Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness
Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Private land conservation areas (PLCAs) are increasingly looked to for meeting the deficit
left by state-owned protected areas in reaching global conservation targets. However,
despite the increasing extent and recognition of PLCAs as a complementary conservation
strategy, little research has been done to quantify their effectiveness; a critical consideration
if they are to be counted towards international biodiversity conservation targets. The
long history of PLCAs in South Africa provides an interesting case study to address this
knowledge gap. Here, we quantified the effectiveness of South African PLCAs by comparing
losses in natural land cover and biodiversity intactness within PLCAs with different levels
of protection to that of unprotected control points. Points within PLCAs were matched with
unprotected control points to test the prediction that if PLCAs offer effective protection,
losses in natural land cover and biodiversity intactness would be significantly lower within
their boundaries in comparison to unprotected controls exposed to similar conditions.
Consequences of natural land cover loss on biodiversity intactness were thus assessed,
thus advancing standard approaches for quantifying effectiveness. Between 1990 and 2013,
PLCAs lost significantly less natural land cover (3%) and biodiversity intactness (2%) than
matched unprotected areas (6% and 4%, respectively). Of the natural land cover lost within
PLCAs, most was converted to cultivated land. Farms can support more species than other
land uses (e.g. mines), a likely explanation for why losses in biodiversity intactness were
less than losses in natural land cover. Contrary to the predicted pattern, effectiveness did
not increase with level of protection; informal PLCAs with no legal protection had comparable
natural land cover and biodiversity intactness retention to strictly protected PLCAs,
with most losses recorded among PLCAs with moderate protection. This study provides the
first national-scale evidence that PLCAs can be an effective mechanism for conserving
natural land cover and biodiversity intactness, which is highly relevant given current
discussions around their likely long-term biodiversity conservation capacity.
Description
CITATION: Shumba, T. et al. 2020. Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22:e00935, doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e00935.
The original publication is available at https://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-ecology-and-conservation
The original publication is available at https://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-ecology-and-conservation
Keywords
Biodiversity conservation, Private land conservation areas -- Evaluation, Natural areas -- Conservation, Land cover -- Protection, Land cover -- Losses -- Prevention
Citation
Shumba, T. et al. 2020. Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22:e00935, doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e00935.