Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
Research Article

Land-use and land-cover change shape the sustainability and impacts of protected areas

Anteneh T. Tesfaw, Alexander Pfaff, Rachel E. Golden Kroner, Siyu Qin, Rodrigo Medeiros, and View ORCID ProfileMichael B. Mascia
  1. aMoore Center for Science, Conservation International, Arlington, VA 22202;
  2. bSanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708;
  3. cDepartment of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030;
  4. dAmericas Field Division, Conservation International, RJ 20040-006 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

See allHide authors and affiliations

PNAS February 27, 2018 115 (9) 2084-2089; first published February 12, 2018; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1716462115
Anteneh T. Tesfaw
aMoore Center for Science, Conservation International, Arlington, VA 22202;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: antentil@gmail.com
Alexander Pfaff
bSanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rachel E. Golden Kroner
aMoore Center for Science, Conservation International, Arlington, VA 22202;
cDepartment of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Siyu Qin
aMoore Center for Science, Conservation International, Arlington, VA 22202;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rodrigo Medeiros
dAmericas Field Division, Conservation International, RJ 20040-006 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Michael B. Mascia
aMoore Center for Science, Conservation International, Arlington, VA 22202;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Michael B. Mascia
  1. Edited by Anthony J. Bebbington, Clark University, Worcester, MA, and approved January 17, 2018 (received for review September 18, 2017)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Significance

Emerging evidence shows that the boundaries of protected areas (PAs) and their level of protection regularly change, yet little is known regarding the underlying causes of these legal changes and their impacts on ecosystems. For PA degazettements (i.e., protection removals) in the state of Rondônia in the Brazilian Amazon we show that the PAs less effective in stemming deforestation are more likely to be degazetted. For those already deforested PAs degazettement had limited, if any, additional impact on deforestation. Consistent with the scientific literature recognizing that governance shapes conservation outcomes, governance that improves PA outcomes also improves their legal durability. Our evidence on such relationships suggests directions for research and the need for policymakers to reexamine conventional wisdom regarding PAs.

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) remain the dominant policy to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services but have been shown to have limited impact when development interests force them to locations with lower deforestation pressure. Far less known is that such interests also cause widespread tempering, reduction, or removal of protection [i.e., PA downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD)]. We inform responses to PADDD by proposing and testing a bargaining explanation for PADDD risks and deforestation impacts. We examine recent degazettements for hydropower development and rural settlements in the state of Rondônia in the Brazilian Amazon. Results support two hypotheses: (i) ineffective PAs (i.e., those where internal deforestation was similar to nearby rates) were more likely to be degazetted and (ii) degazettement of ineffective PAs caused limited, if any, additional deforestation. We also report on cases in which ineffective portions were upgraded. Overall our results suggest that enhancing PAs’ ecological impacts enhances their legal durability.

  • protected area
  • hydropower
  • impact evaluation
  • land-use change
  • land-cover change

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: antentil{at}gmail.com.
  • Author contributions: A.T.T., A.P., R.E.G.K., and M.B.M. designed research; A.T.T., A.P., R.E.G.K., S.Q., R.M., and M.B.M. performed research; A.T.T. and A.P. analyzed data; A.T.T., R.E.G.K., and S.Q. prepared data; M.B.M. conceived the idea; and A.T.T., A.P., R.E.G.K., S.Q., R.M., and M.B.M. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1716462115/-/DCSupplemental.

Published under the PNAS license.

View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Land-use and land-cover change shape the sustainability and impacts of protected areas
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Determinants and impacts of protected area removals
Anteneh T. Tesfaw, Alexander Pfaff, Rachel E. Golden Kroner, Siyu Qin, Rodrigo Medeiros, Michael B. Mascia
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2018, 115 (9) 2084-2089; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1716462115

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Determinants and impacts of protected area removals
Anteneh T. Tesfaw, Alexander Pfaff, Rachel E. Golden Kroner, Siyu Qin, Rodrigo Medeiros, Michael B. Mascia
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2018, 115 (9) 2084-2089; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1716462115
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Article Classifications

  • Social Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 115 (9)
Table of Contents

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Conceptual Framework: Bargaining
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Materials and Methods
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Water from a faucet fills a glass.
News Feature: How “forever chemicals” might impair the immune system
Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov.
Reflection of clouds in the still waters of Mono Lake in California.
Inner Workings: Making headway with the mysteries of life’s origins
Recent experiments and simulations are starting to answer some fundamental questions about how life came to be.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Radoslaw Lecyk.
Cave in coastal Kenya with tree growing in the middle.
Journal Club: Small, sharp blades mark shift from Middle to Later Stone Age in coastal Kenya
Archaeologists have long tried to define the transition between the two time periods.
Image credit: Ceri Shipton.
Mouse fibroblast cells. Electron bifurcation reactions keep mammalian cells alive.
Exploring electron bifurcation
Jonathon Yuly, David Beratan, and Peng Zhang investigate how electron bifurcation reactions work.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Panda bear hanging in a tree
How horse manure helps giant pandas tolerate cold
A study finds that giant pandas roll in horse manure to increase their cold tolerance.
Image credit: Fuwen Wei.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Cozzarelli Prize
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates
  • FAQs
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Rights & Permissions
  • About
  • Contact

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490