The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community
Box 1. The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor and the Port Honduras
Marine Reserve (Belize) (cont.)
environmental education;
a management plan for the area with clear objectives;
an integrated ecosystem approach with a conservation corridor linking the sources of major
rivers to the marine environment;
activities that help support sustainable livelihoods;
and
linkages with other organizations.
The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor is an example
of how developing countries and SIDS are working to
find a new development paradigm, that ensures sustain -
ability, includes people’s participation, and protects the
natural resource base, while generating sustainable
economic activity.
Source: Wil Maheia.
A careful examination of both case studies will illustrate the reasons why both examples met
with so much support from inception. These reasons include the:
participation of local people and other stakeholders in the planning process;
concerted effort that was made to generate sustainable livelihoods;
facilitation role of various agencies and the attracting of co-financing;
contribution of these protected areas to other developmental needs;
use of a multiplicity of planning techniques;
emergence of appropriate management structures; and
integration of flexibility into the planning process, particularly in the case of the Soufriere
Marine Management Area.
Whereas both the Praslin Protected Landscape and the Soufriere Marine Management Area
can be categorized as Protected Landscapes, they also fit Category VI of the IUCN classi -
fication, i.e., Managed Resource Reserves (MRR). MRRs are mainly managed for the sustain -
able use of ecosystems. In both the Praslin Protected Landscape and the Soufriere Marine
Management Area the goal has been to protect the natural resources while simultaneously
generating sustainable livelihoods. Within both sites can be found strict protection areas such
as marine reserves and wildlife reserves, as well as areas where humans and nature can co-exist.
Also in both cases there was no deprivation of people’s right to own land; rather there was a
consensus to manage. Outside forest reserves, marine reserves, and wildlife reserves where
strict preservation principles are applied, Protected Landscapes and Managed Resource
Reserves are the most relevant protected areas categories for Small Island Developing States
like St. Lucia.
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