Core natural areas should be buffered by compatible land uses

Due to many constraints, relatively small areas of land are most commonly designated as core natural areas. If we are to conserve the majority of the world's species, however, areas outside of the core areas will have to be able to provide adequate habitat for biodiversity persistence (Soule and Sanjayan 1998).

We can augment the effectiveness of protected areas by surrounding them with buffer zones (see Figure 24.17), large areas that have less stringent controls on land use, yet are at least partially compatible with the resource requirements of many species. Such lands can be managed in ways that permit the extraction of resources used by humans, such as timber, fiber, wild fruits, nuts, and medicines, but still maintain some habitat value. Activities that may be compatible with the conservation function of buffer zones include selective logging, grazing, agriculture, tourism, and limited residential development (Groom et al. 1999).

In the plan for Masoala National Park, Kremen and her colleagues included a buffer zone on the eastern side of the park, which consisted of more than 71,000 ha (175,000 acres) of forest land designated for sustainable timber harvesting (see Figure 24.16). The researchers first identified areas that were at high risk of deforestation due to their proximity to villages. They then established how much wood each family, and thereby each village, consumed, and calculated how much area would be required to meet this need on a sustainable basis. The buffer zone augments the effective area of the park for many lowland species, even though they may be subjected to some level of hunting or collection.

On a cautionary note, buffer zones may serve as population sinks (areas where death rates are higher than birth rates) for some species, as animals that stray out of core areas and into buffer zones become vulnerable to hunting, vehicle collisions, or other sources of mortality.

In Peru, slash-and-burn agriculture, in which plants are cut and then burned to enhance release of their nutrients, is commonly practiced just outside nature reserves. Wild animals such as agoutis, armadillos, and tapirs often damage farmers' crops. As a result, these animals are targeted by hunters, and such hunting has altered the relative abundances of mammals in the forest (Naughton-Treves et al. 2003). In other cases, however, buffer zones do not appear to act as population sinks and provide an effective transition zone between the core habitat and developed areas outside the reserve. An analysis of data from 785 animal species found that buffer zones can allow populations to persist in habitat fragments that might otherwise be too small or too isolated to support viable populations (Prugh et al. 2008). The key to success boils down to simple demography: if a buffer zone provides a threatened species with habitat in which birth rates are higher than death rates, it can aid conservation goals.

If we can succeed in establishing core areas for protection surrounded by sparsely inhabited buffer zones, have we done all that is necessary for conservation? Recall that landscape connectivity is another important consideration in reserve design.

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Source: Bowman W., Hacker S.. Ecology. 6th ed. — Oxford University Press,2023. — 744 p.. 2023

Core natural areas should be buffered by compatible land uses

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