IUCN, National Parks, and Protected Areas: Priorities for Action

Normative Standards for Wildlife Viewing in Parks and Protected Areas

With increasing public interest in wildlife watching, there is a need to develop methods to better inform management of quality viewing opportunities. In this study, normative methods using indicators and standards of quality are applied at two diverse parks/ protected areas: a popular national park in Alaska and a lesser known wildlife refuge in New Hampshire. Three potential indicators of qua...

How Much is Too Much? Carrying Capacity of National Parks and Protected Areas

Increasing recreational use of national parks and protected areas can impact natural and cultural resources and the quality of the visitor experience. Determining how much recreational use can ultimately be accommodated in a park or protected area is often addressed through the concept of carrying capacity. Contemporary approaches to carrying capacity – including the Visitor Experience and Reso...

Cyberinfrastructure for Social Action on National Priorities

Time Magazine proclaimed in 2006 that their “Person of the Year” was “You” in recognition of the growing significance of online communities, social media, and usergenerated content. We believe that this symbolic award is a harbinger of vast technological and societal changes that will unfold over many years—just as the proclamation of the Computer as Time’s 1982 Person of the Year foreshadowed ...

Managing protected areas under climate change: challenges and priorities.

The implementation of adaptation actions in local conservation management is a new and complex task with multiple facets, influenced by factors differing from site to site. A transdisciplinary perspective is therefore required to identify and implement effective solutions. To address this, the International Conference on Managing Protected Areas under Climate Change brought together internation...

Planning for Protected Areas Using Spatial and Temporal Metrics