BackIndia among countries with worst-performing protected areas: study
Cuba, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, China, Honduras and India, are among countries with worst-performing protected areas, found the study.
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New Delhi: Protected areas (PAs) do help reduce deforestation, but their effectiveness varies across regions, said a new study, picking India, China and Indonesia among countries with the worst performing PAs.
The study said there is a “crucial need for increased political and financial support, and robust monitoring, of tropical forest PAs".
“Overall, we found that PAs do reduce deforestation but with substantial variability within and between countries. Our work demonstrates there is substantial potential for improved management and reduced forest loss within many protected areas," said the study.
The study was done by a group of scientists—B.D. Spracklen, D.V. Spracklen, M. Kalamandeen, D. Galbraith, E. Gloor—from University of Leeds in the UK. It was published in the international journal PLOS ONE in December.
The study highlighted that “low effectiveness of PAs across many countries in Asia is worrying given the fast rates of forest loss within this region".
According to the study, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Panama and Thailand have the best performing PAs while Cuba, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, China, Honduras, India, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela and the Philippines have the worst performing PAs.
In India, there are 726 protected areas—national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation and community reserves—which cover 4.88% of India’s total geographical area.
The study found “substantial rates of forest loss within PAs" in some regions.
“Fastest rates of PA forest loss occurred in Central America, West Africa and parts of Asia, with slower rates in the Amazon, Congo and Australia. At the continental scale, the forest loss within PAs was greatest in Asia and less in Africa, Neotropics and Australasia," the study said.
The analysis also said that at the “national level the effectiveness of PAs improved with increased GDP per capita and declined with increased rural population".
“Continued rural population growth may therefore threaten the future effectiveness of PAs. Increased effectiveness of PAs with increased GDP per capita may be due to increased financial support of PAs within these countries. This suggestion requires further investigation," the study emphasised.
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