Effectiveness of natural protected areas to prevent land use and land cover change in Mexico

Abstract

This study evaluated the extent to which natural protected areas (NPAs) in Mexico have been effective for preventing land use/land cover change, considered as a major cause of other degradation processes. We developed an effectiveness index including NPA percentage of transformed areas (agriculture, induced vegetation, forestry plantations, and human settlements) in 2002, the rate and absolute extent of change in these areas (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002), the comparison between rates of change observed inside the NPA and in an equivalent surrounding area, and between the NPA and the state(s) in which it is located. We chose 69 terrestrial federal NPAs, decreed before 1997, that were larger than 1,000 ha, not urban/ reforested with non-native vegetation, not islands and not coastal strips, and estimated the extent of transformed areas using 1993 and 2002 land use/land cover maps. Over 54% of NPAs were effective, and were heterogeneously distributed by management categories: 65% of Biosphere Reserves, 53% of Flora and Fauna Protection Areas, and 45% of National Parks. 23% of NPAs were regarded as weakly effective, and the remaining 23% as non-effective. We recognize the importance of NPAs as a relevant conservation instrument, as half of NPAs analyzed (particularly biosphere reserves) prevented natural vegetation loss compared with their geographic context. Our results suggest that conservation based on NPAs in Mexico still faces significant challenges. Our approach can be expanded for evaluating the effectiveness of NPA in other regions, as land use/land cover maps are now available almost worldwide.

Evolving Protected-Area Impacts in Mexico: Political Shifts as Suggested by Impact Evaluations

“…Blackman et al [7] find no PA effect. Figueroa and Sánchez-Cordero [32] also find limited effect for the 1990s. Low intention or ability to enforce can affect not only PA outcomes given PA sites but also PAs' sites because, without enforcement, there is little reason for locals to push back.…”

Factors that influence the success of conservation programs in communal property areas in Mexico

“…Trying to conserve a site that has material deprivations without considering a poverty-reduction program will definitely lead to conservation failure. Finally, we consider it necessary for the government to recognize the importance of maintaining payment for conservation work or rehabilitation of natural areas with public funds because these places generate environmental services that are generally public and benefit not only local residents but also an entire region (Bray et al 2003;Figueroa and Sánchez-Cordero 2008). In this context, compensating the owners of the land where conservation activities are performed should be a national priority.…”

Anthropization Processes and Protection of the Environment: An Assessment of Land Cover Changes in Sardinia, Italy

“…At the international and national level, policies on environmental protection pursue the maintenance [5,8] or restoration [9] of biodiversity and ecological integrity. Therefore, such policies are formally put into practice through the establishment of protected areas [10].…”

“…Quantitative approaches usually involve mapping land cover changes within the protected areas' boundaries and their surroundings [9,14] or inside protect areas only [10,17]. As claimed by Nagendra [18], studies carried out either within protected areas only or also including their surroundings share similar conclusions in terms of accessibility and attitude towards conversion.…”