An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas

Katharina Schulze; Kathryn Knights; Lauren Coad; Jonas Geldmann; Fiona Leverington; April Eassom; Melitta Marr; Stuart H.M. Butchart; Marc Hockings; Neil D. Burgess

doi:10.1111/conl.12435

An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas

Katharina Schulze^*, Kathryn Knights, Lauren Coad, Jonas Geldmann, Fiona Leverington, April Eassom, Melitta Marr, Stuart H.M. Butchart, Marc Hockings, Neil D. Burgess

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environmental Geography

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Article number	e12435
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Conservation Letters
Volume	11
Issue number	3
Early online date	29 Dec 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12435
Publication status	Published - May 2018

Funding

We thank the thousands of people involved in completing the threat assessments globally, and GEF, UNDP, WWF, CEPF, University of Queensland, University of Oxford, University of Copenhagen TNC, and World Bank who have helped support the collation of data. We also thank the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF096), VILLUM FONDEN (VKR023371) and USAID for financial support. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their time, effort, and insightful comments.

Funders	Funder number
United States Agency for International Development
Villum Fonden	VKR023371
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond	DNRF096

Keywords

biodiversity
conservation
cumulative link mixed model
IUCN threat classification scheme
management

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/conl.12435

http://www.mendeley.com/research/assessment-threats-terrestrial-protected-areas

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abstract = "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.",

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AU - Geldmann, Jonas

AU - Leverington, Fiona

AU - Eassom, April

AU - Marr, Melitta

AU - Butchart, Stuart H.M.

AU - Hockings, Marc

AU - Burgess, Neil D.

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N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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