To preserve some environments, to avoid irreversible disruption of ecosystems and promote sustainable use of natural resources, are defined areas where different policies are implemented to regulate and / or restrict human activities.
What is wilderness? What are the criteria to establish protected areas? What are biosphere reserves? This article find some answers.
Wilderness
Usually, the concept of wilderness reminds us of the natural environment, which would include wilderness areas, areas with minimal human transformations and marginal productive sectors such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, among others. However, many of these seemingly untouched areas are just fragments of what were later, and even not excluded from global processes, such as pollution and climate change. That is, there are now nearly fully untouched environments, and this allows us to question the naturalness and unspoilt wilderness.
Wilderness areas are one of the main objects of the policies of conservation. However, in the context of societal needs and current human activities, the proposals for conservation of these areas should focus on the types of relationships between society and nature rather than any specific component in protecting the natural environment (an endangered species, for example). This is the conservation of wilderness areas should not be deployed using isolated actions and external social processes.
The conclusion seems inevitable. However, conservation policies have not always been handled with this approach. Throughout history, the positions have been different.
"Preserve or conserve?
In the last century, the predominant preservationism between forms of conservation nature. This predominance responded to the interests of certain sectors of society to protect European and American, for their own enjoyment, certain monumental landscapes (Yellowstone National Park, for example) are perceived as free nature of human intervention. Coinciding with this trend, in force until the late 70's and also present in Argentina, created national parks and protected strictly precluding human settlements and activities.
Between 20 and 30, were incorporated scientific ideas to the field of preservation, thanks to the contribution of ecology, which highlighted the importance of maintaining natural processes ecosystems. These ideas allowed in protected areas make no monumental sites, such as coastlines and wetlands.
More recently, conservation policies have focused on the problem of maintaining natural resources to allow the welfare of society, both the present generation as the future. To do this, we have incorporated the concept of "sustainable development" which, unlike the preservationist stance stresses the need to conserve the scenery and at the same time allow a rational use of natural resources.
In this spirit, which involves the active participation of society in the conservation of resources, are designed biosphere reserves of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) of UNESCO. These are a special type of protected area.
What to keep?
Protected areas are areas where policies are implemented conservation.
The conservation of these areas involves respect ecological processes, preventing human actions prevent or modification, as various ecosystems and species would not survive under current conditions without strict protection. Keep
does not mean avoiding any alteration in the environments and ecosystems. In fact, from the ecological point of view, ecosystems are not free of changes, as they show a more or less regular behavior of disturbance-regeneration. This behavior is usually a regular or recurring cases (pulses of fire, floods, droughts, geological events, etc.). In this context, human modifications do not disrupt the equilibrium situations but are integrated altering the ecosystem disturbance regime.
conservation policies take into account land use (agriculture, tourism, urban, etc.).. Therefore, in many places, protected areas are planned considering the economic activities. In some cases, it promotes the different actors involved agree the actions to be faced in order to conserve natural resources that use. For this, it is desirable to clearly see the benefits from these actions.
Currently, conservation means managing the environment to reach predetermined targets that can be ecological, social, economic, scientific and cultural. The protected area management includes a proposal for actions and use of tools to get the best result in the continued development and natural resources.
What is a protected area?
A protected area is an area of \u200b\u200bnatural features and semi-fall within certain defined limits, which is subject to resource management to achieve objectives. A protected area may belong to the nation or a provincial government agency, but can also be privately owned, and handled in accordance with standards set by state authorities.
priority is usually at least five environmental reasons for the creation of protected areas:
- The preservation of large ecosystems to ensure that ecological processes continue to provide environmental services. The
- preservation of biodiversity, which involves the creation of reserves in areas with high species richness or in areas with a high degree of endemism (species that are specific to a particular region) and other unique environments. The
- protection of charismatic species, ie species with special attractions such as its beauty and, in general, are large and visible. This motivation allows the care of other species sharing the habitat, but, as less attractive, not an aesthetic value and appeal are the subject of conservation policies. Thus, many species are protected under the "umbrella" of the species of interest.
- The protection of landscapes of high scenic value , regardless of content in terms of biodiversity.
- compensation The impact of a project . That is, is intended to protect a surface area equal to or greater than the hit of the same type of habitat, with similar environmental quality. This motif serves to offset the loss of sites but do not possess the four attributes listed above meet important ecological functions.
