Evolución en la selección de áreas protegidas en el continente americano: el caso de Estados Unidos, México y Costa Rica

Abstract

Las áreas protegidas juegan un papel central en la conservación, por lo que es importante conocer cómo los criterios para su selección y establecimiento se han modificado a través del tiempo. Se presentan los estudios de caso de tres países de América, EUA, México y Costa Rica, analizando tres momentos de su historia, desde el establecimiento de las primeras Áreas Naturales, seleccionadas por características cualitativas, hasta la consolidación de metodologías sistemáticas actuales.

Human Communities in Protected Natural Areas and Biodiversity Conservation

“…However, in the United States, federal action on the conservation of forest resources and wildlife did not properly begin until 1872 with the creation of Yellowstone National Park [47,48]. In the same decade, "Desierto de los Leones" was the first Mexican protected area, created in 1876 with the purpose of protecting the springs that supplied water to Mexico City, and decreed in 1917 as a national park [49]. These parks were the first of their kind in North America and set a precedent for preservation of biodiversity and cultural history (Figure 1).…”

“…The creation of the protected area by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 was a great success for early conservation initiatives and influenced global growth of national parks. As was the case in many national parks, poaching and illegal logging plagued Yellowstone from the 1880s to 1890s, until Congress passed tougher protective measures [48,49].…”