Protected areas (PAs) represent a cornerstone of efforts to safeguard biodiversity, and if effective should reduce threats to biodiversity. We present the most comprehensive assessment of threats to terrestrial PAs, based on in situ data from 1,961 PAs across 149 countries, assessed by PA managers and local stakeholders. Unsustainable hunting was the most commonly reported threat and occurred in 61% of all PAs, followed by disturbance from recreational activities occurring in 55%, and natural system modifications from fire or its suppression in 49%. The number of reported threats was lower in PAs with greater remoteness, higher control of corruption, and lower human development scores. The main reported threats in developing countries were linked to overexploitation for resource extraction, while negative impacts from recreational activities dominated in developed countries. Our results show that many of the most serious threats to PAs are difficult to monitor with remote sensing, and highlight the importance of in situ threat data to inform the implementation of more effective biodiversity conservation in the global protected area estate.
An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas
Katharina Schulze,K. Knights,L. Coad,J. Geldmann,Fiona Leverington,A. Eassom,Melitta Marr,S. Butchart,M. Hockings,N. Burgess
Published 2018 in Conservation Letters
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2018
- Venue
Conservation Letters
- Publication date
2018-05-01
- Fields of study
Geography, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- control of corruption
A country-level governance indicator describing the extent to which public power is not used for private gain.
Aliases: corruption control
- developed countries
Countries classified as more economically developed in the paper's comparison of threat patterns.
Aliases: more developed countries
- developing countries
Countries classified as less economically developed in the paper's comparison of threat patterns.
Aliases: less developed countries
- disturbance from recreational activities
Human disturbance associated with leisure and visitor use within or near protected areas.
Aliases: recreational disturbance, visitor disturbance
- human development score
A country-level development metric used to summarize health, education, and income conditions.
Aliases: HDI, human development index
- in situ threat data
Threat information collected directly from protected-area managers and local stakeholders on the ground.
Aliases: field-based threat data, on-site threat data
- natural system modifications
Alteration of ecosystem processes or natural regimes, including fire and fire suppression, recorded as a threat category.
Aliases: fire or its suppression, ecosystem modification
- remoteness
How physically isolated a protected area is from accessible human settlement or transport routes.
Aliases: remote location, isolation
- remote sensing
Satellite or airborne observation methods used to monitor land surface conditions from a distance.
Aliases: satellite monitoring, earth observation
- terrestrial protected areas
Land-based protected areas assessed for reported human and natural threats in the paper's global sample.
Aliases: PAs, protected areas
- unsustainable hunting
Illegal or excessive hunting pressure on wildlife used here as a reported threat category.
Aliases: hunting pressure, overhunting
REFERENCES
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