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The effectiveness of the zoning of China's protected areas

Publication ,  Journal Article
Xu, W; Li, X; Pimm, SL; Hull, V; Zhang, J; Zhang, L; Xiao, Y; Zheng, H; Ouyang, Z
Published in: Biological Conservation.
December 2016

Increasing human numbers and aspirations threaten protected areas worldwide. China faces especially strong pressure since many people live inside protected areas. It has sought to balance human needs and conservation goals within them by creating mixed zoning schemes loosely based on UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme. These include strictly-protected core zones, buffer zones allowing limited human use, and experimental zones that examine different land-use options. To test the efficacy of this zoning, we employed field surveys and remote sensing to assess the penetration of agricultural and urban land into 109 national nature reserves in China for 2000 and 2010. Human disturbance was lowest in core zones and highest in experimental zones in both 2000 and 2010. Over this period, 82% of the reserves were unchanged or had decreased human disturbance. Nonetheless, overall human disturbance increased by 7%, 4%, and 5% in the core, buffer and experimental zones respectively. Almost all the increase in the core zone was in four wetland reserves, where human actions converted large areas to agriculture. Some 58% of reserves experienced some human disturbance in core zones in 2010, demonstrating a need for more effective zoning. The findings have broader implications for protected area management globally because they highlight the strengths and weaknesses of zoning for balancing human needs and species conservation.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Biological Conservation.

DOI

ISSN

0006-3207

Publication Date

December 2016

Volume

204

Start / End Page

231 / 236

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

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Xu, W., Li, X., Pimm, S. L., Hull, V., Zhang, J., Zhang, L., … Ouyang, Z. (2016). The effectiveness of the zoning of China's protected areas. Biological Conservation., 204, 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.10.028
Xu, Weihua, Xiaosong Li, Stuart L. Pimm, Vanessa Hull, Jingjing Zhang, Lu Zhang, Yi Xiao, Hua Zheng, and Z. Ouyang. “The effectiveness of the zoning of China's protected areas.” Biological Conservation. 204 (December 2016): 231–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.10.028.
Xu W, Li X, Pimm SL, Hull V, Zhang J, Zhang L, et al. The effectiveness of the zoning of China's protected areas. Biological Conservation. 2016 Dec;204:231–6.
Xu, Weihua, et al. “The effectiveness of the zoning of China's protected areas.” Biological Conservation., vol. 204, Dec. 2016, pp. 231–36. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.10.028.
Xu W, Li X, Pimm SL, Hull V, Zhang J, Zhang L, Xiao Y, Zheng H, Ouyang Z. The effectiveness of the zoning of China's protected areas. Biological Conservation. 2016 Dec;204:231–236.
Journal cover image

Published In

Biological Conservation.

DOI

ISSN

0006-3207

Publication Date

December 2016

Volume

204

Start / End Page

231 / 236

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences