Protected area management

Using the category system in force (IUCN, 1994), this document analyses the bestowal of IUCN category statuses and proposes a systematic procedure for making such assignments. A number of selected pilot cases from around the world where this procedure has been used are discussed.

The link between protected areas and tourism is as old as the history of protected areas. Though the relationship is complex and sometimes adversarial, tourism is always a critical component to consider in the establishment and management of protected areas. These guidelines aim to build an understanding of protected area tourism, and its management. They provide both a theoretical structure and practical guidelines for managers.

A Management Plan is a document which sets out the management approach and goals, together with a framework for decision making, to apply in a specific protected area over a given period of time. Critical to the plan is the widest possible consultation with stakeholders and the development of objectives that can be agreed and adhered to by all who have an interest in the use and ongoing survival of the area concerned.

A system plan is the design of a total reserve system covering the full range of ecosystems and communities found in a particular country, identifying the range of purposes of protected areas and the relationships among the system components (i.e. individual areas, protected areas and other land uses), and different sectors and levels of society.

L’étude porte sur l’analyse des différents sites, les problèmes rencontrés sur chaque site en passant en revue tous les aspects de leur gestion, l’intérêt du statut actuel (ou prévu) en fonction des objectifs de conservation assignés à ces aires protégées, l’analyse de l’adéquation de la législation de chacun des pays concernés par rapport aux propositions et aux recommandations faites. Au total, l’efficacité des modes de gestion dans l’ensemble des réserves apparaît faible.

The Delos Initiative focuses on the sacred natural sites in developed countries throughout the world. Its main purpose is to help in maintaining both the sanctity and the biodiversity of these sites, through the understanding of the complex relationship between spiritual/cultural and natural values. This publication includes all presentations made at the Second Workshop of The Delos Initiative, which took place in Ouranoupolis in 2007.

In an era of climate change, deforestation and massive habitat loss, we can no longer rely on parks and protected areas as isolated 'islands of wilderness' to conserve and protect vital biodiversity. Increasing connections are being considered and made between protected areas and 'connectivity' thinking has started to expand to the regional and even the continental scale to match the challenges of conserving biodiversity in the face of global environmental change.