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What can we learn from the prodigious expansion of the non-government protected areas that now comprise 12% of terrestrial Australia? An increasingly professional, formal, and diverse non-government sector has developed since 1990, comprising private individuals, non-government organizations, and First Nations and having close ties to governments. We investigate the drivers, dynamics, and diversity of this sector through thematic analysis of 24 key informant interviews and associated gray literature. Changing environmental movements, science-led conservation, partial recognition of First Nations land rights, international agreements, and neoliberal reforms combined to formalize the sector during the 1990s. A bipartisan policy framework for incorporating non-government lands in the national conservation estate, diverse partnerships, transnational networks, and innovation in public and private funding helped grow the sector. The confluence of interests that has transformed the politics and practice of nature conservation in Australia is likely to inform those engaged with similar changes elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, the Norwegian Ministry of Environment initiated an unprecedented project of environmental conservation through land use planning, introducing buffer zones as measures to integrate local development with conservation of wild reindeer. Through studies of national policy developments and a case study of a planning processes and spatial zoning, using institutional theory, the paper investigates how competing policies and understandings of appropriate activities in the edge areas are reflected in zoning regulations and planning practice, and whether the buffer zone contributes to resolving conflicts in the edge areas. Competing national policies for the edge areas, a legal development favoring ecological buffering and a history of top-down management and local socio-economic marginalization results in removal of large parts of an existing ecological buffer zone and the creation of a new development zone. The integrated conservation and development approach has no advocates and while bearing much promise amounts to little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks play a crucial role in conserving the biophysical environment, yet conservation efforts mostly focus on biodiversity hotspots, iconic mammal species, and nature conservation areas. A challenge in enhancing the role of urban parks in conservation relates to the varied, and often conflicted, priorities of communities and city authorities in the engagement process. Using a qualitative research approach through in-depth interviews with community leaders, councilors, community-based organizations, and youth organizations, this study explores stakeholder engagement in the planning and management of Mofolo Park in Soweto, Johannesburg. Results indicate that although the City of Johannesburg wanted to add food gardens to the park, the community was not united in support of this. Rather, the community wanted better safety, security and ablutions in the park, in contrast to the City of Johannesburg officials. Community members also expressed concerns about water pollution, sewerage spills, security and vandalism within the park, noting this inhibited their full enjoyment of the park. The study also revealed that women's voices were mostly silenced during community discussions. The facilitator, who represented the City of Johannesburg, a few extroverted, vocal people and men dominated the discourse. This study concludes that although community engagement through stakeholder dialogues can, and should, play a crucial role in managing urban parks, the priorities and voices of the various stakeholders need to be carefully considered if the park is to be sustainably managed and fit for purpose as an urban green recreational space for local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas are fundamental in conservation, but their intactness is increasingly threatened by the effects of climate and land-cover changes. Here, a methodological procedure is proposed able to determine the representative climatic conditions of a protected area in central Spain (Guadarrama National Park) pinpointing the natural areas that will host future analogous conditions, but also assessing the effects of land-cover changes on the connectivity of these areas. Future conditions provided by two 2050 IPCC climatic change scenarios and land-cover change simulations were jointly used for this purpose. According to the results obtained, climate change will produce notable effects, displacing its representative climatic conditions as well as modifying the land cover in the neighboring localities. Three areas appear as fundamental for the future maintenance of this reserve: two within the Iberian Central System (Gredos Mountains and Ayllón Mountains) and one in the Iberian System (Urbión Mountains). The proposed approach can be implemented in any protected area to examine its capacity to represent in the future the environmental conditions for which it was created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was initiated with the objective of examining the determinants of households' willingness to pay (WTP) for soil conservation practice on communal lands and to estimate the aggregate welfare gain of the proposed conservation program in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select the target respondents. A double bounded contingent valuation survey with an open-ended follow-up question was conducted on 245 randomly selected rural households. A Bivariate probit model was used. The results show that factors such as the size of total livestock holding, perception, credit, extension contact and farm size near to communal land have a positive and statistically significant effect on households' WTP, while dependency ratio, migration, and initial starting bid have a negative and significant effect. The aggregate benefit was estimated to be 2,262,386.83 labor days (135,743,209.8 Birr) per annum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in natural areas is controversial and more effective policy and management is required. We examine the occurrence and space use by dogs on southern Australian sandy beaches in different dog-leashing zones. We observed the people and dogs, and compliance with regulations. GPS loggers determined the space use by dogs (n = 161). Existing dog-leashing zones had no influence on the space use by dogs, and this related to poor compliance with dog-leashing rules (69.7% of 188 dogs observed at "on-leash" beaches were "off-leash"). Dogs moved up to 33 km, at maximum speeds of up to 19 km h−1, during beach visits. Larger dogs occupied slightly more space. Overall, off-leash dogs were frequent regardless of prevailing dog-leashing regulations and these did not constrain the space use by dogs. Current regulations appear ineffective, and alternatives such as "no-dog" zones to replace "leash-only" zones warrant investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transfer of development rights (TDR) programs are widely-used market-based tools for growth management efforts that seek to protect farmland, natural areas, and other open spaces threatened by development pressure. Yet, little is known about why local governments adopt, or do not adopt TDR. This study uses descriptive analysis and logistic regression modeling to identify local factors associated with the adoption of TDR by Florida counties from the 1970s to the 2010s. We find that counties that adopt TDR tend to be larger in size, with higher agricultural product sales, and voter-supported land conservation ballot measures. TDR adoption is also associated with home rule authority and a greater percentage of Republican voters, suggesting that market-based mechanisms are linked to both local ability to adopt innovative planning strategies, and to political conservatism. Overall, TDR appears to be a tool that developed counties use to rationalize growth across large areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to collaborate and to share information about ecosystem dynamics and successful management practices is increasingly important in terms of addressing the constant changes and uncertainties that prevent the formulation of activities that promote natural resource sustainability. This is particularly true in very recent institutions of natural resource management that have very few sources of traditional knowledge, e.g., the Calakmul municipality. The southern Mexican municipality of Calakmul was established relatively recently and is a biodiversity hotspot, although 46% of its human population live in extreme poverty. To address the challenges implied by this social-ecological system, successful collaboration between stakeholders requires development of capacities to make joint decisions. Social networks have been identified as channels of transmission of knowledge, which is vital to achieve solutions to management problems. The aim of this paper is to identify the different types of organizations with a stake in the natural resource management of Calakmul municipality and to evaluate the network structure of the inter-organizational collaboration in order to understand how adaptive co-management is either being facilitated or obstructed. The structural characteristics of the Calakmul collaboration networks, such as heterogeneity of knowledge sources, can bring some advantages, but they mainly confer disadvantages because of the low interaction density between organizations and the low capability for achieving collaborative action. The example of Calakmul demonstrates how social network structure can influence the number of opportunities for collective learning and indicates how these could be modified in order to improve adaptive co-management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape integrity data-sets represent a measure of a landscape's naturalness, or its inverse, the level of human modification. Generally referred to as human footprint modeling, a hybrid approach was developed here by incorporating distance, density, and spatially explicit fuzzy logic methods for quantifying the impacts of anthropocentric infrastructure on the landscape. Integrity scores varied markedly across this large and heterogeneous landscape. A comparative analysis among peer data products revealed that this model exhibited the highest level of correlation when compared to an independently derived expert survey of expected scores. Moreover, differences in correlation were found to be statistically significant in two cases indicating robust model performance. Data products such as these may be leveraged to quantify the nature and extent of human modifications on the landscape, identify highly natural areas for conservation purposes, and may serve as an overarching umbrella for guiding and coordinating large and local-scale planning efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A supportive attitude of residents towards protected areas is crucial for successful implementation and management, particularly in densely populated regions such as Central Europe. While previous studies have revealed that emotional and cultural drivers, as well as information level and group membership, can influence attitudes towards protected areas, the effect of place-attachment dimensions remains unclear. A postal survey among local residents (N = 460) explored factors influencing attitudes towards the Lungau (-Nockberge) Biosphere Reserve in Austria before its official recognition. Results indicated societal support throughout all socio-demographic strata. A logistic regression showed that, besides socio-demographics and information level, place attachment had a significant influence on the acceptance of the biosphere reserve. Supporters and opponents showed both high place identity and dependence, while waverers scored low on these dimensions. Results indicate that place attachment is relevant for the design of participatory processes as well as for developing management policies for biosphere reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction with nature has a range of significant health, ecological and economic benefits and a number of governments are implementing policies to increase humans’ engagement with nature. Using a large nationally representative survey sample in Australia, this study provides a detailed comment on the feasibility of such a policy, as well as contributing to an understanding of the characteristics of individuals who engaged in one or more of five dimensions of nature interaction, namely: nature engagement; conservation participation; nature advocacy; environmentally friendly purchasing and future engagement with nature conservation. The results indicate that age, income, education, marital status and household structure are all important influences on various types of nature engagement. It is suggested that increasing opportunities for young people to interact with nature is important, as well as supporting older people's involvement in conservation, plus focusing on the need to target and direct various policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite the increasing number of protected areas around the world and their importance in the conservation of species and ecosystems, protected areas management capacity remains difficult to evaluate. A standard is needed to help policy makers compare the goals with the results obtained. This empirical research builds a tool to analyze the management efficiency and predicts the new touristic outcomes in case of a policy change. Using as example the state parks agencies in the USA, this paper develops a technological frontier using data envelopment analysis based on the Protected Areas Management Approach. After that, a prediction of the outcomes is analyzed with a budget change for any state park agency. Data suggest that many of them need to improve their performance to be more efficient. Another result obtained shows how budget changes will affect each agency's performance in different degrees and, therefore, budget reductions should be modeled separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biophysical features of small islands (SI) distinguish them from other territories; isolation, small size and several anthropogenic pressures reduce the resilience of ecosystems and increase their vulnerability to global changes. Many SI have a shortage of infrastructures, institutions and technical/financial resources that hinder planning and require different integrated solutions. In Portugal, the National Ecological Reserve (NER) is legally binding for spatial planning instruments. It aims to defend natural values and areas of ecological value, or sensibility, or susceptible to natural hazards. However, the criteria for the design of NER are strictly set for mainland territory, not taking into account specific features of small islands. A case study of the Azores Archipelago is used to demonstrate that spatial planning instruments should be adapted to island contexts. Such adaptation will increase the effectiveness of their implementation in relation to the protection of natural resources, stability of biophysical structures and prevention of natural hazards. Observing the main differences between mainland and the Azores Archipelago it is possible to define a methodological transposition of the NER aims and goals into an island context. This approach is an answer to the constraints in effective adaptation of spatial planning instruments for islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sense of place is an important concept for understanding how people construct relations with their surroundings. A thorough analysis of place meanings needs to consider (1) natural and anthropogenic features that are the sources of place formation; (2) scales over which these features occur; (3) the range of potential responses to these features; and (4) functional and emotional forms of place attachment. However, previous approaches to assessing sense of place have not encompassed all these elements. Using case studies of two Tasmanian protected areas, we demonstrate a mixed-method approach that enabled comprehensive assessment of stakeholders’ senses of place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]