17.1: Introduction to the Importance of Protected Areas

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Fig_13.0_Beard-2.jpg — Sea anemones and cold-water corals are among the species that enjoy protection in the 1000 km2 Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area (MPA), South Africa. The MPA is divided into several no-take zones which act as breeding and nursery areas for marine life, as well as zones where harvesting is allowed under certain conditions. Photograph by Andrew Beard, https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewbeard/13268749044, CC BY 2.0.

In light of increasing human populations that need an increasing amount of natural resources each year, safeguarding the region’s biodiversity is a major challenge. One of the best ways to meet this challenge is to designate protected areas—regions where human activities are regulated or, at times, even prohibited by law.

Protecting existing wild populations in their natural ecosystems not only protects ecological communities and interactions, but also natural processes and ecosystem services.

Biodiversity conservation is most effective when we maintain healthy, functioning, and intact ecosystems. Although it is true that many species and populations live outside protected areas, and some wildlife populations (Craigie et al., 2010) and natural communities (Lindsey et al., 2014) are declining even when protected, well-managed protected areas continue to be the most effective method to safeguard biodiversity (Brooks et al., 2009; Ihwagi et al., 2015). Illustrating the point, a global meta-analysis found that wildlife populations are 15% larger and species richness is 11% higher inside protected areas compared to populations directly outside (Gray et al., 2016). Studies have also shown how wildlife in protected areas are more resilient to climate change (Beale et al., 2013a), because habitat loss and fragmentation occur at four times their respective rates outside protected areas relative to inside them (see also Potapov et al., 2017). Consequently, until such a time that we can live more sustainably on unprotected lands, protected areas will remain an important cornerstone in our efforts to protect biodiversity. But how do we know what or where to protect, how much to protect, or how to effectively manage a protected area?