Concept of zoning management in protected areas

Abstract

This paper examined the concept of zoning management in protected areas. In the past 25 years, the area of land under legal protection has increased exponentially, particularly in developing countries where biodiversity is greatest. Concurrently, the mission of parks and reserves expanded significantly. By global mandates, protected areas (PAs) now are supposed to do far more than conserve biological diversity. The protected areas are now charged with improving human wellbeing and providing economic benefits across multiple scales (WPC 2003), mitigate conflict and preserve indigenous cultures. These important goals have been widely embraced in principal, but in practice they are far more difficult to achieve. Due to the promises offered by zoning to mitigate development conservation conflicts, many leading nongovernmental conservation organizations (NGOs) advocate zoning processes in protected areas. These organizations cite similar reasons for advocating zoning. While many of these NGOs promote zoning, there are concerns regarding its success. These concerns have resulted in a variety of recommended methodologies and precautionary tales from NGOs to ensure that future zoning projects learn from past experience. Zoning around large nature conservation areas is especially beneficial for vulnerable or valuable habitats on the edges of these areas.