Protected areas are favoured sites for ecological research and monitoring and responsible, well-managed research can help to improve management effectiveness and enhance conservation outcomes. Many countries have formalized processes for approving and monitoring research within their protected area systems. There are already a number of codes addressing ethical and social issues with respect to research in protected areas, sacred natural sites and in the traditional territories of indigenous peoples and local communities. However, less attention has been paid at a global scale to the ecological impacts of and access to information from ecological research within protected areas. There are numerous examples of research that is of little value to management or is poorly planned, where the results are not shared with the protected area, and even where research causes significant ecological (and / or social) damage. This paper contains a draft code of practice for those carrying out research in protected areas, which we believe should provide a basis for discussions on minimum standards for academic and other researchers in the future.
State and non-state actors are negotiating a new area-based target for the Convention on Biological Diversity's post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Some terms likely to be referenced are well known ('protected areas') and others newly agreed ('other effective area-based conservation measures', abbreviated to 'OECMs'). Yet one potentially relevant concept in circulation remains undefined, namely: 'conserved areas'. While creative ambiguity has its merits, there may be benefits to reaching agreement on its meaning. Of a range of possible meanings, one in particular inspires us to review how we think about conservation. 'Conserved areas', as a non-legal term for "areas sustaining ecological integrity and/or effective in situ conservation of nature", enables us to focus afresh on the diversity of approaches that contribute to living landscapes and seascapes, including but not limited to effectively managed protected areas and OECMs. Inclusive dialogue about this question may help define area-based targets for 2021-2030 as well as develop a compelling story for the future of conservation.
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