Protected Areas: Science, Policy, and Management to Meet the Challenges of Global Change in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter argues that while about 12% of the world's land surface area (about 17 million km2) has been officially “protected”, the challenge of the 21st century is to make these protected areas into something more than areas on a map. The ecosystem services provided by protected areas—timber, fodder, biodiversity protection, and clean water, for example—must be recognized by both national and local communities. Protected areas benefit the poor through watershed protection, small-scale forestry projects that provide employment, and protection from both flood and drought. Although conservation once had a reputation as a concern of the rich and well connected, a new model, poverty reduction through conservation, has emerged.