Bio Conservation Main Points 11/7/07 Protected Areas o Protect an area that will maintain an intact community o IUCN: World Conservation Union Define Protected Areas: An area of land or sea especially dedicated to protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of natural and associated cultural resources and managed through legal and other effective means Many protected areas have been created since 1964 o Why create reserves? Historic Reasons: Hunting, fishing. Timber Species/habitat protection Rare communities/biodiversity Ecosystem function Carbon banks (climate change) Research o IUCN System of Classification 7 categories 1 a. Strict Nature Reserve: Primarily for research and environmental monitoring b. Wilderness area: maintain wilderness as is, used for recreation 2. National Parks: Protected for recreation, science, and education; for tourist use 3. National Monuments: Natural features protected for their rarity, education and cultural factors 4. Management of Wildlife Sanctuaries: Similar to one but more human interaction 5. Landscapes: Ecological, aesthetic, cultural and value. Accessible to humans. 6. Manage Resource Protected Area: Used for natural resources o Management of wildlife sanctuaries and national monuments compromise the largest number of protected areas, while bigger chunks are devoted to National Park and Management areas o What land is currently protected? 11.5% of total Earth's Surface Only 4% of this is strictly protected Much less is protect in marine areas o What is not protected Marine areas! Only 1% protected o Priorities for Protection: What needs to be protected? Where should we protect? How should it be protected?
o
1. Distinctiveness: Community is composed of rare things, endemics, only species in that genus 2. How much risk is there for extinction? How vulnerable is it? 3. Utility: How useful is it for human activities? Patented value for humans How is land selected for protection? Biological Criteria: Species contained in land, endemics, focal speciesenvironment is very important, flagship species- a lot notoriety, people give money to these causes Hotspots: Contain large numbers of species