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.
A conservation mosaic may be defined as "a network of protected areas and complementary landscapes that include combinations of national parks (i.e. the core conservation areas), production landscapes and collectively-owned ethnic territories (i.e. the surrounding areas)".[1] Conservation mosaics are similar to the biospheres promoted by UNESCO under the Man and the Biosphere Programme.[2] The cooperative approach between different agencies and types of protected area avoids the conflicts and disagreements over land use and conservation that often result with a single agency and single type of conservation unit.[3] The value of creating protected area mosaics has been the subject of intense debate among conservationists.[4] Protected areas are of great importance in protecting biodiversity, but conservation efforts must take into account the social and economic needs of the surrounding communities and the resulting pressure on land usage.[5]
National examples
Brazil
BR-319. A protected area mosaic has been defined in an effort to reduce deforestation when the road is paved.
A mosaico de unidades de conservação is a legally recognized entity in Brazil, a collection of protected areas of the same or different categories that are near to each other, adjoin each other or overlap, and that should be managed as a whole. It may include conservation units, private lands and indigenous territories.[6] Brazil has created a mosaic of federal and state conservation units along the BR-319 highway through the Amazon rainforest in an effort to better prevent deforestation when the highway is paved through more efficient management of a larger area. However, WWF-Brazil has pointed out that it is not enough to simply create the protected areas on paper. They must be staffed, delimited, legal owners compensated and so on.[7]
The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in the state of Goiás, Brazil, was expanded by Federal Decree in September 2001 and inscribed as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in December 2001. In 2003 the expansion was successfully challenged and 72% of the national park lost its protection status. The park is part of the Cerrado Biosphere Reserve. Brazil has outlined plans for a mosaic of new conservation units with different management categories covering an equivalent area to the expanded National Park, but UNESCO has questioned whether the mosaic will be sufficient to ensure the statutory protection required for the World Heritage properties.[8]
Colombia
A 2015 World Bank report on national protected areas in Colombia covering at least 2,000,000 hectares (4,900,000 acres) found that with the mosaic approach ecological connectivity had improved in eight of the mosaics, exceeding the target.[9] The local farmers and fishing communities in seven of the conservation mosaics, which included protected areas and their surrounding buffer zones, benefited from sustainable provision and use of environmental goods and services.[10]
Kenya
In northern Kenya the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) organisation covers 19 community conservancies with more than 3,000,000 acres (1,200,000ha) of wildlife habitat. The NRT Council of Elders agreed in May 2010 to found the Nakuprat – Gotu Community Conservancy beside the Shaba National Reserve and the Ewaso Ng'iro river to promote conflict resolution and conserve nature. The conservancy is part of a protected area mosaic that is a vital habitat for species that include the African elephant and the endangered Grévy's zebra.[11]
United Kingdom
A mosaic of protected areas has evolved in the United Kingdom, with a growing number of types of protected area, some as a result of European Union directives. The objectives of nature conservation and landscape protection are treated as distinct. The mosaic has evolved in a manner that results in duplication of effort and funding. It could benefit from rationalisation and more flexible administration.[12]
United States
The protected area mosaics of the Great Sand Dunes, El Malpais, San Pedro and Las Cienegas areas in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona have been assembled by a variety of government and non-government organisations to protect the environment while respecting land use demands of the southwest of the United States. This broad approach to ecosystem planning and management seems more fair and effective than former single-agency approaches.[13] The Great Sand Dunes Monument Area combined various type of protected area to satisfy the objectives of the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy and other organizations, and to combine conservation and sustainable use of the ecosystem. The result was similar to the protected area mosaic recommended in the early 1980s for parts of the Yukon in Canada. Implementation was staged, with many interactions and adaptations over time.[14]
The Jaú National Park is a national park located in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is one of the largest forest reserves in South America, and part of a World Heritage Site.
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 aims to protect the region's biodiversity and conserve its natural resources. The Network has been part of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme since 1988.GGBN is also part of the US Biosphere Network as well as EuroMAB. It is recognized by UNESCO for its "significance for biological diversity conversation" and organizational efforts involving municipal authorities and private interests.
Protected areas of Brazil included various classes of area according to the National System of Nature Conservation Units (SNUC), a formal, unified system for federal, state and municipal parks created in 2000.
Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park is a national park of Brazil located in the state of Goiás, on the top of an ancient plateau with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. The park was created on January 11, 1961, by President Juscelino Kubitschek, and listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2001. It occupies an area of 2,405 square kilometres (929 sq mi) in the municipalities of Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Cavalcante and Colinas do Sul. The park is maintained by Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
The Emas National Park is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil.
Anavilhanas National Park is a national park that encompasses a huge river archipelago in the Rio Negro in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is part of a World Heritage Site.
Guaratiba Biological and Archeological Reserve is a State biological reserve located in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro city, in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It protects an important area of mangroves and wetlands in the east of Guaratiba Bay.
A protected area mosaic or conservation unit mosaic in Brazil is a mosaic of nearby, adjoining or overlapping protected areas of Brazil that are managed as a whole.
The Apuí Mosaic is a protected area mosaic in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
The Guariba Extractive Reserve is an extractive reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
The Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, or Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve, is a biosphere reserve covering remnants of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, including fully protected and sustainable use conservation units and buffer zones. It is the largest such reserve in the world.
The Bocaina Mosaic is a protected area mosaic on the border between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil. It provides coordinated management for a group of 10 federal, state and municipal conservation units covering an area of Atlantic Forest along the coast and up the slopes of the Bocaina plateau.
The Mantiqueira Mosaic is a protected area mosaic that contains conservation units in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Brazil. The conservation units are of different types and are managed at the federal, state or municipal level. The mosaic provides a level of integrated and coordinated management.
The Lower Rio Negro Mosaic (Portuguese: Mosaico do Baixo Rio Negro is a protected area mosaic in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It coordinates between eleven conservation units of different types in the Amazon rainforest to the northwest of the state capital, Manaus.
The Bararati Sustainable Development Reserve' is a sustainable development reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
The Lagamar de Cananéia State Park is a state park in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.
The Paranapiacaba Conservation Units Mosaic is a protected area mosaic in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is administered by the state, and protects a large area of Atlantic Forest. It is associated with the Paranapiacaba Ecological Corridor of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve.
The Carioca Mosaic is a protected area mosaic in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It includes various federal, state and municipal conservation units in and around the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The Mendanha State Park (Portuguese: Parque Estadual do Mendanha is a state park in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Espinhaço: Alto Jequitinhonha – Serra do Cabral Mosaic, or simply Espinhaço Mosaic, is a protected area mosaic in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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