Treesearch

The State of Maine in the US is 94% privately owned, and is the most forested state in the country. Fifteen years ago, Maine ranked last among US eastern states in its percentage of land under conservation; today it ranks near the top. The Nature Conservancy and its many partners have achieved this extraordinary turn-around through a combination of bold acquisitions and strategic innovations. This paper will explain The Nature Conservancy's pioneering strategies for the protection and restoration of large, privately owned forested landscapes; strategies that are applicable in many other...

This paper illustrates how wilderness, biodiversity, and human health are intertwined. Proceeding from the assumption that humankind is part of, rather than apart from, nature, health is re-imagined as a dynamic relationship that can best be conceived in broad ecological terms. Health, from an ecological perspective, is a measure of the wellness of the individual and the ecosystem considered together. Health, at its core, is symbiotic in nature. To make the case, seven organisms are discussed that have great potential medicinal value for humankind if only their habitats are protected and...

As part of the development of the 2011 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) tree canopy cover layer, a pilot project was launched to test the use of high-resolution photography coupled with extensive ancillary data to map the distribution of tree canopy cover over four study regions in the conterminous US. Two stochastic modeling techniques, random forests (RF) and stochastic gradient boosting (SGB), are compared. The objectives of this study were first to explore the sensitivity of RF and SGB to choices in tuning parameters and, second, to compare the performance of the two final models by...

South Africa is one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world, with much valuable biodiversity situated on a range of different land tenure types, including state, private and communal land. Despite this, these wild lands are being lost at an unprecedented rate, with the resultant loss of natural areas and associated ecosystem services. The challenge lies in the need to protect the unique biodiversity, by integrating the development needs of poverty-stricken communities with the need to secure the remaining natural wild places, and thereby secure the very areas on which these...

The Wilderness Foundation, in partnership with South African National Parks has initiated a two year project in the Karoo; The Mountain Zebra-Camdeboo Corridor Project. Through either voluntary Contractual National Park or Protected Environment agreements, the project aims to work with, rather than displace, current conservation-compatible land-use practices such as ecotourism, livestock grazing and other sustainable resource use. Less formal conservation options, such as biodiversity agreements, will also be offered to landowners. These agreements provide benefits to landowners in terms...

Antarctica is certainly what most people would consider being the world's last great wilderness; largely untouched and undeveloped by humans. Yet it is not inviolate - there are scientific bases, tourist operations, expeditions, airstrips and even roads. Although these impacts are by and large limited in extent, their very presence in an otherwise "blank" landscape can have effects on the wilderness that far outweigh their relatively small physical footprint. The vastness of Antarctica and the relatively small size and sparseness of human infrastructure presents its own set of special...

This paper summarizes preliminary results of a research study that investigated university students' perceptions of Antarctic wilderness and reports on discussions of these results at a workshop held at the 10th World Wilderness Congress. The purpose of the research study was to determine whether nationality and cultural differences were associated with beliefs about Antarctica, relationships between humans and the Antarctic environment, and support for resource development and tourism activities - a small but important step in deciding how to best meet the requirements of the Protocol on...

The study aims to investigate the premise that the implementation of a buffer zone around a national park provides opportunities for local communities to become active in the management of such areas. The study focuses on the Etosha National Park in Namibia, where the implementation of a buffer zone has been proposed, since the park fence is a potential barrier for ecosystem and social-ecological integrity. The research explores the extent to which the park fence influences the livelihoods of landowners and resource users in selected areas, by assessing local perspectives on the artificial...

The Bundian Way is a shared history pathway that connects the highest part of the Australian continent and the south-eastern coast via an ancient Aboriginal route that brought together the people of the greater region. The Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council has long worked towards its use for educational/ tourism purposes and recognition for heritage protection. In 2010 the Land Council began a survey of the route which resulted in New South Wales State Heritage listing on 18th January 2013. While the Bundian Way is defined as a physical route, its stories link a variety of Aboriginal...

This paper describes the Australian State of Tasmania's management effectiveness Monitoring and Reporting System for national parks and reserves. This jurisdictional performance measurement system is designed to provide all interested parties with reliable factual information and measured evidence about reserve management achievements, progress and challenges. Key features of the system are that it is outcomes-focused, evidence-based, operationally practical, and transparent to the public. The system fosters an organizational culture of measuring and demonstrating the results achieved from...