Ecological and social connectivity

Human population growth and the consequent increase in use of natural resources place enormous stress on ecosystems. Road building, urbanization and agriculture are among the main human activities that break up natural areas, often with disastrous consequences for wildlife. Concern about threats to biodiversity is reflected in the continuous increase in the number and size of protected areas worldwide [currently 12% of the surface of the Earth; United Nations List of Protected Areas (http://www.unep.org/PDF/Un-listprotected-areas.pdf)]. However, whereas these threats were previously a powerful stimulus for protecting biodiversity in parks and reserves, with human access being mostly excluded, the current trend is a move from strictly protected areas to people-friendly protected areas (e.g. [1,2]). Ecological Networks and Greenways addresses the issues of integrating conservation with sustainable use. I started reading with some skepticism, not being fond of the idea that the conservation of biodiversity is compatible with the exploitation of natural resources. I have to admit my bias, given that I am more influenced by spatial ecology and population dynamics and often think that such fragmented, human-dominated landscapes do not meet the requirements of species for long-term survival. When reading Ecological Networks and Greenways, however, it becomes apparent that protecting endangered species in large, pristine, well connected areas is no longer an option in many regions: ‘Here, the main problem at present is not to conserve rare or endangered species – they are gone anyway – but rather to reverse the process of deterioration by establishing a restoration trend’. Greenways and ecological networks offer conservation solutions in largely human-modified and fragmented regions. Many protected areas exist as habitat remnants within a matrix of agricultural and/or degraded land, and some have degraded areas within their boundaries. Consequently, the integrity of the ecosystems inside these protected areas, and the ecological processes that sustain them, are under threat. Greenways and ecological networks both focus on providing ecological linkages to encourage the movement of species and nutrients.