Protected areas

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region is renowned for the attractiveness of its coastal zones, high marine biodiversity and rich marine and coastal resources, but the 30 million or so people who live on the coast of the WIO region have had a significant impact on its biodiversity.

Four case studies of European protected areas are presented illustrating particular themes of management practice. The National Park of Abruzzo, Latium and Molise (Italy) serves as a model for zoning; the Bialowieza National Park (Poland) for monitoring; participatory management is exemplified in the Minorca Biosphere Reserve in Spain; and the Austrian Hohe Tauern National Park is a good example for visitor management.

Conventional approaches to managing protected areas have often seen people and nature as separate entities. They preclude human communities from using natural resources and assume that their concerns are incompatible with conservation. Protected area approaches and models that see conservation as compatible with human communities are explored. The main themes are co-managed protected areas and community conserved areas.

This publication, which contains 23 papers selected from several regional and national meetings, including the 2003 Regional Preparatory Meeting held in Dhaka, tries to capture many pioneering works in participatory conservation in the region and also tries to identify gaps in ecosystem representation in South Asia. It brings out many contemporary issues related to conservation while pooling national experiences in managing protected areas.

Protected areas operate within complex ecological and social systems, presenting challenges that cannot be resolved by technical solution alone. Achieving the management objectives of protected areas requires a social approach in which strategic communication is a key instrument.

Mountains are special places. For many they are sacred; to most they bring an uplifting of the spirit and refreshment; to all they bring water, and rich biodiversity. Many of them have received legislative recognition by designation as parks or reserves of various kinds, and it is for the planners and managers of this estate that this book has been written.