What are the key factors of success of conservation actions?
Protected areas are an essential part of conservation programs, particularly for sensitive habitats. However, these areas alone are not sufficient to ensure the conservation of the full range of biodiversity. For protected areas to be successful, sites need to be carefully chosen while making sure that different types of ecosystems are well represented. In many cases, geographic areas may be labeled as a protected area without sufficient management planning, monitoring and evaluation, and budgets for security and law enforcement. Marine and freshwater ecosystems are even less well protected than terrestrial ecosystems, leading to increasing efforts to expand marine protected areas. Yet, the enforcement of marine protected areas is difficult, as a large part of the world’s oceans lies outside national jurisdictions. Protected areas may increase poverty when they lead to local rural communities being excluded from resources upon which they have traditionally relied. However, protected ar
