Developing a National Tiger Action Plan for the Union of Myanmar

A century ago, tigers were considered pests in Myanmar. Hunters claimed thousands, yet populations persisted. In the past century, because of habitat loss and prey depletion, coupled with the recent demand for traditional medicines, tiger populations have been reduced to a few hundred individuals. As a first step toward long-term planning for tigers, and to guide efforts to increase protected area coverage, the Myanmar government in 1998 initiated a project to develop a revised National Tiger Action Plan. Extensive surveys confirmed tigers in only 4 of 17 survey locations. Significant populations are thought to persist in the far North and far South of the country, where large, intact forests offer the potential for tiger recovery. With partnerships and collaborations, tiger populations can be protected in the short term (<5 years) by expanding protected areas and corridors, mobilizing enforcement staff to reduce poaching of tigers and prey, and amending existing wildlife legislation in accordance with international laws. Over the long term (5–20 years), recovery of Myanmar’s tiger populations will depend on increasing support from local people, zoning tiger areas to reduce habitat loss and disturbance, and maintaining connectivity of existing national and transboundary forests. This article reviews the development of a new National Tiger Action Plan for the Union of Myanmar and discusses a blueprint for conservation measures aimed at saving tigers from extinction.     

Habitat evaluation of wild Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) and conservation priority setting in north-eastern China

The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is one of the world’s most endangered species. Recently, habitat fragmentation, food scarcity and human hunting have drastically reduced the population size and distribution areas of Amur tigers in the wild, leaving them on the verge of extinction. Presently, they are only found in the north-eastern part of China. In this study, we developed a reference framework using methods and technologies of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS), GAP analysis and Natural Break (Jenks) classification to evaluate the habitat and to set the conservation priorities for Amur tigers in eastern areas of Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces of northeast China. We proposed a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) incorporating 7 factors covering natural conditions and human disturbance. Based on the HSI values, the suitability was classified into five levels from the most to not suitable. Finally, according to results of GAP analysis, we identified six conservation priorities and designed a conservation landscape incorporating four new nature reserves, enlarging two existing ones, and creating four linkages for Amur tigers in northeast China. The case study showed that the core habitats (the most suitable and highly suitable habitats) identified for Amur tigers covered 35,547 km², accounting for approximately 26.71% of the total study area (1,33,093 km²). However, existing nature reserves protected only (7124 km² or) 20.04% of the identified core habitats. Thus, enlargement of current reserves is necessary and urgent for the tiger’s conservation and restoration. Moreover, the establishment of wildlife corridors linking core habitats will provide an efficient reserve network for tiger conservation to maintain the evolutionary potential of Amur tigers facing environmental changes.     

Trends of Forest Dynamics in Tiger Landscapes Across Asia

Protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of biodiversity conservation, but small parks alone cannot support wide-ranging species, such as the tiger. Hence, forest dynamics in the surrounding landscapes of PAs are also important to tiger conservation. Tiger landscapes often support considerable human population in proximity of the PA, sometimes within the core itself, and thus are subject to various land use activities (such as agricultural expansion and road development) driving habitat loss and fragmentation. We synthesize information from 27 journal articles in 24 tiger landscapes to assess forest-cover dynamics in tiger-range countries. Although 29% of the PAs considered in this study have negligible change in overall forest cover, approximately 71% are undergoing deforestation and fragmentation. Approximately 58% of the total case studies have human settlements within the core area. Most changes—including agricultural expansion, plantation, and farming (52%), fuelwood and fodder collection (43%), logging (38%), grazing (38%), and tourism and development (10%)—can be attributed to human impacts largely linked to the nature of the management regime. This study highlights the need for incorporating new perspectives, ideas, and lessons learned locally and across borders into management plans to ensure tiger conservation in landscapes dominated by human activities. Given the increasing isolation of most parks due to agricultural, infrastructural, and commercial developments at the periphery, it is imperative to conduct planning and evaluation at the landscape level, as well as incorporate multiple actors and institutions in planning, instead of focusing solely on conservation within the PAs as is currently the case in most tiger parks.     

Understanding the Local Socio-political Processes Affecting Conservation Management Outcomes in Corbett Tiger Reserve,India

Several measures have been recommended to guarantee a sustainable population of tigers: sufficient inviolate spaces for a viable population, sufficient prey populations, trained and skilled manpower to guard against poaching and intrusion, banning trade in tiger products to reduce poaching, and importantly, the political will to precipitate these recommendations into implementation. Of these, the creation of sufficient inviolate spaces (generally in the form of protected areas) has created the most issues with local resource-dependent communities, often resulting in significant challenges for tiger conservation policy and management. Very little empirical research has, however, been done to understand and contextualize the local-level socio-political interactions that may influence the efficacy of tiger conservation in India. In this paper, we present the results of exploratory research into the ways in which local-stakeholder groups affect the management of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR). Using a combined grounded theory–case study research design, and the Institutional Analysis and Development framework for analysis, we identify the socio-political processes through which local-stakeholder groups are able to articulate their issues and elicit desirable actions from the management of CTR. Increasing our awareness of these processes can help inform the design and implementation of more effective tiger conservation management and policy strategies that have the potential to create more supportive coalitions of tiger conservation stakeholders at the local level.     

Transforming the Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) Approach: Observations from the Ranomafana National Park Project, Madagascar

Preservation of the biological diversity and ecosystems in protected areas can be achieved through projects linking conservation of the protected areas with improved standards of living for resident peoples within surrounding buffer zones. This is the hypothetical claim of the integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) approach to protected area management. This paper, based on several years of experience with the Ranomafana National Park Project in Madagascar, questions the major assumptions of this approach from ethical and practical perspectives. The four basic strategies available to ICDPs – protected areas, buffer zones, compensation, and economic development – are analyzed and shown to be deficient or untested in the case of Ranomafana. Recommendations are made to explore conservation models other than the western conception of the national park, to modify the notion of a buffer zone outside the protected area, to redistribute money or other resources directly to the poor people living in and around the protected areas, and to eliminate the middle men in the development business. An appeal is made to focus on local education, organization and discipline in order to promote self-determination and self-reliance among resident peoples of protected areas. The paper argues that a public works program, similar to the Roosevelt administration's Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, funded through a hard-currency endowment or other innovative financing mechanism, should be tried as a replacement for the currently questionable ICDP approach at Ranomafana.     

Implications of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Buffer Zone of a National Park in the Tropical Andes

The impacts of land use and land cover (LULC) change in buffer zones surrounding protected ecological reserves have important implications for the management and conservation of these protected areas. This study examines the spatial and temporal patterns of LULC change along the boundary of Rio Abiseo National Park in the Northern Peruvian Andes. Landscape change within four ecological zones was evaluated based on trends expected to occur between 1987 and 2001. Landsat TM and ETM imagery were used to produce LULC classification maps for both years using a hybrid supervised/unsupervised approach. LULC changes were measured using landscape metrics and from-to change maps created by post-classification change detection. Contrary to expectations, tropical upper wet montane forest increased despite being threatened by human-induced fires and cattle grazing of the highland grasslands inside the park. Within the park’s buffer zone, tropical moist forest remnants were fragmented into more numerous and smaller patches between 1987 and 2001; this was in part due to conversion into agricultural land. The methods used in this study provide an effective way to monitor LULC change detection and support the management of protected areas and their surrounding environments.     

Conflicting Frames about Ownership and Land Use Drive Wildfire Ignitions in a Protected Conservation Area

The creation of protected conservation areas may result in protracted conflicts between stakeholders. In this study we examine the drivers of anthropogenic wildfire ignitions in the National Park of “los Alerces” (NPA) in Patagonia, Argentina. The NPA was established in 1937 to protect the native “andino-patagónico” forests from wildfires as well as preserving its scenic beauty and native flora and fauna. At the time of its creation state authorities prohibited all extractive human activities in the “intangible”—fully protected—“National Park” section, while other regulated extractive and ecotourism activities were allowed to continue in the “Natural Reserve” section in an effort to accommodate the historical entitlements of the displaced populations of “pobladores” (settlers) that had been living in the NPA for over a century. Here we interviewed the main stakeholder groups—“pobladores”, forest rangers and administrators, ecolodge owners and angler club members—to identify the drivers of wildfire ignitions in the park. Wildfires have been singled out by state authorities as the main threat to the NPA though considerable scientific uncertainty exists regarding their complex ecological effects. This study argues, based on the human and biophysical system data collected, that two conflicting cultural frames exist within the NPA that provide the necessary backdrop for understanding the drivers of wildfire ignitions. In turn, these findings raise puzzling dilemmas for the main theoretical approaches that have been used to inform and design conflict management strategies in protected conservation areas.     

Perceived landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development in the Peak District National Park,England

This study explored the public perceptions of mobile telecommunications development – new landscape elements installed to deliver new technology – in a protected area. It examined: (1) the perceived landscape impacts of such development; (2) the importance attached to the socio-economic value of mobile telecommunications; and (3) the factors underlying the perceived landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development. A postal questionnaire survey was conducted in the Peak District National Park, England with 420 respondents drawn from National Park residents and visitors, urban dwellers and members of environmental organisations. The study suggests that: (1) there was a prevailing antipathy towards the landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development in the National Park; (2) apart from emergency uses, the other socio-economic benefits of mobile telecommunications technology were thought to be relatively unimportant in the National Park; and (3) rather than socio-demographic characteristics, it was respondents' understandings of protected areas' needs for the technology and potential health risks that had significant effects on the perceived landscape impacts. Overall, this study suggests that the significance of National Park landscapes is respected by the public, even when setalongside the convenience of modern technology, which has substantial implications for landscape planning and management in protected areas.     

Chronology of Awareness About US National Park External Threats

The objective of this paper is to raise understanding of the history of protected area external threat awareness in the United States and at World Protected Area Congresses. The earliest concerns about external threats to US national parks began in the late nineteenth century: a potential railroad transgression of Yellowstone National Park in the 1880s. During the early and mid 1930s, George Wright and colleagues focused on outside boundary concerns like of hunting and trapping of furbearers, grazing, logging, disease and hybridization between species. In the 1960s, a worldwide recognition began about the role of outside habitat fragmentation/isolation on nature reserves and human generated stressors crossing their boundaries. The State of the Park Report 1980 added a plethora of threats: oil/gas and geothermal exploration and development, hydropower and reclamation projects, urban encroachment, roads, resorts, and recreational facilities. The early 1980s ushered in political interference with NPS threats abatement efforts as well as Congressional legislative initiatives to support the abatement challenges of the agency. By 1987, the Government Accounting Office issued its first report on National Park Service (NPS) progress in dealing with external threats. Climate change impacts on parks, especially in terms of animals adjusting their temperature and moisture requirements by latitude and altitude, surfaced in the technical literature by the mid-1980s. By 1992, the world parks community stressed the need to integrate protected areas into the surrounding landscape and human community. The importance of the matrix has gradually gained appreciation in the scientific community. This chronology represents one example of national park and protected areas’ institutional history contributing to the breath of modern conservation science.     

The Race for Space: Tracking Land-Cover Transformation in a Socio-ecological Landscape, South Africa

Biosphere Reserves attempt to align existing biodiversity conservation with sustainable resource use, specifically for improving socio-economic circumstances of resident communities. Typically, the Biosphere Reserve model is applied to an established landscape mosaic of existing land uses; these are often socio-ecological systems where strict environmental protection and community livelihoods are in conflict, and environmental degradation frequently accompanies “use”. This raises challenges for successful implementation of the model, as the reality of the existing land-use mosaic undermines the theoretical aspirations of the Biosphere concept. This study focuses on the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve (K2C), South Africa; a socio-ecological landscape where formal conservation is juxtaposed against extensive impoverished rural communities. We focus on land-cover changes of the existing land-use mosaic (1993–2006), specifically selected land-cover classes identified as important for biodiversity conservation and local-level resource utilization. We discuss the implications of transformation for conservation, sustainable resource-use, and K2C’s functioning as a “Biosphere Reserve”. Spatially, changes radiated outward from the settlement expanse, with little regard for the theoretical land-use zonation of the Biosphere Reserve. Settlement growth tracked transport routes, transforming cohesive areas of communal-use rangelands. Given the interdependencies between the settlement population and local environmental resources, the Impacted Vegetation class expanded accordingly, fragmenting the Intact Vegetation class, and merging rangelands. This has serious implications for sustainability of communal harvesting areas, and further transformation of intact habitat. The distribution and magnitude of Intact Vegetation losses raise concerns around connectivity and edge effects, with long-term consequences for ecological integrity of remnant habitat, and K2C’s existing network of protected areas.     

Balancing Conservation and Economic Sustainability: The Future of the Amazon Timber Industry

Logging has been a much maligned feature of frontier development in the Amazon. Most discussions ignore the fact that logging can be part of a renewable, environmentally benign, and broadly equitable economic activity in these remote places. We estimate there to be some 4.5 ± 1.35 billion m³ of commercial timber volume in the Brazilian Amazon today, of which 1.2 billion m³ is currently profitable to harvest, with a total potential stumpage value of $15.4 billion. A successful forest sector in the Brazilian Amazon will integrate timber harvesting on private lands and on unprotected and unsettled government lands with timber concessions on public lands. If a legal, productive, timber industry can be established outside of protected areas, it will deliver environmental benefits in synergy with those provided by the region’s network of protected areas, the latter of which we estimate to have an opportunity cost from lost timber revenues of $2.3 billion over 30 years. Indeed, on all land accessible to harvesting, the timber industry could produce an average of more than 16 million m³ per year over a 30-year harvest cycle—entirely outside of current protected areas—providing $4.8 billion in returns to landowners and generating $1.8 billion in sawnwood sales tax revenue. This level of harvest could be profitably complemented with an additional 10% from logging concessions on National Forests. This advance, however, should be realized only through widespread adoption of reduced impact logging techniques.     

Protected Area Safeguard Tree and Shrub Communities from Degradation and Invasion: A Case Study in Eastern Madagascar

Despite their prevalence in both developed and developing countries, there have been surprisingly few field assessments of the ecological effectiveness of protected areas. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a key protected area in eastern Madagascar, Ranomafana National Park (RNP). We established paired 100 × 4-m vegetation transects (400 m²) within RNP and in remnant forests in the park’s peripheral zone. In each 400-m² plot, all woody stems >1.5 cm in diameter at breast height were measured and identified to species. All species were also identified as native or non-native. We identified utilitarian species within all transects and they were sorted into use category. We calculated plot-level taxonomic biodiversity and functional diversity of utilitarian species; the latter was calculated by clustering the multivariate distances between species based on their utilitarian traits, and all metrics were tested using paired t-tests. Our results showed that there was significantly higher biodiversity inside RNP than in remnant forests and this pattern was consistent across all diversity metrics examined. Forests not located within the park’s boundary had significantly higher non-native species than within RNP. There was no statistically significant difference in functional diversity of utilitarian species inside RNP vs. remnant forests; however, the overall trend was toward higher diversity inside park boundaries. These findings suggested that RNP has been effective at maintaining taxonomic diversity relative to surrounding unprotected areas and restricting the spread of non-native plants. The results also suggested that low functional redundancy of forests outside of RNP might be of concern, because residents in surrounding villages may have few other substitutes for the services provided by species that are of critical importance to their livelihoods. This study highlights the challenges of trying to reconcile biodiversity conservation with human use of natural resources in economically poor, remote areas.     

Local attitudes on protected areas: Evidence from three Natura 2000 wetland sites in Greece

Environmental policies aimed at the conservation of protected areas are significantly influenced by social factors revealing the importance of investigating local knowledge and perceptions during their planning and implementation. The present article aims to explore perceptions and awareness of citizens in three protected areas of Greece: The National Park of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the Wetland of Kalloni, and Lake Tavropou. The survey explores perceptions of individuals on environmental issues and alternative management scenarios referring to management actors, funding sources, and management schemes for the conservation of biodiversity. Differences between the three research areas are also explored. According to the results of the study, citizens are in general supportive of protected areas and present relatively high levels of knowledge of environmental issues. However, environmental awareness is not accompanied by active participation for the resolution of environmental problems. By exploring differences between the three research areas, it is revealed that the provision of information significantly influences individuals’ perceptions on relevant issues. Also, a significant finding of the study is that citizens are supportive of some forms of participatory management. It is essential, to encourage public participation and deliberation in order to promote their sustainable management.     

Assessing landscape dynamics in a protected area

This article describes an approach to assessing spatial and temporal land-use and land-cover changes in and adjacent to protected areas and to the measurement of landscape stability within a protected area. Methods employed include aerial photographic interpretation and GIS technology. Odum's four-compartment ecosystem model provides the conceptual framework for assessing landscape stability. The study area is a selected sample of the Upper San Pedro National Riparian Conservation Area in the high desert grassland of southeastern Arizona. Significant changes were observed in the landscape matrix and riparian ecosystem. However, when these changes were assessed in the context of Odum's model, the change was nonsignificant. Implications of the approach and potential applications in protected area management are discussed.     

Constructing land-use maps of the Netherlands in 2030

The National Environmental Assessment Agency of the RIVM in the Netherlands is obliged to report on future trends in the environment and nature every 4 years. The last report, Nature Outlook 2, evaluated the effects of four alternative socio-economic and demographic scenarios on nature and the landscape. Spatially detailed land-use maps are needed to assess effects on nature and landscape. The objective of the study presented here was how to create spatially detailed land-use maps of the Netherlands in 2030 using the Environment Explorer, a Cellular Automata-based land-use model to construct land-use maps from four scenarios. One of these is discussed in great detail to show how the maps were constructed from the various scenario elements, story lines and additional data and assumptions on national, regional and local land-use developments. It was the first time in the history of our outlooks that consistent, spatially detailed land-use maps of the Netherlands for 2030 were constructed from national economic and demographic scenarios. Each map represents a direct reflection of model input and assumptions. The maps do not show the most probable developments in the Netherlands but describe the possible change in land use if Dutch society were to develop according to one of the four scenarios. The large (societal) uncertainties are reflected in the total set of future land-use maps. The application of a land-use model such as the Environment Explorer ensures that all relevant aspects of a scenario, i.e. economic and demographic developments, zoning policies and urban growth, are integrated systematically into one consistent framework.     

A spatial exploration of informal trail networks within Great Falls Park, VA

Informal (visitor-created) trails represent a threat to the natural resources of protected natural areas around the globe. These trails can remove vegetation, displace wildlife, alter hydrology, alter habitat, spread invasive species, and fragment landscapes. This study examines informal and formal trails within Great Falls Park, VA, a sub-unit of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, managed by the U.S. National Park Service. This study sought to answer three specific questions: 1) Are the physical characteristics and topographic alignments of informal trails significantly different from formal trails, 2) Can landscape fragmentation metrics be used to summarize the relative impacts of formal and informal trail networks on a protected natural area? and 3) What can we learn from examining the spatial distribution of the informal trails within protected natural areas?     

Using a Down-Scaled Bioclimate Envelope Model to Determine Long-Term Temporal Connectivity of Garry oak (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Quercus garryana</Emphasis>) Habitat in Western North America: Implications for Protected Area Planning

Under the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA), Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystems are listed as “at-risk” and act as an umbrella for over one hundred species that are endangered to some degree. Understanding Garry oak responses to future climate scenarios at scales relevant to protected area managers is essential to effectively manage existing protected area networks and to guide the selection of temporally connected migration corridors, additional protected areas, and to maintain Garry oak populations over the next century. We present Garry oak distribution scenarios using two random forest models calibrated with down-scaled bioclimatic data for British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon based on 1961–1990 climate normals. The suitability models are calibrated using either both precipitation and temperature variables or using only temperature variables. We compare suitability predictions from four General Circulation Models (GCMs) and present CGCM2 model results under two emissions scenarios. For each GCM and emissions scenario we apply the two Garry oak suitability models and use the suitability models to determine the extent and temporal connectivity of climatically suitable Garry oak habitat within protected areas from 2010 to 2099. The suitability models indicate that while 164 km² of the total protected area network in the region (47,990 km²) contains recorded Garry oak presence, 1635 and 1680 km² of climatically suitable Garry oak habitat is currently under some form of protection. Of this suitable protected area, only between 6.6 and 7.3% will be “temporally connected” between 2010 and 2099 based on the CGCM2 model. These results highlight the need for public and private protected area organizations to work cooperatively in the development of corridors to maintain temporal connectivity in climatically suitable areas for the future of Garry oak ecosystems.     

Effects of Increasing Urbanization on the Ecological Integrity of Open Space Preserves

This article analyzes the effects of increasing urbanization on open space preserves within the metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Time series analysis is used in 10-year increments over 40 years to study urban landscape change. Three landscape metrics—(1) matrix utility (measures intensity of adjacent land uses), (2) isolation (measures distances to other open space patches), and (3) connectivity (measures physical links to other open space patches and corridors)—are used to assess changes in landscape patterns and serve as indicators of urban ecological integrity of the open space preserves. Results show that in the case of both open space preserves, general decline in indicators of urban ecological integrity was evident. The matrix utility analysis demonstrated that increasing intensity of land uses adjacent to preserve is likely to increase edge effects, reducing the habitat value of interior or core habitat areas. Isolation analysis showed that both preserves have experienced increasing isolation from other open space elements over time. Also, connectivity analysis indicated that terrestrial connections to other open space elements have also deteriorated. Conclusions of this research demonstrate that while preservation of natural areas as open space is important in an urban context, intense development of surrounding areas reduces the urban ecological integrity significantly.     

The Fate of Priority Areas for Conservation in Protected Areas: A Fine-Scale Markov Chain Approach

Park managers in alpine areas must deal with the increase in forest coverage that has been observed in most European mountain areas, where traditional farming and agricultural practices have been abandoned. The aim of this study is to develop a fine-scale model of a broad area to support the managers of Paneveggio Nature Park (Italy) in conservation planning by focusing on the fate of priority areas for conservation in the next 50–100 years. GIS analyses were performed to assess the afforestation dynamic over time using two historical maps (from 1859 and 1936) and a series of aerial photographs and ortho-photos (taken from 1954 to 2006) covering a time span of 150 years. The results show an increase in the forest surface area of about 35%. Additionally, the forest became progressively more compact and less fragmented, with a consequent loss of ecotones and open habitats that are important for biodiversity. Markov chain-cellular automata models were used to project future changes, evaluating the effects on a habitat scale. Simulations show that some habitats defined as priority by the EU Habitat Directive will be compromised by the forest expansion by 2050 and suffer a consistent loss by 2100. This protocol, applied to other areas, can be used for designing long-term management measures with a focus on habitats where conservation status is at risk.     

Habitat Fragmentation in Arid Zones: A Case Study of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Linaria nigricans</Emphasis> Under Land Use Changes (SE Spain)

Habitat fragmentation due to human activities is one of the most important causes of biodiversity loss. In Mediterranean areas the species have co-evolved with traditional farming, which has recently been replaced for more severe and aggressive practices. We use a methodological approach that enables the evaluation of the impact that agriculture and land use changes have for the conservation of sensitive species. As model species, we selected Linaria nigricans, a critically endangered plant from arid and semiarid ecosystems in south-eastern Spain. A chronosequence of the evolution of the suitable habitat for the species over more than 50 years has been reconstructed and several geometrical fragmentation indices have been calculated. A new index called fragmentation cadence (FC) is proposed to quantify the historical evolution of habitat fragmentation regardless of the habitat size. The application of this index has provided objective forecasting of the changes of each remnant population of L. nigricans. The results indicate that greenhouses and construction activities (mainly for tourist purposes) exert a strong impact on the populations of this endangered species. The habitat depletion showed peaks that constitute the destruction of 85% of the initial area in only 20 years for some populations of L. nigricans. According to the forecast established by the model, a rapid extinction could take place and some populations may disappear as early as the year 2030. Fragmentation-cadence analysis can help identify population units of primary concern for its conservation, by means of the adoption of improved management and regulatory measures.