Stakeholder Management for Conservation Projects: A Case Study of Ream National Park, Cambodia1

The paper gives an account of the development and implementation of a stakeholder management framework at Ream National Park, Cambodia. Firstly, the concept of stakeholder is reviewed in management and in conservation literatures. Secondly, the context in which the stakeholder framework was implemented is described. Thirdly, a five-step methodological framework is suggested: (1) stakeholder analysis, (2) stakeholder mapping, (3) development of generic strategies and workplan, (4) presentation of the workplan to stakeholders, and (5) implementation of the workplan. This framework classifies stakeholders according to their level of influence on the project and their potential for the conservation of natural resources. In a situation characterized by conflicting claims on natural resources, park authorities were able to successfully develop specific strategies for the management of stakeholders. The conclusion discusses the implications of the Ream experience and the generalization of the framework to other protected areas.     

Impacts of recreation and tourism on plant biodiversity and vegetation in protected areas in Australia

This paper reviews recent research into the impact of recreation and tourism in protected areas on plant biodiversity and vegetation communities in Australia. Despite the international significance of the Australian flora and increasing visitation to protected areas there has been limited research on recreational and tourism impacts in Australia. As overseas, there are obvious direct impacts of recreation and tourism such as clearing of vegetation for infrastructure or damage from trampling, horse riding, mountain biking and off road vehicles. As well, there are less obvious but potentially more severe indirect impacts. This includes self-propagating impacts associated with the spread of some weeds from trails and roads. It also includes the severe impact on native vegetation, including many rare and threatened plants, from spread of the root rot fungus Phytopthora cinnamomi. This review highlights the need for more recreational ecology research in Australia.     

三峡库区内陆腹地典型水库型湖泊中DOM吸收光谱特征

溶解性有机质(DOM)是湖泊生态系统重要组成部分,其性质和结构决定了其在污染物(例如汞)环境行为中扮演着重要角色.本研究选取三峡库区内陆腹地典型水库型湖泊——长寿湖,采用吸收光谱表征方法,通过1年时间对DOM地球化学变化规律进行了定性定量分析,并结合汞观测数据,讨论了DOM对不同形态汞浓度的影响.结果表明,和1月相比,长寿湖4~11月DOC差异性低于CDOM,4~11月间差异性不显著.有色组分变化是解释DOM季节性变化的重要原因.DOM中主要生色团仍然来自于大分子量的芳香性组分.而CDOM三波长模型可较好对DOC的年际观测进行反演.同时,SUVA254和S275~295季节性变化特征较明显,1月芳香性和分子量均最小,4月上升.与其他类型湖泊相比,长寿湖水体DOM芳香性和分子量大小均低于森林湖泊,但高于高原湖泊.周边生态系统和土地利用类型对湖泊DOM差异影响明显.另外,SUVA254和DOC与各形态Hg无明显相关性,但水体生色组分和分子量大小是控制溶解态和活性汞的重要因素;而湖区甲基汞变化可能与湖泊初级生产力导致的有机质富集和迁移关系密切.     

淹水条件下三峡库区典型消落带土壤释放DOM的光谱特征:荧光光谱

作为水体DOM的重要来源,消落带土壤淹水释放过程十分重要.本文以三峡库区典型消落带土壤为例,通过模拟正常淹水和厌氧淹水的两种条件,利用荧光光谱,着重定性地分析并讨论了土壤向上覆水体释放DOM的动态特征.结果表明,消落带4个区域土壤淹水后产生的DOM荧光特性,呈现出和可见-紫外光谱相似特征,对上覆水体DOM荧光特征有重要贡献.淹水初期的快速释放及后期去除机制,是水体DOM荧光组分的动态"源-汇"平衡的关键;其中类腐殖峰(A和C)受无机矿物相的吸附-释放影响明显,而类蛋白峰(B和T)受微生物影响较为明显.另外,所有土壤淹水释放后水体DOM均呈现出"内源+外源"的复合特征.除忠县石宝寨(SB)外,整个淹水周期,其余区域土壤在厌氧和正常淹水条件下,水体DOM荧光特征的差异性不明显,这可能和土壤自身组成(例如无机矿物组成和有机组分)的复杂程度有关.结合可见-紫外光谱,两种技术相互补充,证明了土壤释放("源")和去除("汇")机制是控制DOM动态变化的重要因素;而淹水初期的较强芳香性和腐殖化程度,以及较强的陆源特征,无疑有利于进一步解释污染物在淹水过程中的环境行为,为进一步了解DOM的环境角色提供数据基础和实验支撑.     

Drivers of illegal resource extraction: An analysis of Bardia National Park,Nepal

While park-people conflicts have received worldwide attention, the extent of illegal resource extraction and the relationship with communities’ livelihoods has gained little attention in the literature. Thus this paper investigates the impact of socio-economic factors involved in illegal fuel wood and fodder extraction at Bardia National Park in Nepal. Household questionnaires, key-informant interviews and focus groups were conducted to identify different plant species used by households and explore the causes and mode of resource extraction in three buffer zone villages in the park. Altogether 50 different plants were identified by villagers that were used regularly for different livelihood purposes. Almost half of the respondents met their needs by illegally and regularly extracting resources from the park. Incentive schemes in the form of development projects were important but not sufficient in meeting the basic needs of households’ especially for such daily items such as fuel wood and fodder. The results described in this paper showed that proximity and access to resources either in the national park, the buffer zone community forest or the government forest, and impact on the livelihoods significantly influenced the likelihood of illegal resource extraction activities. Villages that differed in terms of their location to the resource base, the provision of alternative resources and influence of these on their livelihoods showed significant differences in terms of their patterns of resource extraction and use of these resources. As resource use options, resource interest, and resource extraction patterns were different between villages and dependent on circumstances specific to villages, site-specific management strategies were necessary and more influential than the enforcement of ‘one-size fits all’ policies. It is suggested that park management plans should be flexible and adaptive enough to meet site-specific contexts and to endear wider support from local communities.     

An interdisciplinary assessment of private conservation areas in the Western United States

Conservation easements are the fastest growing private conservation strategy in the United States. However, mechanisms to assess private land conservation as well as their support by the general public are not well understood. This study uses the ecosystem services framework for assessing existing private lands in Idaho and identifies areas for future conservation easements. Using conservation targets of the land trust as a guide for selecting ecosystem services, we (a) mapped the spatial delivery of conservation targets across public and private lands, (b) explored public awareness in terms of social importance and vulnerability, and (c) mapped future priority areas by characterizing conservation bundles. We found that public lands provided the highest levels of conservation targets, and we found no difference in conservation target provision between private areas and conservation easements. The spatial characterization of conservation target bundles identified potential future priority areas for conservation easements, which can guide planning of land trust conservation efforts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01323-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Neighborhood effects in the Brazilian Amazônia: Protected areas and deforestation

This article investigates whether protected areas are efficient instruments against deforestation in the Brazilian Amazônia. A Dynamic Spatial Durbin Model taking into account both the location bias and the spatial spillover effects between municipalities allows to assess the impact of the different types of protected areas (integral protected areas, sustainable protected areas and indigenous lands) on deforestation. We show that deforestation decisions are strategic complements. The econometric results differ according to the type of protected area. It is shown that: i) integral protected areas and indigenous lands allow for reducing deforestation; ii) sustainable use areas do not help to reduce deforestation; and iii) the spillover effects generated by integral protected areas and indigenous lands lead a reduction in deforestation in their vicinity. A 10% increase in the surface area of integral protected areas (indigenous lands) allows an estimated 9.32 sq. km (10.08 sq. km) of avoided deforestation.     

Incorporating species relocation in reserve design models: An example from Ft. Benning GA

Given the increasing expansion of human dominated landscapes it often becomes necessary to relocate endangered and at-risk species from existing habitat areas. Further, there is growing research stating that climatic and atmospheric changes attributed to climate change are already affecting species distributions and geographic ranges, requiring endangered species to be relocated. Existing reserve design models mostly focus on choosing the optimal land area given existing species distributions and have not incorporated species relocation as a criterion. This paper introduces linear integer programming formulations for the relocation of multiple populations of a species at risk to clustered conservation areas. We present a basic clustered relocation model and extend the model to minimize the distances of relocation. We apply the models to a dataset related to Gopher Tortoise (GT), a keystone species currently considered ‘at risk’, at Ft. Benning Georgia where expanding military training needs require the relocation of GTs. We present the results and discuss the trade-off between compactness and relocation considerations using an efficiency frontier.