Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) are increasingly incorporated into conservation policy and highlighted in protected area systems and site-management frameworks. Climate instability is a major driver for use of these ecosystem services. Frequently omitted from this discourse is wildlife’s contributions to people (WCP) which has recently been examined and identified as a driving force in pollination services, seed dispersal, carbon and nutrient cycling, water regulation, soil formation, habitat maintenance, and for their role in supporting cultural identities. The growing global emphasis on equity and the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities in protected area decision-making underscores the role of these benefits in maintaining livelihoods and the necessity of collaboratively mapping and maintaining NCPs. However, as protected area managers endeavour to integrate NCP into their practices, knowledge about the practical implications for wildlife management is far less known. This article examines how managers might identify and map WCP in their protected area, qualify and quantify the conditions necessary to protect and optimise these contributions and how to structure these optimal conditions through a management system.

To meet the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 3 to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030, the number of high-quality sites that are important for biodiversity will need to increase. Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) are increasingly recognised globally and are expected to play a significant role towards meeting GBF Target 3. Following a decision adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2018, the assessment of new OECM candidate sites can be achieved by applying an IUCN site-level tool published in 2023 based on eight criteria. The criteria do not specify a minimum size for OECM candidate sites. Here we suggest that the CBD Parties consider a metric on the fragmentation level of an OECM candidate site's larger territorial unit to help define the minimum size of this site, and we apply the metric to a case study in the EU. We believe this would be a realistic and practical approach and would give incentives for CBD Parties to assess potential new OECM sites even in highly fragmented territorial units.

The rugged topography, harsh climate and limited livelihood options have resulted in pastoralism being the predominant land use in the Himalayan landscape. To identify the most significant sites in this landscape, we employed the concept of ‘High Conservation Value Areas’ (HCVAs) in Thanpattan, one of the largest pastureland in Lahaul-Spiti. We have examined this region as a potential HCVA, providing information on biological diversity, pastoralism and related threats. The Gaddi community of Chamba and Bharmour districts relies on these pastures for their livelihoods, and several threatened flora and fauna species also call the area home. We found that Thanpattan fulfils all six criteria for HCVAs and is undoubtedly an HCVA due to its biodiversity values and the dependency of the indigenous communities on the region.

Despite coastal area being recognised as an important subcomponent in protected and conserved areas targets for over a decade, it has been orphaned in both national and international reporting. In this paper, we provide the first progress report on protected and conserved coastal area in Canada. While 13.6 per cent of Canada’s coastal area is protected and conserved, there is substantial variation across Canada’s three oceans and Great Lakes, jurisdictional authorities, and marine/terrestrial ecosystems. Importantly, Manitoba (37.3 per cent) and the Yukon (45.1 per cent) have already achieved the 30 per cent coastal protection target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). However, Newfoundland and Labrador (7 per cent) and the Northwest Territories (8 per cent) currently fall significantly short. Very poor protection is evident in several marine bioregions and terrestrial ecozones, including across the Arctic, the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves (0.7 per cent) and the Hudson Bay Complex (5.1 per cent). The Great Lakes require urgent and focused conservation attention, with lakes Ontario (3.6 per cent) and Erie (3.7 per cent) exhibiting a dismal amount of coastal protected and conserved area. Our results highlight the importance of explicitly reporting on the status of coastal area protection and we outline several considerations that can be used by the global conservation community to support more effective coastal protection, accounting and reporting vis-à-vis Target 3 of the KM-GBF

This paper provides an update on the 2017 status of Arctic protected areas.It provides an overview of the status and trends of the extent of protected areas in the Arctic and an overview of area-based conservation measures including World Heritage Sites and wetlands.This paper uses the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) definition for protected areas which includes a wide range of Management Categories -from strict nature reserve to protection with sustainable use.Consequently, the level of protection and governance of these areas varies throughout the circumpolar region.As of 2021, 20.77 per cent of the Arctic's terrestrial area and 5.24 per cent of its marine areas are protected.Protected area coverage of the Arctic's terrestrial ecosystems exceeded Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 which aimed for at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water to be protected by 2020.The protected area coverage of marine areas fell short of the Aichi Target for 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas to be protected.

Positive relations between local people and protected and conserved area (PA) authorities are important for effective and equitable conservation.Such relations, however, are often strained.Therefore, in this study we explore the heterogeneity in satisfaction in park management amongst people living near to five PAs in Myanmar.Specifically, we examined how a diverse set of predictor variables relate to satisfaction in park management.Of all respondents, 2 per cent perceived park management to be very poor, 17 per cent considered it poor, 73 per cent considered it good, and 8 per cent considered it very good.Level of satisfaction in community involvement in conservation associated most strongly with satisfaction in park management, followed by satisfaction in community benefits from conservation activities.The extent to which park management and rangers were seen to treat communities with respect both related strongly and positively to level of satisfaction in park management.Experience of humanwildlife conflict had a negative association with satisfaction in park management.Finally, perceived alignment between conservation regulations and community values had a positive relationship with satisfaction in park management.Our findings highlight the importance of community involvement in and benefit from conservation activities in Myanmar, as well as the significance of park rangers and overall management treating local communities with respect.

This paper investigates the role of local cooperatives in promoting a green economy in nature parks in Luxembourg.Relying on a rich dataset of mainly farmers' cooperatives, the study evaluates the socio-economic, ecological and governance outcomes of local cooperative production practices in two nature parks.Results indicate that local cooperatives modify traditional agricultural strategies to promote production systems that respect natural environmental processes and improve local competitive advantage.Their actions promote an inter-community network for conserving land and aquatic biodiversity, even though transitioning to organic production remains challenging for the cooperatives.The paper concludes that the adoption of organic production would distinguish nature parks from other biodiversity-rich local areas.As such, continuous and comprehensive policy actions from nature park authorities, such as dedicated training courses and financial incentives, are required to increase the adoption of organic production.

The establishment and management of protected areas are critical strategies for biodiversity conservation and preventing tropical forest loss.We analysed 2020 management effectiveness data from Brazil's SAMGe evaluation platform in 133 areas of the Brazilian Amazon under varying deforestation pressures.We did not find any significant correlation between overall management effectiveness and deforestation, whereas distance to roads was negatively correlated.There is a higher occurrence of prohibited uses and fewer encouraged uses within highly deforested protected areas.Moreover, most of these areas also presented higher equipment expenditure scores, suggesting that resources are allocated towards protection actions.Most deforestation is likely driven by opportunity, as highly perturbed locations are generally much less isolated than those with very low deforestation scores.To avoid forest loss, complementary strategies that reduce the external forces leading to deforestation must urgently be implemented.

A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effec ve means, to achieve the long-term conserva on of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.

In 2001, the Chilean Government created Consultative Councils as part of their national park management strategy.Consultative Councils were designed with three objectives: 1) to generate opportunities for citizen participation with regards to the management, conservation and development of national parks and the surrounding communities; 2) to improve the abilities and opportunities for adjacent communities to protect their ways of living and be acknowledged and valued by society; and 3) to strengthen areas of development in communities and help promote strategic alliances between communities and private and public institutions.We set out to examine whether the Fray Jorge National Park -Consultative Council (FJNP-CC) has achieved these three objectives.Our findings indicated that the FJNP-CC has failed to facilitate community participation in park management (Objective 1) and has done little to improve the abilities and opportunities for adjacent communities to protect their ways of living (Objective 2).However, the FJNP-CC has proven effective at facilitating community access to private and public institutions (Objective 3).Despite achieving only one of its three objectives, the FJNP-CC is still considered by community members and park managers as the best opportunity to manage, if not reconcile, competing interests in the park.