In conservation biology, there is a general consensus that protected areas (PAs) are one of the most effective tools for biodiversity protection. Worldwide, the area of PAs is continually increasing. But is the effectiveness of biodiversity protection improving with it? Since many PAs only exist as "paper parks" (i.e. they exist on maps and in legislation but offer little actual protection), the answer is uncertain. Moreover, it has long been known that, not only an increase in the extent of PAs, but also the efficiency of their management is fundamentally important for effective nature conservation. Therefore, there is a wide-ranging discussion about the actual effectiveness of PAs and factors that influence it.In the course of the EU pre-accession phase, a comprehensive field mapping of natural habitats took place in the Czech Republic in years 2001−2004. The mapping results were used to designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) as part of the Natura 2000 network.In this study, the aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of this newly created system of SACs for protection of biodiversity represented by the mapped natural habitats. The NCEI index (Nature Conservation Effectiveness Index) was applied, calculated as the total area of a particular habitat type in all SACs RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalVilém Pechanec et al. / Nature Conservation 24: 21-41 (2018) 22 in the Czech Republic divided by the total area of that same natural habitat in the entire Czech Republic. Habitat protection in the Czech Republic is focused primarily on the smallest types of rare habitats, many of which are classified as critically endangered. The Czech national system of SACs provides protection to a total of 4,491.68 km 2 of natural habitats. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the overall effectiveness of the SAC system in the Czech Republic, which is specifically aimed at protecting natural habitats, is low (NCEI = 0.36). Nevertheless, the critically endangered habitats receive maximum protection (NCEI = 1).
The analysis of changes in landscape use and the related significance of some natural factors is examined in this paper, using three municipal cadastral areas in Moravia, Czech Republic. The relationships between changes in the use of the rural landscape and natural conditions were analyzed with the use of GIS tools and methods of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The CCA results showed a correlation between the selected natural factors and landscape changes, with the most significant factors being those of slope and altitude. The CCA models exhibited varying reliability in accounting for the extent of landscape changes related to topographical diversity of the territories. Natural conditions were more influential in periods with lower change dynamics and at the same time in areas with higher topographic heterogeneity. Although the results of the statistical analyses confirmed the significance of natural factors, only a part of land use changes could be explained by their influence. Socio-economic factors are apparently the main forces affecting landscape character and change
Abstract. The paper addresses the importance of biophysical factors in land-use change over a period of time of more than 150 years beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century. Biophysical factors define the environmental capacity of a territory and can be viewed as a predisposition for changes in land use. The article investigates the impact of selected biophysical factors on land-use changes in the Trkmanka Watershed in the southeast part of the Czech Republic. The results of a canonical correspondence analysis demonstrated a relationship between selected variables and land-use changes. The most significant variables were slope grade, elevation and soil fertility, while aspect was of limited importance. Extensification processes are conditioned on less favourable environmental circumstances, especially steeper slope grade, higher elevation, less fertile soil and a north-facing slope. Intensive land use is associated with a lower slope grade and elevation, more fertile soils and a more favourable southern exposure. Although the results of the statistical analyses confirmed the importance of environmental factors, they explain only some of the overall land-use changes. It is clear that socioeconomic factors are the main forces influencing the character of land use.
This paper analyses factors affecting arrivals of international tourists into countries denoted as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These destinations are paired to all potential countries of origin for which the data was available in the UNWTO database for at least one year over the studied period 1995-2014. The dynamic panel data regression techniques within the gravity approach scheme are applied to identify the significance and importance of different factors of international tourist arrivals into SIDS. These factors are subsequently compared in terms of their significance and relevance across the three geographic sub-regions of SIDS. The results show that tourism flows into SIDS are highly persistent. They depend on the accessibility of destinations, tourism infrastructure development, political stability, and levels of economic development of destinations as well as countries of origin. Exchange rate, weather, and language and historical (colonial) links also play significant roles. The regional comparison reveals that the significance and importance of these factors among the three subregions vary only modestly.
This paper examines the responsiveness of foreign aid to environmental needs and performance of developing countries using, as an example, the Czech Republic.
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