Landscape species are not necessarily sufficient to cover all conservation needs, some special elements of biodiversity, usually endemic or with limited distribution, and with specific habitat needs, deserve their own conservation attention and should be considered to better represent the landscape (WCS, 2006).
Landscape Species Approach contribute to identify where and how to conserve within a landscape and prioritise areas by mapping the distribution of the selected landscape species, mapping the anthropogenic activities and the effects on species, and merging them to identify the conservation landscape and inform about actions according to goals (Didier et al., 2009; Sanderson et al., 2002). This LSA approach will allow to spatially identifying all development projects that threat areas of high conservation value within a landscape, and inside protected areas and in their surroundings to guide development projects in an informed way to least sensitive areas.
Guiding development to least sensitive areas
Bolivia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, mainly because of the presence of different biogeographic regions. Previous studies evaluated how these biodiversity is being protected and how the biogeographical regions are represented in the Bolivian National Protected Area System; it has been identified the need of a new assessment given that some regions of high value are underrepresented and some others are over represented (Lopez & Zambrana-Torrelio, 2006). The region is under constant threat of development projects such as dams and roads that can have a significant impact on one of the most biodiverse areas in the world.
Following the systematic conservation planning process with a landscape species approach,...
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...er because it is practical to explain a conservation planning process within a large area with different land tenures, integrating a wide range of different land use activities, and where stakeholders are actively involved. An inverse systematic conservation planning (Kareksela et al., 2013) using Zonation will add by including cost to the analysis, allowing to determine development suitable areas that at the same time are least ecologically valuable or sensitive areas, or areas that avoid ecological loss.
In the coming years, Bolivia’s most visible challenge will be to increase political and administrative autonomy when it comes to development projects within and around protected areas to minimise conflict and ecological impact (Painter et al, 2011). These approach is a practical tool to support decision making at multiple levels with a wide range of stakeholders.
This policy memo addresses the development and expansion of the cattle ranching industry in Brazil, which has contributed to the mass deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in the last 40 years. It exposes the regional and global consequences to deforestation and provides strategies for the Brazilian government to sustainably manage cattle ranching industries while protecting the future of the Amazon. The rainforest ecosystem is an immense reserve of natural recourses that is far more valuable than the beef produced on Brazilian cattle ranches. Not only does the rainforest create habitat for up to 65% of the world’s biodiversity, but when harvested sustainably, it provides humans with an abundance of spices, foods, oils, medicines and vital research areas (NEWMAN).
Brazil, a country of natural resources running everywhere needing saving, destroyed everyday by humankind. with 2/3’s of the Amazon forest home in brazil, we must keep an eye on how it is being sustained, what is being done to keep it safe and when we believe we will be able to not only stop deforestation, but grow back the earth’s creatures natural habitats. The sheer beauty of our world is worth trying to help our ecosystem and helping the environment and ensuring its sustainability.
Serrao, E.S., Nepstad, D., & Walker, R. (1996). Upland agriculture and forestry development in the Amazon: sustainability, criticality and resilience. Ecological Economics, 18(1), 3-13.
Biodiversity offsetting is a planning strategy that aims to compensate for losses of biodiversity in a given area by protecting an area elsewhere and generating gains that are ecologically equivalent to the loss in the area being developed (Maron et al. 2012.) In practice, this means that the residual losses in biodiversity that take place as a result of a development can be offset and compensated for in any area in the UK, potentially even far from the one under development. The UK government has suggested that this strategy may be ideal on the basis that countries all over the world, such as the United States, India, Australia and 21 others have and are currently using this planning strategy to meet its society’s needs (DEFRA green paper.) On the 5th of September 2013, DEFRA published a public consultation document on Biodiversity offsetting in England (also called the Green paper) which laid out a framework of options for how biodiversity offsetting in England could potentially operate. The consultation is written in a style that gives information and suggestions as to how an offsetting scheme could operate, however, it also asks 38 specific questions relating to the execution offsetting practices, from very basic questions such as asking if offsetting should be mandatory for developers, to more specific questions regarding potentially off...
At present there is no match between the distribution of protected areas and distribution of the clusters with highest proportion of threatened species. Proposals were made in 2008 to establish several protected areas but they still did not pass legislation process. It seems therefore that mechanisms are still not in place to ensure effective protection of the Icelandic flora.
Described by Simmons (1974) protected landscape is a non-consumptive resource: the crop is of a visual nature and when this has been taken in by the consumer; the source remains the same and it is the aim of the management to perpetuate this attribute. It is the duty of the NPAs (and their governing body ANPA) to promote methods of sustainable development, which is commonly achieved by each NPA having a ‘balanced membership’, consisting of local people and those representing the national interest by virtue of their individual knowl...
...l method is problematic as it often results the overgrazing of public areas. Traditional grazing practices tend to displace wildlife and upset the original balance of plant-species composition. When a dominate species of plant is replaced it results in lasting changes in the “output, input and components of the system” according to research done at the University of Botswana (14). Grazing when it was managed property before the population boom in Africa was sustainable and undamaging to biodiversity composition. However, increased population and demand for exports has pushed grazing to its maximum and has led to subsistent mixed farms which are run off of subsides and require pesticides and large-scale monocropping to increase yield.
Landscape fragmentation contributes to loss of migratory corridors, loss of connectivity and natural communities, which all lead to a loss of biodiversity for a region. Conservation of biodiversity must include all levels of diversity: genetic, species, community, and landscape (CNHP 1995). Each complex level is dependent upon and linked to the other levels. In addition, humans are linked to all levels of this hierarchy. A healthy natural and human environment go hand in hand (CNHP 1995). An important step in conservation planning, in order to guarantee both a healthy natural environment as well as a healthy human environment, is recognizing the most endangered elements.
The total amount of habitat affected in the Brazilian Amazon was up from 208,000 km^2 when first analyzed in 1978 to 588,000 km^2 when revisited in 1988 (Skole and Tucker 1993:1909). As a primary reaction to the sudden increase of deforestation between the years of 1978 and 1988 the biodiversity of plants, animals, and habitat space decreased (Skole and Tucker 1993). When comparing the data sets above, the question that scientists and environmentalist began asking, was why this sudden increase in deforestation over a 10 year span was occurring (Skole and Tucker
The landscape is approached systematically focusing on three classification guides; characters, values and sensitivity. Landscape character can be defined as a landscape having identifying features, values are th...
Wothington, D., Dann, N., and Bond, S. (2002). Issues in Conservation Management. Proceedings of the CIB W070 2002 Global symposium: Glasgow, 18-20 September pp. 292-302
Many of the issues of biodiversity loss can be traced back to human interaction to the environment. One of the issues is alteration and loss of habitats. A lot of this issue is based on the destruction of habitats and for the land to be used for human consumption. The land is either used up for agricultural use or for neighborhoods. Destroying habitats and building them for our own use can have a positive impact on our way of living but a negative impact on the environment. We would gain land for building land for crops and communities to be built. The habitat for the animals would be destroyed and the species local to the land would either relocate or die. There are restrictions to deforesting land and there are organizations to help protect the land.
In a formal sense, wildlife habitat can be defined as an area with the combination of resources such as food, cover, water, substrate, topography, temperature, precipitation, and security that promotes occupancy by individuals of a given species and allows them to survive and reproduce (Morrison et al., 1992). Usually, the quality and extent of an an...
One of the reasons for loss in biodiversity is alteration of habitats. A habitat is the natural environment in which a species of living organism lives. If the habitat of a species is changed, it will cause the species to die or migrate to other places where it can find its natural habitat. There are many ways in which the habitat of plants and animals can be altered. One of them is land use changes. Since the beginning of human life, human beings have been changing land use for farming. Large areas of forests have been cleared by humans to increase the area of farming to satisfy their growing needs. Many biodiversity-rich landscape characteristics have been lost due to intensive farming (Young, Richards, Fischer, Halada, Kull, Kuzniar, Tartes, Uzunov & Watt, 2007). For example, traditional farming was replaced by private farms in Europe after the First World War causing an immense change in land use patterns. Another major proble...
Biodiversity is so important that if any chain or link is disturbed then the whole system will come to a halt. Biodiversity also boosts ecosystem productivity and if it declines automatically our ecosystem also declines as both are interdependent upon each other, where all the species play an essential role in the way ecosystem functions, so local and global species loss could threaten the stability of the ecosystem services on which humans depend. This is an interesting topic as well as a global issue concerning the whole human civilization and their existence. . The said issue as well as many other issues regarding our natural processes cannot be neglected as our present and future depends entirely on the sustainability and growth of this ecosystem and biodiversity. Our ecosystem completely depends on the way biodiversity functions. This is the reason I have chosen this topic and gathered information about how it e...