Leaving Space for Nature

This book provides the first contemporary assessment of area-based conservation and its implications for nature and society.

Now covering 15 per cent of the land surface and a growing area of ocean, the creation of protected areas is one of the fastest conscious changes in land management in history. But this has come at a cost, including a backlash from human rights organisations about the social impacts of protected areas. At the same time, a range of new types of area-based conservation has emerged, based on indigenous people¿s territories, local community lands and a new designation of ¿other effective area-based conservation measures¿. This book provides a concise overview of the status and possible futures of area-based conservation. With many people calling for half the earth¿s land surface to remain in a natural condition, this book taps into the urgent debate about the feasibility of such an aim and the ways in which such land might be managed. It provides a timely co