State of the World's Protected Areas at the End of the Twentieth Century
Paper presented at lUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Symposium on "Protected Areas in the 21' Century: From Islands to Networks" Albany, Australia, 24-29 November 1997 STATE OF THE WORLDS PROTECTED AREAS AT THE END OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Michael J.B. Green and James Paine World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK 1. INTRODUCTION Protected areas are widely held to be among the most effective means of conserving biological diversity in situ (McNeely and Miller, 1984; MacKinnon et ai, 1986; Leader- Williams et al, 1990). A considerable amount of resources has been invested in their establishment over the last century or more, with the result that most countries have established or, at least, planned national systems of protected areas. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of the world's protected areas globally and regionally and to consider other options for its further strengthening and development during the twenty-first century. 1.1 What is a protected area? A protected area is defined by the lUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (lUCN, 1994) as: An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means. In practice, protected areas are managed for a wide variety of purposes which may include: scientific research, wilderness protection, preservation of species and ecosystems, maintenance of environmental services, protection of specific natural and cultural features, tourism and recreation, education, sustainable use of resources from natural ecosystems, and maintenance of cultural and traditional attributes.
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