scholarly journals Criticisms of science, social impacts, opinion leaders, and targets for no-take zones led to cuts in New South Wales' (Australia) system of marine protected areas

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Gladstone
2002 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L Pressey ◽  
G.L Whish ◽  
T.W Barrett ◽  
M.E Watts

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reece D. Pedler ◽  
Rebecca S. West ◽  
John L. Read ◽  
Katherine E. Moseby ◽  
Michael Letnic ◽  
...  

Species reintroductions into predator-controlled areas are an increasingly used conservation tool. Typically, ecological outcomes of such projects (e.g. recruitment, predation) are the focus but seldom necessary legislative, policy, social and institutional processes required for establishing large projects. This particularly applies to protected areas, managed by governments for conservation. Reintroductions are recommended for a third of threatened Australian vertebrates, with the New South Wales Government boldly embarking on a 2013 initiative to return locally extinct mammals to three protected areas. We detail the legislative, policy, social and institutional processes required for one of these sites, Wild Deserts, in Sturt National Park. Seven locally extinct species, including the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), western barred bandicoot (Perameles bougainville), golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus), greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus conditor), crest-tailed mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda), western quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii) and burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur) will be reintroduced into two exclosures. The scale of the project required identification of an appropriate location, satisfaction of statutory requirements for major infrastructure in a national park, assessments of potential ecological costs and benefits, engagement of the national park agency and other stakeholders (Traditional Owners, other government agencies, neighbours), and staff training to meet government agency requirements. We outline the resourcing, costs and benefits of such a project on government-managed land along with lessons learnt for similar large-scale restoration and reintroduction projects. Future projects would benefit from understanding legislative and policy frameworks and the need for transparency, while maximising efficiencies.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0244605
Author(s):  
Natalie Gollan ◽  
Kate Barclay

Managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is about managing human behaviours, but decision-making processes have traditionally focussed on ecological aspects, treating social aspects as secondary. It is now becoming more evident that an equal focus on the ecological and social aspects is required. Without the collection of information about social aspect such as impacts and sharing this as well as ecological information with communities, MPAs are at higher risk of opposition and social acceptability problems. This paper explores the development of a wellbeing framework to understand the social aspects, including the impacts of MPAs on the wellbeing of local communities. This research investigates two case study MPAs: Cape Byron and Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Parks in New South Wales, Australia. The MPAs are multiple-use and were implemented in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The research began with a review of the literature, followed by fieldwork, including semi-structured qualitative interviews with community members. Through thematic coding of the interview transcripts in light of the literature on assessing the social impacts of MPAs, a community wellbeing framework of domains and associated attributes was developed to investigate social impacts. Our analysis shows; first, local perspectives are crucial to understanding social impacts. Second, understanding social impacts gives insight into the nature of trade-offs that occur in decision-making regarding MPAs. Third, the intangible social impacts experienced by local communities are just as significant as the tangible ones for understanding how MPAs operate. Fourth, governance impacts have been the most influential factor affecting the social acceptability of the case study parks. We argue that failure to address negative social impacts can undermine the legitimacy of MPAs. We propose that the framework will support policymakers to work towards more effective, equitable and socially sustainable MPAs by employing much-needed monitoring of human dimensions of conservation interventions at the community level to shape adaptive management.


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