Monitoring Parks Through Remote Sensing: Studies in Nepal and Honduras |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Harini?NagendraEmail author Catherine?Tucker Laura?Carlson Jane?Southworth Mukunda?Karmacharya Birendra?Karna |
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Institution: | (1) Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change (CIPEC), Indiana University, 408 N. Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana, 47408, USA;(2) Department of Geography and the Land Use and Environmental Change Institute (LUECI), University of Florida, 3141 TUR, P. O. Box 117315, Gainesville, Florida 32611-7315, USA;(3) Nepal Forestry Resources and Institutions Research Program, Mukunda Karmacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal |
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Abstract: | The effectiveness of parks as management regimes is hotly contested. Much of the current discussion centered around comparisons of management regimes can be traced to a dearth of cross-site quantitative evaluations. Remote sensing provides a particularly effective tool for this purpose, yet analysis of remotely sensed data requires fieldwork to interpret human activities and the socioeconomic and political contexts that relate to land cover change. This paper examines the effect of establishment of the Celaque National Park, Honduras, and the Royal Chitwan National Park buffer zone, Nepal, on limiting deforestation. In Celaque, the park itself has been largely successful in maintaining forest cover. However, recent changes in land use patterns have led to increasing pressure on the park boundaries, exacerbated by the lack of involvement of local residents. In the Royal Chitwan National Park, in contrast, participatory approaches towards co-management have been implemented over the past decade in the park buffer zone. With significant incomes derived from ecotourism, complete protection of the buffer zone forest has been adopted, leading to significant regrowth of tree cover. However, local decision-making power is limited, and buffer zone management has largely proven successful due to the investment and support provided by international donor agencies. These two case studies demonstrate the utility of remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems analysis in providing a spatiotemporal perspective for assessing management policies. They also demonstrate the importance of fieldwork to provide a nuanced understanding of the socioeconomic and institutional conditions affecting the outcomes of forest management regimes. |
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Keywords: | Protected areas Institutions Land use/land cover change Remote sensing Co-management |
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