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Evaluating the impacts of protected areas on human well-being across the developing world

R. Naidoo,D. Gerkey,D. Hole,A. Pfaff,Alicia M. Ellis,C. Golden,Diego Herrera,Kiersten B. Johnson,M. Mulligan,T. Ricketts,B. Fisher

Published 2019 in Science Advances

ABSTRACT

Protected areas positively affect several aspects of human well-being across the developing world. Protected areas (PAs) are fundamental for biodiversity conservation, yet their impacts on nearby residents are contested. We synthesized environmental and socioeconomic conditions of >87,000 children in >60,000 households situated either near or far from >600 PAs within 34 developing countries. We used quasi-experimental hierarchical regression to isolate the impact of living near a PA on several aspects of human well-being. Households near PAs with tourism also had higher wealth levels (by 17%) and a lower likelihood of poverty (by 16%) than similar households living far from PAs. Children under 5 years old living near multiple-use PAs with tourism also had higher height-for-age scores (by 10%) and were less likely to be stunted (by 13%) than similar children living far from PAs. For the largest and most comprehensive socioeconomic-environmental dataset yet assembled, we found no evidence of negative PA impacts and consistent statistical evidence to suggest PAs can positively affect human well-being.

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