Evaluating the impacts of protected areas on 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 countr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Science advances Vol. 5; no. 4; p. eaav3006
Main Authors:	Naidoo, R, Gerkey, D, Hole, D, Pfaff, A, Ellis, A M, Golden, C D, Herrera, D, Johnson, K, Mulligan, M, Ricketts, T H, Fisher, B
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 01-04-2019
Subjects:	Biodiversity Conservation of Natural Resources Developing Countries Economics Ecosystem Family Characteristics Geography Global Health Health Status Humans Models, Theoretical Public Health SciAdv r-articles
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Summary:	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.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Disclaimer: The findings and interpretations in this paper do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Agency for International Development, the US Department of Agriculture, or the United States government.
ISSN:	2375-2548 2375-2548
DOI:	10.1126/sciadv.aav3006