The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community
Within this system are Category V Protected Landscapes/Seascapes – protected areas based
on the interaction of people and nature, and the principal designation for lived-in landscapes.
This category of protected areas, along with Category VI Managed Resource Protected Areas,
is introduced briefly in the next section, and explored in more detail in this book’s chapters.
Emerging trends in conservation and protected area management set the stage for a greater
emphasis on protecting landscapes, and for a new approach that engages people in stewardship
and embraces the interactions of people and nature.
Conservation strategies are becoming increasingly bio-regional. The field of conservation
biology has highlighted the pressing need to work on the scale of ecosystems and the wider
landscape to conserve biological diversity. Worldwide, there is growing recognition that
protected areas can no longer be treated as islands, but must be seen in a larger context. The
phenomenon of “paper parks”– protected areas in name only – has demonstrated forcefully that
approaches that rely solely on regulation and enforcement are costly and too often meet with
failure. Recognising that protected areas cannot be viewed in isolation from the communities
within and near them, protected area managers are adopting inclusive models, in which
collaborative management, partnerships and community-based approaches play a growing role
(Brown and Mitchell, 2000a).
An important trend, basic to the protected landscape approach articulated here, is a new
understanding of the linkages between nature and culture: that healthy landscapes are shaped
by human culture as well as the forces of nature, that rich biological diversity often coincides
with cultural diversity, and that conservation cannot be undertaken without the involvement of
those people closest to the resources.
In the chapter that follows this one, Adrian Phillips presents the elements of a new paradigm
for protected areas.
What are protected landscapes and seascapes
Landscapes may be protected by a variety of designations and tools, including some that are not
formally recognised within national or international protected area systems, and yet play an
important role in sustaining landscapes. Often protected landscapes are located adjacent to, or
within, other categories of protected areas, as part of a mosaic of protection.
As noted earlier, a primary tool is through formal designation as a Protected Landscape/
Seascape – Category V in the IUCN category system (see Appendix 2). According to the 1994
IUCN Guidelines for Protected Area Management Categories, the definition of a Category V
Protected Landscape/Seascape is:
... an area of land, with coast and sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and
nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic,
ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. 2
2
For a comprehensive introduction to Category V protected areas, and guidance for managing these
areas, refer to Management Guidelines for IUCN Category V Protected Areas: Protected Landscapes/
Seascapes (Phillips, 2002).
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