urbanization (i.e., urban cover and growth rate) from 2006 to 2015 in protected sites in the Natura 2000 network, which, according to the Habitats and Birds Directives, harbor species and habitats of high conservation concern in Europe. I used data on the degree of land imperviousness from COPERNICUS to calculate and compare urban covers and growth rates inside and outside Natura 2000. I also analyzed the relationships of urban cover and growth rates with a set of characteristics of Natura sites. Urban cover inside Natura 2000 was 10 times lower than outside (0.4% vs. 4%) throughout the European Union. However, the rates of urban growth were slightly higher inside than outside Natura 2000 (4.8% vs. 3.9%), which indicates an incipient urban sprawl inside the network. In general, Natura sites affected most by urbanization were those surrounded by densely populated areas (i.e., urban clusters) that had a low number of species or habitats of conservation concern, albeit some member states had high urban cover or growth rate or both in protected sites with a large number of species or habitats of high conservation value. Small Natura sites had more urban cover than large sites, but urban growth rates were highest in large Natura sites. Natura 2000 is protected against urbanization to some extent, but there is room for improvement. Member states must enact stricter legal protection and control law enforcement to halt urban sprawl into protected areas under the greatest pressure from urban sprawl (i.e., close to urban clusters). Such actions are particularly needed in Natura sites with high urban cover and growth rates and areas where urbanization is affecting small Natura sites of high conservation value, which are especially vulnerable and concentrated in the Mediterranean region.

Representation of ecosystems in protected area networks and conservation strategies is a core principle of global conservation priority setting approaches and a commitment in Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly call for the conservation of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. Accurate ecosystem distribution maps are required to assess representation of ecosystems in protected areas, but standardized, high spatial resolution, and globally comprehensive ecosystem maps have heretofore been lacking. While macroscale global ecoregions maps have been used in global conservation priority setting exercises, they do not identify distinct localized ecosystems at the occurrence (patch) level, and instead describe large ecologically meaningful areas within which additional conservation planning and management are necessary. We describe a new set of maps of globally consistent climate regions and ecosystems at a much finer spatial resolution (250 m) than existing ecological regionalizations. We then describe a global gap analysis of the representation of these ecosystems in protected areas. The new map of terrestrial World Ecosystems was derived from the objective development and integration of 1) global temperature domains, 2) global moisture domains, 3) global landforms, and 4) 2015 global vegetation and land use. These new terrestrial World Ecosystems do not include either freshwater or marine ecosystems, but analog products for the freshwater and marine domains are in development. A total of 431 World Ecosystems were identified, and of these a total of 278 units were natural or semi-natural vegetation/environment combinations, including different kinds of forestlands, shrublands, grasslands, bare areas, and ice/snow regions. The remaining classes were different kinds of croplands and settlements. Of the 278 natural and semi-natural classes, 9 were not represented in global protected areas with a strict biodiversity conservation management objective (IUCN management categories I-IV), and an additional 206 were less than 8.5% protected (half way to the 17% Aichi Target 11 goal). Forty four classes were between 8.5% and 17% protected (more than half way towards the Aichi 17% target), and only 19 classes exceeded the 17% Aichi target. However, when all protected areas (IUCN management categories I-VI plus protected areas with no IUCN designation) were included in a separate global gap analysis, representation of ecosystems increases substantially, with a third of the ecosystems exceeding the 17% Aichi target, and another third between 8.5% and 17%. The overall protection (representation) of global ecosystems in protected areas is considerably less when assessed using only strictly conserved protected areas, and more if all protected areas are included in the analysis. Protected area effectiveness should be included in further evaluations of global ecosystem protection. The ecosystems with the highest representation in protected areas were often bare or sparsely vegetated and found in inhospitable environments (e.g. cold mountains, deserts), and the eight most protected ecosystems were all snow and ice ecosystems. In addition to the global gap analysis of World Ecosystems in protected areas, we report on the representation results for the ecosystems in each biogeographic realm (Neotropical, Nearctic, Afrotropical, Palearctic, Indomalayan, Australasian, and Oceania).

The red pandaAilurus fulgensis categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by anthropogenic pressures such as livestock grazing. We surveyed people living in or near protected areas and people living away from protected areas in Nepal, to understand human attitudes towards red panda conservation. Given Nepal's participatory approach to managing protected areas, we hypothesized that local people living in or near protected areas would have more positive attitudes towards red panda conservation than those in non-protected areas. Ninety percent of the 142 respondents had positive attitudes, with people living in or near protected areas expressing less positive attitudes than those in non-protected areas. Despite this difference between protected and non-protected areas, people were generally positive towards red panda conservation. However, positive attitudes did not necessarily translate to sustainable resource-use behaviour. We found there was a high prevalence of both livestock grazing and livestock disease in red panda habitat. We suggest that alternative farming practices (e.g. stall-feeding of livestock) and awareness programmes (e.g. education on the conservation status and legal protection of red pandas, and livestock–wildlife disease transmission) could be important tools to improve conservation attitudes and protect red pandas in Nepal.

GENERAL CONCLUSION It is widely acknowledged that protected areas are not only a means for the protection of the natural environment, but also a means for achieving harmony between humans and nature. Increasingly, it is also recognised that protected areas cannot be seen in isolation from the communities that have inhabited or used their resources, nor can many of them be seen only as wildlife conservation sites, given that these communities may perceive the same areas as cultural landscapes or areas for essential survival. Various sections of society may value the same area differently, and there is no single “right” way to achieve conservation. As Brockington, Igoe and Schmidt-Soltau state, “ the ultimate challenge facing conservationists today is not only to reconcile errors of the past but also to determine how to shape human interactions with nature in landscapes of which people are a part .” The conservation and management of protected areas have long discussed “balancing” the needs of different stakeholders when in reality win-win situations are difficult to realise. This book has explored how to adopt a rights-based approach to conserve protected areas to achieve a better balance between human rights protection and protected areas conservation in China. It has provided adequate answers to three sub-research questions: (1) What is the added value of a human rights-based approach to conservation? (2) How to solve the potential conflicts regarding human rights protection and protected areas conservation in China according to some principal lessons learned from Europe? (3) Based on the experiences and lessons learned from the legal systems and case law in Europe, how to implement a human rights-based approach in protected areas conservation in China? Rather than predicting the developmental tendency between human rights protection and environmental protection or debating whether a right to an environment would be widely accepted or not, it would be practical to find a better balanced approach to solve the existing conflicts regarding human rights protection and environmental protection based on the existing linkages between these two issues at the international level. In essence, a human rights based approach could be regarded as both a means and an end: protecting the environment, in particular conserving protected areas, is ultimately about making sure that everyone's human rights are met.

Anthropogenic pressure in Czech protected areas over the last 60 years: A concerning increase

Essential contribution of habitats in non-protected areas to climate-driven species migration in China

Cropland encroachment on protected areas (PAs) impedes the achievement of global biodiversity conservation goals. However, the extent and expansion of cropland in PAs as well as regional and protection level differences on timescale, and national drivers thereof remains unassessed. We analyzed the land cover composition of global PAs to identify cropland changes from 1985 to 2020 and visualized cropland encroachment degree of PA patches by calculating cropland grid density (CGD) which is defined as the amount of cropland grids per square kilometer. We further identified nations' economic and agricultural development indicators as the primary drivers of cropland encroachment through correlation analysis and GLM method. The results indicate that cropland encroachment on PAs occurs worldwide with significant different level at both regional and protection levels. In western Europe, southern Latin America, central Africa, and southern Asia, a proportion of PA patches have high CGDs. CGDs of Asia and Pacific, Europe and Latin America, and Caribbean PA patches declined, whereas the indices increased in Africa and West Asia. CGDs of PAs with high protection levels are lower than that of PAs with low protection levels. At the national scale, economic development, agricultural development level, and cropland encroachment degree show negative correlations, whereas positively correlated with poverty stress and rural population percentage. The optimal model suggests the GDP per capita, arable land and permanent cropland percentage are significant factors influencing cropland encroachment on PAs. This study highlights the challenges to balance agricultural development and ecological protection and call for a stricter protection on PAs.

Empirical evidence for reduced protection levels across biodiversity features from target-based conservation planning