Protected Areas Protected Areas a long history Sacred

Protected Areas

Protected Areas – a long history Sacred Groves, esp. of Africa, Asia & Europe Usually have religious significance for the communities that protect them Photo from Wikimedia Commons of torii gates at Shimogamo Shrine, Japan & associated sacred grove

Protected Areas – a long history Royal Hunting Preserves E. g. , Windsor Castle’s Great Park Photo of Windsor Castle & Great Park from Wikimedia Commons

Protected Areas A clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values Not the only way to conserve biodiversity, but can help avoid habitat degradation/destruction, overexploitation, etc. , especially in key areas > 108, 000 around the world > 12% land surface area ~ 0. 8% oceans (~ 5000 marine protected areas) Definition from IUCN

Protected Areas “Rocks & ice syndrome” (protected areas are often a biased subset of habitats – those that are not desirable for other purposes) E. g. , the world’s largest nat’l. park is Northeast Greenland Nat’l. Park – essentially the Greenland icecap Map from Wikimedia Commons

Protected Areas Many formally protected national parks are “paper parks” (i. e. , established in name only w/o enforcement); especially prevalent in less-developed countries “Of an estimated $6 billion spent annually to manage protected areas worldwide, < 12%. . . is spent in less-developed countries (where, ironically, most of the earth’s biodiversity resides. ” Quote from Wilcove (2008) “No Way Home” – pg. 205

United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1945 International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) UNESCO’s first Director General, Sir Julian Huxley, helped establish this institution in 1948, to give UNESCO a more scientific base Logos from respective Web sites

IUCN Categories of Protected Areas Category I – Nature reserve / wilderness area / “wildlife sanctuary”; mainly for scientific research or wilderness protection Category II – National park; mainly for ecosystem protection & recreation Category III – Natural monument; conservation of specific natural features Category IV – Habitat / species management area Category V – Protected landscape / seascape Category VI – Managed resource protected area; mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems

United Nations Conference on Environment & Development, a. k. a. Rio Earth Summit, 1992 Two major achievements of the Earth Summit: Kyoto Protocol (adopted 1997, Kyoto, Japan) Convention on Biological Diversity (key objective = to develop national strategies for the conservation & sustainable use of biodiversity) Logo from www. eoearth. org

UNESCO Programme on Man & the Biosphere (MAB) – Biosphere Reserves (~531 in 105 countries since est. in 1970 s) Photo from Wikimedia Commons Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

UNESCO Programme on Man & the Biosphere (MAB) – Biosphere Reserves (~531 in 105 countries since est. in 1970 s) Photo from Wikimedia Commons Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

UNESCO Programme on Man & the Biosphere (MAB) – Biosphere Reserves (~531 in 105 countries since est. in 1970 s) Photo from Wikimedia Commons Denali National Park, AK, USA

Convention for the Protection of World Cultural & Natural Heritage – UNESCO World Heritage Sites (~678 cultural, 174 natural & 26 mixed, in 145 countries; est. in 1972) Photo from Wikimedia Commons Pirin National Park, Bulgaria

Convention for the Protection of World Cultural & Natural Heritage – UNESCO World Heritage Sites (~678 cultural, 174 natural & 26 mixed, in 145 countries; est. in 1972) Photo from Wikimedia Commons Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia

Convention for the Protection of World Cultural & Natural Heritage – UNESCO World Heritage Sites (~678 cultural, 174 natural & 26 mixed, in 145 countries; est. in 1972) Photo from Xxxx Poverty Point, LA, USA

Convention for the Protection of World Cultural & Natural Heritage – UNESCO World Heritage Sites (~678 cultural, 174 natural & 26 mixed, in 145 countries; est. in 1972) Photo from Wikimedia Commons Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (est. in Ramsar, Iran) (~1, 801 sites since est. in 1971) Logo & photo from Wikimedia Commons Kakadu National Park, Australia

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (est. in Ramsar, Iran) (~1, 801 sites since est. in 1971) Logo & photo from Wikimedia Commons Okavango Delta, Botswana

U. S. National Parks Classification as of 2003 National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, National Military Park & National Battlefield Site National Historical Park, National Historic Site, & International Historic Site National Lakeshore National Memorial National Monument National Parkway National Preserve & National Reserve National Recreation Area National River & National Wild & Scenic River & Riverway National Scenic Trail National Seashore Other Designations (White House, National Mall, etc. ) Totals Table from Wikipedia Number Acreage 24 64, 738. 87 120 204, 840. 71 4 28 73 58 4 20 18 228, 873. 58 10, 541. 50 2, 277, 010. 75 51, 961, 285. 92 176, 344. 29 24, 189, 328. 85 3, 692, 664. 98 15 746, 357. 19 3 10 11 237, 995. 55 595, 078. 55 40, 128. 85 388 84, 425, 189. 59

U. S. National Parks First U. S. National Park (& first in the world) = Yellowstone, 1872 Photo of boardwalk along Grand Prismatic Spring from Wikimedia Commons

U. S. National Parks First U. S. National Monument = Devils Tower, 1906 Photo from Wikimedia Commons

U. S. Military Installations E. g. , Fort Bragg, North Carolina Photo from Wikimedia Commons

U. S. National Forests E. g. , Kisatchie National Forest Map from www. fs. fed. us

Louisiana’s Government - Departments Agriculture & Forestry Culture, Recreation & Tourism Environmental Quality Natural Resources Wildlife & Fisheries Logos of LA Departments engaged in protected area activities from respective departmental Web sites

Louisiana State Forests E. g. , Alexander State Forest & Indian Creek Recreation Area Photo from www. ldaf. state. la. us

Louisiana State Wildlife Management Areas E. g. , Lake Ramsey Savannah WMA K. Harms’ photo of 1 -m 2 plot containing > 30 species of flowering plants

Privately Protected Areas E. g. , NGOs such as TNC – Lake Ramsay Preserve K. Harms’ photo of 1 -m 2 plot containing > 30 species of flowering plants; TNC = The Nature Conservancy See article in The Advocate on Latimore Smith & Lake Ramsay: Reviving Longleaf Pine

Privately Protected Areas E. g. , Private organizations such as the Girl Scouts K. Harms’ photo of Whispering Pines Girl Scout Camp, St. Tammany Parish, LA; logo from www. girlscouts. org

Privately Protected Areas Ted Turner (b. 1938) Media mogul & philanthropist Among the world’s largest land owners (by acreage); owns > 2 million acres in U. S. & S. America Owns largest privately owned contiguous tract of land in U. S. – Vermejo Park Ranch, N. M. (920 mi 2; 2, 400 km 2) Especially focused on restoring Western U. S. & Argentine wildlands Image from July 4, 1977 Sports Illustrated from http: //sportsillustrated. cnn. com

Privately Protected Areas Doug Tompkins (b. 1943) – co-founder of The North Face® & ESPRIT® & Kristine Tompkins (b. 1950) – former CEO of Patagonia® Among the world’s largest land owners (by acreage); own > 2 million acres in U. S. & S. America Especially focused on conservation in Chilean wildlands (e. g. , Pumalín Park) Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Privately Protected Areas E. g. , Conservation easements Legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and government agency (municipality, county, state, federal) or qualified land protection organization, for conservation Restricts real estate development, commercial and industrial uses, and certain other activities, to a mutually agreed upon level Remains the private property of the landowner Binding on all future owners of the property Landowner may receive significant tax advantages for having donated or sold the conservation easement

Species Loss Occurs Even in Protected Areas “Wildlife in protected areas face a range of threats that can be envisioned as ‘extinction filters’ (colored disks) passing through an ecological community. Species most vulnerable to a given threat, or to the combined or synergistic impacts of multiple threats, face local extinction. ” Fig. from J. S. Brashares (2010) “Filtering Wildlife” from Science

Species Loss Occurs Even in Protected Areas “…the natural postestablishment loss of mammalian species in 14 western North American national parks is consistent with… predictions [from Island Biogeography Theory]… and… all but the largest western North American national parks are too small to retain an intact mammalian fauna. ” Fig. from W. D. Newmark (1987) Nature