Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T03:07:41.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Methodology for Assessment of External Issues Facing National Parks, with an Application in Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

John Schelhas
Affiliation:
School of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Arizona, 325 Biological Sciences East Building, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.

Extract

Effective implementation of conservation and development strategies, such as buffer zones adjacent to national parks, requires tailoring these strategies to a park's individual external situation. A methodology is presented for conducting an assessment of adjacent land and local population issues for national parks. The methodology covers three principal subjects: (1) biological conservation issues, (2) the relationship between the park and local people, and (3) the socioeconomic situation of park neighbours.

The methodology was applied to lands adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. The application provides a brief summary of the Park's external situation, for use in management and planning, and identifies the most effective types of conservation and development strategies for the region. In this case, the methodology identified the principal issue facing the Park as being the rapid conversion of lowland forest to pasture on lands adjacent to the Park. Solutions to this problem include stopping the cycles of migration and colonization that drive people to settle forested lands, and increasing the importance of forest in local land-use systems.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Araya, Walter, Butterfield, Rebecca, Morales, Freddy, Poisson, Susan & Schnell, Charles (1988). Wildlands Consolidation and Development in the Cordillera Volcanica Central, Costa Rica: Background and Recommendation. Organization for Tropical Studies, San José, Costa Rica. [Not available for checking.]Google Scholar
Atmosoedarjo, Soekiman, Darydi, Lukito, MacKinnon, John & Hillegers, Paul (1984). National parks and rural communities. Pp. 237–44 in National Parks, Conservation, and Development: The Role of Protected Areas in Sustaining Society (Eds McNeely, Jeffrey A. & Miller, Kenton R.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: xiii + 825 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Dasmann, Raymond F. (1984). The relationship between protected areas and indigenous peoples. Pp. 667–71 in National Parks, Conservation, and Development: The Role of Protected Areas in Sustaining Society (Eds McNeely, Jeffrey A. & Miller, Kenton R.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: xiii + 825 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Greene, Harry W. (1988). Species richness in tropical predators. Pp. 259–80 in Tropical Rainforests: Diversity and Conservation. (Eds Almeda, Frank & Pringle, Catherine M.). California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA: xiii + 306 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Hartshorn, Gary et al. (1982). Costa Rica: Country Environmental Profile: A Field Study. Tropical Science Center, San José, Costa Rica: xv + 123 pp., illustr. [About 20 co-Authors.]Google Scholar
Hildebrand, Peter E. (1981). Combining disciplines in rapid appraisal: the sondeo approach. Agricultural Administration, 8, pp. 423–32.Google Scholar
Houseal, Brian, McFarland, Craig, Archibold, Guillermo & Chiari, Aurelio (1985). Indigenous cultures and protected areas in Central America. Cultural Survival, March Issue, pp. 10–9.Google Scholar
Lehmkuhl, John F., Upreti, Rajesh K. & Sharma, Uday R. (1988). National parks and local development: grasses and people in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Environmental Conservation, 15(2), pp. 143–8, 4 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loiselle, Bette A. & Blake, John G. (1988). The case for expansion Annex 11.A. Pp. 166–9 in Wildlands Consolidation and Development in the Cordillera Volcanica Central, Costa Rica: Background and Recommendations (Eds Araya, Walter, Butterfield, Rebecca, Morales, Freddy, Poisson, Susan & Schnell, Charles). Organization for Tropical Studies, San José, Costa Rica. [Not available for checking.]Google Scholar
MacKinnon, John & Kathy, Child, Graham, & Thorsell, James (1986). Managing Protected Areas in the Tropics. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 295 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Netting, Robert McC. (1988). The Social Organization of Agrarian Labor. Paper prepared for the Seminar ‘The Study of Agrarian Systems: Standardizing Measurements and Minimum Data Sets’, 154th AAAS Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: 16 pp. (typescr.).Google Scholar
Oldfield, Sara (1988). Buffer Zone Management in Tropical Moist Forests: Case Studies and Guidelines. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 49 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Ordsdol, Karl G. Van (1987). Buffer Zone Agroforestry in Tropical Forest Regions. Forestry Support Program, US Forest Service, Washington, DC, USA: vii + 67 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Poole, Peter (1989). Developing a Partnership of Indigenous Peoples, Conservationists, and Land Use Planners in Latin America. PPR Working Paper WPS245, The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA: iv + 96 pp.Google Scholar
Saharia, V.B. (1984). Human dimensions in wildlife management: the Indian experience. Pp. 190–6 in National Parks, Conservation, and Development: The Role of Protected Areas in Sustaining Society (Eds McNeely, Jeffrey A. & Miller, Kenton R.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: xiii + 825 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Shafer, Craig L. (1990). Nature Reserves: Island Theory and Conservation Practice. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: xii + 189 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Stiles, F. Gary (1985). Conservation of forest birds in Costa Rica: problems and perspectives. Pp. 141–68 in Conservation of Tropical Forest Birds (Eds Diamond, A.W. & Lovejoy, T.). Technical Publication No. 4, International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, England, UK: 318 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Timm, Robert W., Wilson, Don E., Clauson, Barbara L., LaVal, Richard K. & Vaughn, Christopher S. (1989). Mammals of the La Selva-Braulio Carrillo Complex, Costa Rica. North American Fauna Series, Number 75, US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA: 162 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
UNESCO (1984). Action plan for Biosphere Reserves. Nature and Resources, 20(4), pp. 1122.Google Scholar
Wilson, D.E. (1983). Checklist of Mammals. Pp. 443–7 in Costa Rican Natural History (Ed. Janzen, D.H.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA: xi + 816 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Zube, Ervin H. & Busch, Miriam L. (1988). Park-People Relationships: An International Review. School of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA: 41 pp., illustr.Google Scholar