In:
Journal of Applied Ecology, Wiley, Vol. 56, No. 3 ( 2019-03), p. 537-546
Abstract:
Biodiversity conservation relies heavily on protected areas ( PA s). However, in locations that are desirable for agriculture, industry, or human habitation (e.g., lowland habitats on fertile soils, coastal zones), land is often privately owned and state‐owned PA s tend to be under‐represented. Despite the potentially disproportionate contribution that privately protected areas ( PPA s) could make to representing biodiversity and supporting its persistence across regional PA estates, this contribution is poorly understood. We assessed the capacity of PPA s to contribute to the persistence of 38 large‐ and medium‐sized mammals in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa, based on a previously published conservation plan that used species population requirements to identify areas of importance for mammal conservation. We hypothesized that, relative to state‐owned PA s, PPA s would be disproportionately located in areas important to the regional persistence of the mammal assemblage, given: (a) historic biases in the distribution of private‐ and state‐owned land across high and low productivity landscapes, respectively; (b) private landholders’ recent focus on wildlife‐orientated enterprises; and (c) the conservation trade‐offs influencing expansions of the state‐owned PA estate. As a result of the high numbers of PPA s and their bias towards areas of importance for mammal conservation, the potential mammal species diversity and richness that could persist within a PA increased more rapidly with PA size on PPA s than on state‐owned PA s. These PPA s therefore have the potential to significantly increase both the regional‐scale diversity of protected mammals and the number of viable populations. Furthermore, PPA s could make the greatest absolute contribution to the conservation of protected species when adjoining, and thus expanding, state‐owned PA s (i.e., mixed‐ownership PA s). Regional conservation targets for a quarter of the species were only met due to the inclusion of private‐ and/or mixed‐ownership PA s in the estate. Policy implications . Our findings show that privately protected areas ( PPA s) could play a substantial role in the long‐term conservation of terrestrial megafauna within a multi‐tenure protected area ( PA ) estate, due to their prevalence in high‐productivity landscapes. The significant gains from augmenting state‐owned PA s with PPA s emphasize the value of systematic conservation planning and implementation across tenure types.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0021-8901
,
1365-2664
DOI:
10.1111/jpe.2019.56.issue-3
DOI:
10.1111/1365-2664.13300
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2019
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2020408-5
detail.hit.zdb_id:
410405-5
SSG:
12
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