Review What tends to be the difference between GOs and NGOs when it comes to: Media? Speed of response? Political and diplomatic restraints? Enforceability of their ideals?

Protected areas

Learning outcomes You should all be able to: State the criteria used to design a protected area. Most of you should be able to: Design your own protected area and annotate it. Some of you might be able to: Explain the criteria used to design a protected area.

Group activity What do you think a protected area is? Brainstorm what factors you think need to be taken into account when designing a protected area. Write down your ideas on the piece of paper provided.

IUCN definition of a protected area “An area of land 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”

Things to think about… Area One of the great debates in reserve design is known as SLOSS (single large or several small) Is it better to have one large reserve (10,000ha) or several smaller ones (four at 2,500ha)?

Edge effects At the edge of a protected area there is a change in the abiotic factors (e.g. more wind, warmer, less humid compared to the interior). These will attract other species and may attract exotic species. Things to think about…

Shape Circle is the best shape because it has the lowest edge effects. Tends to be determined by what is available. Things to think about…

Corridors Benefits include: – Gene flow – emigration and immigration – Seasonal movement – Reduces collisions between cars and animals – Reducing roads which act as barriers Disadvantages include: – Invasion of exotic pests or diseases – Poachers can easily move from one reserve to another could become barriers to some species – Could have increased edge effects Things to think about…

Buffer zone Areas around conservation areas. They contain habitats that may be managed or undisturbed. Minimize disturbance from outside like people, agriculture or invasion Things to think about…

Large is preferable to small because more habitats and species are included and populations are bigger, ideal for large mammals. There is less edge effect. One large is preferable to several small because populations are bigger. There is less edge effect. Close better than isolated; easier to disperse among patches, allows easier recolonization in case local parch loses all individuals Clumped better than in a row, shorter distance to other reserves. Corridors are preferable to not connected, facilitates migration Round better than any other shape because there is less edge effect. Poaching is reduced. BetterWorse Designing a protected area

Have a go… Read through the information on your sheet Use your information sheet to answer the questions Create your own protected area using the paper provided and annotate it to explain your ideas.

Review of outcomes State criteria used to design a protected area. Explain why the different criteria are used to design protected areas.

Activity 1.Find a local example of a successful conservation area and write a factsheet about it. Include pictures to make it look nice. 2.Evaluate how successful it has been: – Community support – Adequate funding – Proper research

Useful websites… The following websites have a lot of useful information about the reserves and protected areas in Mexico: sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/man-and-biosphere- programme/ sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/man-and-biosphere- programme/ naturales-protegidas-de-mexico naturales-protegidas-de-mexico tedMexico.html tedMexico.html