Parks and protected areas management

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has defined parks and protected area management as the management, through legal or other effective means, of an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources. The IUCN has designated six protected area management categories which include; strict nature reserve; wilderness area; national park; natural monument; habitat/species management area; protected landscape/seascape; and managed resource protected area. Purposes for establishing protected areas vary greatly, from tourism and recreation to sustainable use of resources to maintenance of cultural and traditional attributes. In an increasingly explored and developed world, concern for a protected area’s dynamic social, political, and institutional environment is a necessity, and planning efforts must consider many, often-competing, interests and priorities. Community involvement in parks / protected area management is crucial, particularly where there is a potential for local demands on resources to conflict with other area management goals.

Case Studies

Sustainable tourism fuels Dominican economy La Romana-Bayahibe, Dominican Republic | March 24, 2004 Despite devastation wreaked by Hurricaine George in 1998, the Dominican tourism industry has grown dramatically over the past decade. USAID and its partners are helping Dominicans capitalize on this growth. Learn more

Bolivia's eco-certified forest grows

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