How Should We Manage and Sustain Parks and Nature Reserves?

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More than 1,100 major National Parks located throughout 120 countries.

Too small to substain large animal species.Invasion from nonnative species that reduce

populations of native species and worsen ecological disruption.

National Parks Face Many Threats!

Parks possess the greatest biodiversity of all parks.

Sadly, only about one percent of these parklands are protected.

Park services with little money and few personnel lead to illegal activities like poaching, logging and mining.

Developing Countries

Stresses on US Public ParksUS national Park System includes 58 major

national parks.Popularity is one of the biggest problems.(Not

from 1960-2007 where visitors more than tripled.)

Unpleasant nuisances during summers like long backups, unpleasant noises, congestion, eroded trails , stress, and machinery like dirt bikes and dune buggies have led to a decline of popularity in many Parks.

Case Study Pg 234

Migration and Introduction of nonnative species also damage parks.

Examples- European Wild Boars introduced for hunting in 1912 threaten the vegetation in Parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Non Native Mountain Goats in Washington State’s Olympic National Park speed up soil erosion and trample native vegetation.

Case Study continued.

Only 12% of earth’s land area is protected strictly or partially in nature reserves, parks, wildlife refuges, wilderness and other areas

The 12% is very misleading because only about 5 % is strictly protected from harmful human activities.

That means that 95% of the earth’s land is for human use.

Nature Reserves Occupation

Solutions(National Parks)Integrate plans for managing parks and nearby federal

lands.Add new parkland near threatened parks.Buy private land inside parks.Locate visitor parking outside parks and provide shuttle

buses for people touring heavily used parks.Increase federal funds for park maintenance and repairs.Seek private donations for park maintenance and repairs.Limit the number of visitors in crowded park areas.Increase the number of park rangers and their pay.Encourage volunteers to give visitor lectures and tours.

Large reserves substain more species and provide greater habitat diversity.

They also minimize exposure to natural disturbances like fires, hurricanes, invading species and human disturbances.

“Buffer zone” concept use to design and manage nature reserves

Designing and Connecting Nature Reserves

Super Power of diversityEstimated 500,000 plant and animal speciesGovernment has played a substantial role in

the reduction of deforestation by paying land owners to maintain or restore tree coverage. Between 2007-08 they also planted nearly 14 million trees to help preserve the country’s biodiversity.

Costa Rica: A Global Conservation Leader

Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=kHhspf5IfdE

Protecting Wilderness and Preserving Biodiversity