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Abstract
The South Australian Government has recognized that, despite an extensive protected area system (26 percent of the State), Statewide ecological goals will not be achieved on protected areas alone. The NatureLinks model promotes protected areas acting as “ecological cores” in landscapes managed with conservation objectives. To implement this model, partnerships with other landholders to develop goals and implement actions are essential. This paper discusses the setting of protected area goals and actions that are nested in broader landscape goals, using areas of high wilderness quality as examples. In fragmented landscapes where protected areas are surrounded by agricultural land and numerous neighbors, challenges arise when balancing wilderness management with acting as a “good neighbor”; the example of fire management is discussed. In a large reserve of very high wilderness quality in which mining is permitted, mining has now been excluded from 503,000 ha/1,242,940 acres; this area can now be managed as a core, and partnerships with mining companies enable broader landscape goals to be pursued. The compatibility of wilderness quality and Aboriginal traditional use is discussed; cooperative management with Aboriginal people enables the continued use of the Unnamed Conservation Park by traditional owners in a manner consistent with their traditions and the protection of biodiversity and wilderness quality.
Parent Publication
Keywords
wilderness,
biodiversity,
protected areas,
economics,
subsistence,
tourism,
traditional knowledge,
community involvement,
policy,
stewardship,
education,
spiritual values
Citation
Stokes, Adrian; Leaman, Greg. 2007. NatureLinks: Protected areas, wilderness, and landscape connectivity in South Australia, Australia. In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet; Dean, Liese, comps. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Eighth World Wilderness Congress symposium; September 30-October 6, 2005; Anchorage, AK. Proceedings RMRS-P-49. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 212-217
