Parks - IUCN

Editorial
EDITORIAL
KENTON R. MILLER AND LAWRENCE S. HAMILTON
T
HIS SPECIAL issue of Parks contains four case studies that demonstrate
successful use of bioregional planning – an exciting approach with considerable
potential to strengthen our efforts to integrate parks and protected areas into the
larger landscape. The four cases, drawn from Australia, Bhutan, Brazil, and North
America, were chosen to represent the much larger number of efforts underway in
all parts of the globe. We encourage you to study the materials in this issue, discuss
the ideas and methods with your colleagues, and consider ways and means to
incorporate bioregional planning and action into your work plans and budgets.
Challenges facing our Protected Areas in the
21st Century
Roads, human settlements, reservoirs, agricultural expansion, and land degradation
are fragmenting landscapes. Remaining wildlands are being reduced to smaller
patches surrounded by human-dominated land and water use. The science of
Conservation Biology tells us that in these ‘islands,’ as size decreases, the number
of species that can be maintained also decreases. Small areas are more vulnerable
to natural- or human-caused catastrophe or serious disturbance. The edges of
these remaining areas become ever more vulnerable to invasion by exotic and
pest species. Both ecosystem resilience and biodiversity are both seriously
compromised in this process. And, as the distances between the remaining wild
areas increase, the possibilities for species migration and genetic flow drop
dramatically. To a considerable extent these same factors and results apply to the
marine environment as well as to the terrestrial scene.
Human populations are growing. Peoples’ demands for water, food, and living
space are placing ever-greater pressure to domesticate remaining open spaces and
wildlands. By 2050 it is anticipated that over seventy percent of the world’s 10 billion
people will live in urban centres, and be totally dependent upon rural areas for their
basic needs.
The disruption of ecosystems through changes in land and water use and the
introduction of foreign plants and animals are setting the stage for a surge of ‘invasive
species’. The impacts are anticipated to include increases in agricultural, forest,
freshwater, and marine pests and diseases.
Subtler and potentially more powerful will be the impacts of changing climates
and sea level. Even if governments agree to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
sufficiently in coming years, existing accumulations already spell changes in forest,
wetland, savanna, montane, coastal, and coral reef ecosystems. Some species are
expected to adapt by moving to more suitable environments. Others may not find
hospitable habitats or the rate of change may be too fast for viable migration to occur,
especially for plants.
Bioregional planning and management
What strategies can we as protected area professionals employ to anticipate and
manage these and other changes? How can we continue to meet our responsibilities
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