The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community
sustainable living. This is the idea behind Protected Landscapes and Seascapes, or
Category V in the IUCN system of protected area categorisation.
The Category V approach is not a soft option: managing the interface between people
and nature is just about the toughest challenge facing society, and Category V
management is all about that. Nor are such places second class protected areas: rather
they are an essential complement to more strictly protected ones. Indeed, Protected
Landscapes are an idea whose time has come, and IUCN is pleased to promote their
wider use and higher management standards (Phillips, 2002).
Category V and the new paradigm
As Yolanda Kakabadse observed, Category V protected areas can teach us about sustainable
living, a theme that was touched on in the general discussion on landscape above. Indeed, the
growing interest in Category V protected areas reflects a wider process that has led to the
emergence of a new paradigm for protected areas.
Though the coverage of protected areas has grown impressively over the years, serious gaps
remain. Moreover, many existing protected areas face serious threats. Indeed the crude total
number and extent of protected areas tell us nothing about how well they are managed. Thus,
even when these areas exist in law, they often suffer from encroachment, poaching, unregulated
tourism, deforestation, desertification, pollution and so forth. Most protected areas lack
management plans, yet such plans are essential if a national park or a nature reserve is to
achieve its stated aims. Many protected area managers lack the necessary skills – business skills
for example (see Hughes in this volume). Often these places are ignored in national and
Participatory approaches and partnerships with diverse groups are part of a new paradigm for protected
areas management. Clayton F. Lino
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