Measuring benefits of protected area management: trends across realms and research gaps for freshwater systems

Protected areas are crucial for global conservation, yet their effectiveness in halting biodiversity decline remains unclear. While studies often focus on deforestation, they overlook other threats like pollution and connectivity issues, particularly in freshwater systems. This review highlights significant barriers to measuring the impact of protected area management in freshwater ecosystems, such as variability, connectivity, and time lags in outcomes. Unlike terrestrial systems, freshwater environments face unique challenges due to downstream threat propagation (e.g., pollution flow). The study contrasts these barriers with those in terrestrial realms and identifies key research gaps. Using Kakadu National Park—a vast Australian World Heritage Site—as a case study, it illustrates the complexities of evaluating environmental outcomes in freshwater protected areas.

Adams, V. M., Setterfield, S. A., Douglas, M. M., Kennard, M. J., & Ferdinands, K. (2015). Measuring benefits of protected area management: trends across realms and research gaps for freshwater systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1681), 20140274. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0274