Reflection on protection criteria

 

The strategic choice for selection of species or habitats is the key to preserving biodiversity as we know it now to future generations.

However, there is still an open debate on the most successful and efficient conservation strategy which would lead to the preservation of the most diverse environment: there should be an adequate mix between the protection of variegated habitats and species (WWF 2008).

These are also called species-based approach or environment (coarse-filter) based approach (Hunter 2021).

At a more detailed level, the scientific perspective for adopting certain ecological guidelines indicators which would allow the decision making of one species or habitat with respect to another have been based on:

1. trends in the abundance and distribution of selected species, 
2. change in status of threatened and/or protected species,
3. trends in invasive alien species, and 
4. area of forest, agricultural, fishery and aquaculture ecosystems under sustainable management (Fischer 2011).

However, the selection of these protected areas is not based on solely ecological justifications, it entails a series of variables which must be assessed along it, for example, the current land use by humans, the political interest in the selected zone, the funding of the reserve, the ownership structure, the size and shape of the territory etc. (Hunter 2021).

Finally, it is very important to assess as well the connectivity of such places, maybe via semi-natural ecosystems, in order to make sure that the populations will be able to continue in their basic movements of migration, dispersal of packs, separation from the parents and continuous genetic interchange (Hunter 2021).

The success of certain species or habitats conservation can have both natural or human made pressures (Rodríguez-Rodríguez 2022). The former are made of regular or sporadic catastrophic events such as ray-produced wildfires, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes or floods which can be exacerbated by climate change. The  latter constitute are more widespread and destructive influence, which results from socio-economic interests, such as fishing, farming, logging etc. or simply political will to the conservation policies' effectiveness and their applications (Rodríguez-Rodríguez 2022). 

Another variable of success might be the selection of a flagship species, which would signify the interest of the public, i.e. the primary stakeholder is conservation's success, towards perceived characteristics of a species, such as its defencelessness, its charisma, its rarity etc. (Home 2009).

In order for conservation to be effective, several organizations at the local, national and global level must be aligned in order to create an holistic pathways towards a common objective.

At the local level, it has been proved that the involvement of local communities and Indigenous people in a co-managed governance system with regional or national institutions yields not only to a more equal and profitable protected area but as well to an improved conservation effectiveness (Oldekop 2015). Moreover, the well being of the populations living in such territory is enhanced by the improved ecosystem services and overall physical environments (Dawson 2021).

At the national and international levels, policy makers and academic community must adopt and deepen the research into an adaptive management framework, incorporating monitoring and feedback in order to ensure successful conservation outcomes (Kenward 2011).

References:

WWF International (2008) ‘A road map for a living planet’ 

Hunter, M.L. Jr., J.P. Gibbs and V.D. (2021), Popescu Fundamentals of Conservation Biology, John Wiley & Sons, 4th edition 

Fischer, A., B. Bednar-Friedl, F. Landers, M. Dobrovodská, N. Geamana, K. Skogen and M. Dumortier, (2011), Universal criteria for species conservation priorities? Findings from a survey of public views across Europe, Biological Conservation, 144(3), pp.998–1007.  

Rodríguez-Rodríguez, D. and J. Martínez-Vega, (2022), Effectiveness of protected areas in conserving biodiversity, Cham: Springer, Chapter 3: Protected areas, pp.21–30. 

Home, R., C. Keller, P. Nagel, N. Bauer and M. Hunziker (2009), Selection criteria for flagship species by conservation organizations, Environmental Conservation 36(2), pp.139–48. 

Oldekop, J.A. and G. Holmes (2015), A global assessment of the social and conservation outcomes of protected areas, The Society for Conservation Biology (2015). 

Dawson, N.M., et al, (2021), The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation, Ecology and Society 26(3)

Kenward, R E (2011), Identifying governance strategies that effectively support ecosystem services, resource sustainability, and biodiversity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS (0027-8424), 108 (13), p. 5308.