[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/EW-04-10-14-Communities-Protecting-Wildlife.mp3|titles=EW 04-10-14 Communities Protecting Wildlife]
As of 2012, national governments have designated over 177,000 protected areas around the world for the long-term conservation of nature. These areas cover an amazing 12.7% of the earth’s land surface. In fact, over the past 20 years or so, such protected acreage has increased by 48%.
Unquestionably, setting aside these areas is a good thing for the planet’s flora and fauna, but it does not necessarily mean that many of the most threatened or endangered species are being well protected.
A study in the journal BioScience showed that a large percentage of species at risk are not living in protected areas. As a result, what happens outside of protected areas may be more important than what goes on within them. To a great extent, management of these critical habitats falls to the people who live in them and near them.
Recent studies of tigers in Nepal and sand monitor lizards in Australia suggest that areas managed by local communities in collaboration with parks can sometimes do better than parks. Local peoples are often quite tolerant of indigenous species and even understand the complex ecosystems that involve them. For example, the hunting patterns of native dwellers in the Australian Martu desert involve setting seasonal fires to increase their catch of lizards. And it turns out that this is advantageous to overall lizard populations.
National parks and similar conservation areas are an important part of wildlife preservation, but the behavior of local communities is at least as important. In many areas, cooperation between parks and local people is key to preserving threatened and endangered species.
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Web Links
People or Parks: The Human Factor in Protecting Wildlife
Photo, taken on January 13, 2011, courtesy of Pete Markham via Flickr.
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