In order to protect land and reduce the environmental pressures from agriculture, conservation policies are being implemented, which place land under protection. As a result, population and human activities, including agriculture, may be shifted to another area, increasing land use and environmental pressure elsewhere.
Displacement of environmental pressures due to protected areas
In order to protect land and reduce the environmental pressures from agriculture, conservation policies are being implemented, which place land under protection. As a result, population and human activities, including agriculture, may be shifted to another area, increasing land use and environmental pressure elsewhere.
Nº 20
1) Global
2) Asia, Tibet, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
3) Africa, South Africa
- Wildlife & Nature Conservation
- Protection of Nature
- Creation of Protected Areas
Displacement of environmental pressures due to protected areas
1) Protected areas have been found to be disproportionately established in areas that were already less likely to be affected in the absence of any protection policy. In other words, they tend to be located where they can least prevent land change. Most national policies have a bias towards factors such as higher altitude, steeper slopes and greater distance from towns and roads. This can lead to a false sense of effectiveness or an exaggeration of it.
2) Spillover effects of protected areas were found in the Qinghai-Tiber Plateau region. While some of these effects were positive spillovers (protected areas led to less degradation in surrounding areas), about half of the identified buffer zones experienced negative effects of varying magnitude. In such cases, the effect of a protected area may be undermined by the spatial displacement of land degradation.
3) Five national parks in South Africa show negative spillovers to their surroundings, where the establishment of the national parks led to an increased loss of natural cover in nearby areas. A larger number of parks were associated with positive spillovers. Nevertheless, it is important to be aware of the possibility of displacement effects.
1) Protected areas have been found to be disproportionately established in areas that were already less likely to be affected in the absence of any protection policy. In other words, they tend to be located where they can least prevent land change. Most national policies have a bias towards factors such as higher altitude, steeper slopes and greater distance from towns and roads. This can lead to a false sense of effectiveness or an exaggeration of it.
2) Spillover effects of protected areas were found in the Qinghai-Tiber Plateau region. While some of these effects were positive spillovers (protected areas led to less degradation in surrounding areas), about half of the identified buffer zones experienced negative effects of varying magnitude. In such cases, the effect of a protected area may be undermined by the spatial displacement of land degradation.
3) Five national parks in South Africa show negative spillovers to their surroundings, where the establishment of the national parks led to an increased loss of natural cover in nearby areas. A larger number of parks were associated with positive spillovers. Nevertheless, it is important to be aware of the possibility of displacement effects.
Lambin, E. F., & Meyfroidt, P. (2011). Global land use change, economic globalization, and the looming land scarcity. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 108(9), 3465-3472. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1100480108
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