Why socio-political borders and boundaries matter in conservation

Abstract

opinion why socio-political borders and boundaries matter in conservation martin dallimer1 and niels strange2 1 sustainability research institute, school of earth and environment, university of leeds, leeds, ls2 9jt, uk 2 department of food and resource economics and center for macroecology, evolution and climate, university of copenhagen, rolighedsvej 23, 1958 copenhagen, denmark acting to demarcate the spatial limits of decision-making processes, socio-political boundaries are an inevitable part of a human-dominated world. rarely coincident with ecological boundaries, and thus having no ecological functional role by themselves, they nevertheless impose substantial costs on biodiversity and ecosystem conservation by fragmenting ownership, governance, and management. where boundaries are in place, a lack of coordination on either side of a boundary affects the efficiency and efficacy of ecosystem management. we suggest four research pathways which will enhance our ability to address the adverse effects of socio-political borders on conservation: (i) scale-matching, (ii) quantification of the mutual economic benefits of conservation across boundaries, (iii) determining transboundary societal values, and (iv) acknowledging the importance of stakeholder behaviour and incentives. landscapes. these management by boundaries most ecosystems have been appropriated for human use [1], and the opportunity for large-scale conservation of wilderness is lost for much of the planet. in many …

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