A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART II
Protected Areas for Small Islands
defined areas. It may be possible to accomplish this through a multiple use approach
whereby areas are zoned for different uses and such uses are controlled by season
to regulate the capture of breeding organisms, and the use and management of
resources is divided among villages toward their self-interest in the sustainability of
harvest.
3.5 Design Guidelines and Considerations
The entire island should be protected if all of its area is important for conservation
(e.g., a small island totally covered by nesting seabirds). If not, limited access and
facilities may be appropriate in areas well separated and naturally screened from the
conservation sites.
Managing visitor use and access require greater emphasis than details of design
on protected islands. Nonetheless, it is important to buffer islands from upcurrent
sources of pollution, particularly oil production and loading sites. Oil can be disastrous
to species inhabiting the ocean-atmosphere and ocean-land interfaces.
One large island is generally a better choice than several smaller ones of the
same total area, because the straits separating an island cluster may prove impassable
barriers to many species.
If circumstances demand that one select a cluster of smaller islands rather than
a large one, it is important that these should be as close together as possible to
increase the chances of immigration.
A protected area on an island should be as circular as possible. This maximizes
the area-to- perimeter ratio, which minimizes the dispersal distances within a reserve.
Elongate protected areas and islands are likely to suffer “peninsula effects,” for
example, dispersal rates to outlying parts from central areas may be too slow to avoid
local extinction.
Theoretically speaking, an island protected area should be as close to a source
of colonizing species as possible (a mainland or large island) to maximize the
immigration rate and the survival of a greater diversity of organisms. In practice,
however, islands closer to human habitation are less likely to retain their pristine
condition, and have greater poaching problems. The choice between a nearby island
with a higher immigration rate of both organisms and people and a remote, more
pristine island must be determined by the proximity of human habitation and the degree
of threat posed by people.
Distribution of endemic species among protected areas on several different islands
increases their survival prospects in the face of disease or accidental introduction of
predators (rats, cats).
There are a few proponents of designing a protected area around a number of
small islands rather than on one large island, citing several advantages:
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