IUCN protected area categories

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IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [1] [2]

Contents

The enlisting of such areas is part of a strategy being used toward the conservation of the world's natural environment and biodiversity. The IUCN has developed the protected area management categories system to define, record and classify the wide variety of specific aims and concerns when categorising protected areas and their objectives. Further supplementary guidelines have been developed specific to marine protected areas (MPAs). [3]

This categorisation method is recognised on a global scale by national governments and international bodies such as the United Nations and the Convention on Biological Diversity. [4]

Categories

Category Ia – strict nature reserve

A strict nature reserve (IUCN Category Ia) is an area which is protected from all but light human use in order to protect its biodiversity and also possibly its geological/geomorphical features. [5] These areas are often home to dense native ecosystems where all human disturbance except scientific study, environmental monitoring and education is prohibited. Because these areas are so strictly protected, they provide ideal pristine environments that enable measurement of external human influence by means of comparison with other areas.

In some cases, strict nature reserves are of spiritual significance for surrounding communities and are also protected for this reason. The people engaged in the practice of their faith within the region have the right to continue to do so, providing it aligns with the area's conservation and management objectives.

Human impacts on strict nature reserves are increasingly difficult to prevent because climate and air pollution and newly emerging diseases do not stop at the boundaries of protected areas. If perpetual intervention is required to maintain these strict guidelines, the area will often fall into category IV or V. [6]

Category Ib – wilderness area

The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania is a designated Wilderness Area Serengeti.JPG
The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania is a designated Wilderness Area

A wilderness area (IUCN Category Ib) is similar to a strict nature reserve, but generally larger and protected in a slightly less stringent manner.

These areas are a protected domain in which biodiversity and ecosystem processes (including evolution) are allowed to flourish or experience restoration if previously disturbed by human activity. These are areas which may buffer against the effects of climate change and protect threatened species and ecological communities.

Human visitation is limited to a minimum, often allowing only those who are willing to travel of their own devices (by foot, by ski, or by boat), but this offers a unique opportunity to experience wilderness that has not been interfered with. Wilderness areas can be classified as such only if they are devoid of modern infrastructure, though they allow human activity to the level of sustaining indigenous groups and their cultural and spiritual values within their wilderness-based lifestyles. [8]

Category II – national park

A national park (IUCN Category II) is similar to a wilderness area in its size and its main objective of protecting functioning ecosystems. However, national parks tend to be more lenient with human visitation and its supporting infrastructure. National parks are managed in a way that may contribute to local economies through promoting educational and recreational tourism on a scale that will not reduce the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

The surrounding areas of a national park may be for consumptive or non-consumptive use but should nevertheless act as a barrier for the defence of the protected area's native species and communities to enable them to sustain themselves in the long term. [9]

Category III – natural monument or feature

A natural monument or feature (IUCN Category III) is a comparatively smaller area that is specifically allocated to protect a natural monument and its surrounding habitats. These monuments can be natural in the fullest sense or include elements that have been influenced or introduced by humans. The latter should hold biodiversity associations or could otherwise be classified as a historical or spiritual site, though this distinction can be quite difficult to ascertain.

To be categorised as a natural monument or feature by IUCN's guidelines, the protected area could include natural geological or geomorphological features, culturally-influenced natural features, natural cultural sites, or cultural sites with associated ecology. The classification then falls into two subcategories: those in which the biodiversity is uniquely related to the conditions of the natural feature and those in which the current levels of biodiversity are dependent on the presence of the sacred sites that have created an essentially modified ecosystem.

Natural monuments or features often play a smaller but key ecological role in the operations of broader conservation objectives. They have a high cultural or spiritual value that can be utilised to gain support of conservation challenges by allowing higher visitation or recreational rights, therefore offering an incentive for the preservation of the site. [10]

Category IV – habitat or species management area

The Galapagos, Ecuador, is managed under category IV to preserve the islands' native flora and fauna Galapagos iguana1.jpg
The Galápagos, Ecuador, is managed under category IV to preserve the islands' native flora and fauna

A habitat or species management area (IUCN Category IV) is similar to a natural monument or feature, but focuses on more specific areas of conservation (though size is not necessarily a distinguishing feature), like an identifiable species or habitat that requires continuous protection rather than that of a natural feature. These protected areas will be sufficiently controlled to ensure the maintenance, conservation, and restoration of particular species and habitats—possibly through traditional means—and public education of such areas is widely encouraged as part of the management objectives.

Habitat or species management areas may exist as a fraction of a wider ecosystem or protected area and may require varying levels of active protection. Management measures may include (but are not limited to) the prevention of poaching, creation of artificial habitats, halting natural succession, and supplementary feeding practices. [12]

Category V – protected landscape or seascape

A protected landscape or protected seascape (IUCN Category V) covers an entire body of land or ocean with an explicit natural conservation plan, but usually also accommodates a range of for-profit activities.

The main objective is to safeguard regions that have built up a distinct and valuable ecological, biological, cultural, or scenic character. In contrast with previous categories, Category V permits surrounding communities to interact more with the area, contributing to the area's sustainable management and engaging with its natural and cultural heritage.

Landscapes and seascapes that fall into this category should represent an integral balance between people and nature and can sustain activities such as traditional agricultural and forestry systems on conditions that ensure the continued protection or ecological restoration of the area.

Category V is one of the more flexible classifications of protected areas. As a result, protected landscapes and seascapes may be able to accommodate contemporary developments, such as ecotourism, at the same time as maintaining the historical management practices that may procure the sustainability of agrobiodiversity and aquatic biodiversity.: [13]

Category VI – protected area with sustainable use of natural resources

Satellite image of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia Landsat gbreef.jpg
Satellite image of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia

Though human involvement is a large factor in the management of these protected areas, developments are not intended to allow for widescale industrial production. The IUCN recommends that a proportion of the land mass remain in its natural condition—a decision to be made on a national level, usually with specificity to each protected area. Governance has to be developed to adapt the diverse—and possibly growing—range of interests that arise from the production of sustainable natural resources.

Category VI may be particularly suitable to vast areas that already have a low level of human occupation or in which local communities and their traditional practices have had little permanent impact on the environmental health of the region. This differs from category V in that it is not the result of long-term human interaction that has had a transformative effect on surrounding ecosystems. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected area</span> Areas protected for having ecological or cultural importance

Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources is limited.

This is an index of conservation topics. It is an alphabetical index of articles relating to conservation biology and conservation of the natural environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature reserve</span> Protected area for flora, fauna or features of geological interest

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for purposes of conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. They may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws. Normally it is more strictly protected than a nature park. Various jurisdictions may use other terminology, such as ecological protection area or private protected area in legislation and in official titles of the reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man and the Biosphere Programme</span> UNESCO conservation programme

Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilderness</span> Undisturbed natural environment

Wilderness or wildlands are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally referred to terrestrial environments, though growing attention is being placed on marine wilderness. Recent maps of wilderness suggest it covers roughly one-quarter of Earth's terrestrial surface, but is being rapidly degraded by human activity. Even less wilderness remains in the ocean, with only 13.2% free from intense human activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Gate Biosphere Network</span>

The Golden Gate Biosphere Network is a voluntary coalition of federal, state, and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, and private partners within the Golden Gate Biosphere region. The Network works towards protecting the biosphere region's biodiversity and conserving its natural resources to maintain the quality of life for people within the region. The Network has been part of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme since 1988 and is part of the US Biosphere Network and EuroMAB. It is recognized by UNESCO due to the significant biodiversity of the region, as well as the Network's efforts to demonstrate and promote a balanced relationship between humans and the biosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural monument</span> Natural feature of outstanding or unique value

A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as waterfalls, cliffs, craters, fossil, sand dunes, rock forms, valleys and coral reefs. Locations important to faith groups may be considered natural monuments. Archeological and historical sites linked to the natural environment are also included, such as cave art. This is especially true when relevant to the land of Indigenous Peoples.

A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are preserved in their present ecological state and promoted for ecotourism purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Commission on Protected Areas</span> Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature

The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is one of six commissions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

An intact forest landscape (IFL) is an unbroken natural landscape of a forest ecosystem and its habitat–plant community components, in an extant forest zone. An IFL is a natural environment with no signs of significant human activity or habitat fragmentation, and of sufficient size to contain, support, and maintain the complex of indigenous biodiversity of viable populations of a wide range of genera and species, and their ecological effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable gardening</span>

Sustainable gardening includes the more specific sustainable landscapes, sustainable landscape design, sustainable landscaping, sustainable landscape architecture, resulting in sustainable sites. It comprises a disparate group of horticultural interests that can share the aims and objectives associated with the international post-1980s sustainable development and sustainability programs developed to address that humans are now using natural biophysical resources faster than they can be replenished by nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation photography</span> Photography genre

Conservation photography is the active use of the photographic process and its products, within the parameters of photojournalism, to advocate for conservation outcomes.

The Okomu Forest Reserve is a forest block covering an area of 1081 km2 in Edo State, about 50 km west of Benin City, Nigeria. The Okomu National Park lies within the larger reserve, maintaining a small part of the forests that once covered the region as the last habitat for many endangered species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of Albania</span>

Despite being a relatively small country, Albania is exceedingly rich in biodiversity. Its ecosystems and habitats support over 5,550 species of vascular and non-vascular plants and more than 15,600 species of coniferous and non-coniferous evergreens, most of which are threatened at global and European levels. The country has made recent efforts to expand its network of protected areas which now include: 11 national parks, 1 marine park, 718 nature monuments, 23 managed nature reserves, 11 protected landscapes, 4 World Heritage Sites, 4 Ramsar sites and other protected areas of various categories, that when combined, account for 21.36% of the territory. Furthermore, a biosphere reserve, 45 important plant areas and 16 important bird areas are found in the country.

Indigenous and community conserved areas (ICCAs), or Indigenous peoples’ and community conserved territories and areas, are spaces de facto governed by Indigenous peoples or local communities with evidently positive outcomes for the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. In ICCAs, the continuation, revival, or modification of traditional practices and/or new initiatives succeed in protecting and restoring natural resources and cultural values in the face of new threats or opportunities. Some ICCAs are situated in remote ecosystems that have had minimum human influence, while others encompass areas of various regulations and magnitudes within regions strongly affected or modified by human occupation. ICCAs may or may not fit the IUCN definition of “protected area” but, when they do, they can fall into any IUCN protected area categories.

Categories of Natural Environment Protected Areas of Ukraine were reestablished (redefined) by the Verkhovna Rada after the fall of the Soviet Union. On 16 June 1992 the President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk signed the law on the Nature-Preservation Fund of Ukraine. The law redefined already the established system of environment protection management for Ukraine as a fully sovereign and independent country. National Parks in Ukraine and other protected areas of Ukraine include Ramsar sites in Ukraine, biosphere reserves of Ukraine, National Nature Parks of Ukraine, Nature Reserves of Ukraine, Regional landscape parks of Ukraine, Nature monuments of Ukraine, Protected tracts of Ukraine and Habitat/Species Managed Areas of Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strict nature reserve</span> Highest category of protected area recognised by the WCPA

A strict nature reserve or wilderness area is the highest category of protected area recognised by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), a body which is part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These category I areas are the most stringently protected natural landscapes.

Conservation is an endeavor including “ the preservation, maintenance, sustainable use, restoration, and enhancement of the natural environment”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected area mosaic</span>

A protected area mosaic, or conservation mosaic is a collection of environmentally protected areas that are treated as a whole, either formally or informally. The protected areas may be of different types, including strictly protected areas and sustainable use areas, which may be administered at different public levels or privately. They may include areas assigned to indigenous people. A mosaic may be more flexible and effective than an attempt to combine all the areas into a single conservation unit under one agency. In practice, results with mosaics in different countries have been mixed.

References

  1. Francoise Burhenne-Guilmin (2011). Guidelines for Protected Areas Legislation. IUCN. p. 147. ISBN   9782831712451.
  2. Arjay Dacumos (2006). Biodiversity and conservation (2nd ed.). Psychology Press. p. 191. ISBN   9780415342995.
  3. Day, Jon; Dudley, Nigel; Hockings, Marc; Holmes, Glen; Laffoley, Dan; Stolton, Sue; Wells, Sue; Wenzel, Lauren, eds. (2019). Guidelines for applying the IUCN protected area management categories to marine protected areas (PDF) (Second ed.). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
  4. IUCN Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, Published 2 October 2008
  5. "Protected Area Categories". 27 May 2016.
  6. Category Ia Strict Nature Reserve
  7. Data for Serengeti National Park (Category Ib) on Protected Planet
  8. Casson, Sarah A.; Martin, Vance; Watson, Alan; Stringer, Angie; Kormos, Cyril F. (2016). Wilderness protected areas. doi:10.2305/IUCN.CH.2016.PAG.25.en. ISBN   978-2-8317-1817-0.
  9. Category II National Park Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Category III Natural Monument or Feature
  11. Data for The Galápagos Islands (Category IV) on Protected Planet
  12. Category IV Habitat/Species Management Area
  13. Category V Protected Landscape/Seascape
  14. Data for The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Category VI) on Protected Planet
  15. Category VI Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources