Protected areas are necessary for conservation

Abstract

THE WORLD’S FEW REMAINING protected ecosystems are becoming progressively threatened from human exploitation. They are also under threat from a new polemic, namely that protected areas have failed to adequately safeguard native ecologies and biota and are unlikely to do any better in the future. In contrast, it is argued that ecosystems in human-dominated landscapes are stable and have been for a long time; it is there that we must concentrate future conservation efforts even at the expense of protected areas. A recent debate in conservation biology urges society to move away from the protected area paradigm and to focus on altered landscapes outside parks, which are being taken over and modified by humans. While we recognize that new approaches to conservation are needed in a world of burgeoning human numbers, this does not mean that protected areas have no crucial function. The debate surrounding protected areas begs three important questions: First, do protected areas play a role in conservation that is not achieved in human ecosystems? Second, and if so, why are protected areas not achieving their goals and how can this be rectified? And third, how can human-dominated ecosystems contribute to conservation objectives; in particular, can protected areas and human-dominated areas support each other?.