Connectivity of Protected Areas: Effect of Human Pressure and Subnational Contributions in the Ecoregions of Tropical Andean Countries

Connectivity of Protected Areas: Effect of Human Pressure and Subnational Contributions in the Ecoregions of Tropical Andean Countries

Conservationists recognize the value of protected area (PA) systems, with adequate coverage, ecological representation, connection, and management to deliver conservation benefits. Yet, governments primarily focus on coverage, disregarding quantification of the other criteria. While recent studies h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Land (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 8; p. 239
Main Authors: Castillo, Luis Santiago, Correa Ayram, Camilo Andrés, Matallana Tobón, Clara L., Corzo, Germán, Areiza, Alexandra, González-M., Roy, Serrano, Felipe, Chalán Briceño, Luis, Sánchez Puertas, Felipe, More, Alexander, Franco, Oscar, Bloomfield, Henry, Aguilera Orrury, Victoria Lina, Rivadeneira Canedo, Catalina, Morón-Zambrano, Vilisa, Yerena, Edgard, Papadakis, Juan, Cárdenas, Juan José, Golden Kroner, Rachel E., Godínez-Gómez, Oscar
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 2020
Subjects:
Aichi target 11
Biodiversity
connectivity indicators
Conservation
Conservation areas
Decision making
Earth
ecological representation
Ecosystems
Environmental policy
Evaluation
Global Human Footprint
Human influences
Pressure
Pressure effects
Protected areas
Public address systems
Representations
subnational protected areas
system of protected areas
Systems analysis
Bolivia
Venezuela
Ecuador
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Summary:Conservationists recognize the value of protected area (PA) systems, with adequate coverage, ecological representation, connection, and management to deliver conservation benefits. Yet, governments primarily focus on coverage, disregarding quantification of the other criteria. While recent studies have assessed global representation and connectivity, they present limitations due to: (1) limited accuracy of the World Database of Protected Areas used, as governments may report areas that do not meet the IUCN or CBD PA definitions or omit subnational PAs, and (2) failure to include human impacts on the landscape in connectivity assessments. We constructed a validated PA database for Tropical Andean Countries (TAC; Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Venezuela) and used the existing Protected-Connected-Land (ProtConn) indicator—incorporating the Global Human Footprint as a spatial proxy for human pressure—to evaluate TAC ecoregions’ representation and connectivity. We found that just 27% of ecoregions in the TAC are both protected and connected on more than 17% of their lands. As we included human pressure, we conclude that previous global ProtConn studies overestimate PA connectivity. Subnational PAs are promising for strengthening the representation of PA systems. If nations seek to meet Aichi target 11, or an upcoming post-2020 30% target, further efforts are needed to implement and report subnational conservation areas and appropriately evaluate PA systems.
ISSN:2073-445X
2073-445X
DOI:10.3390/land9080239