From mountain gorillas in Uganda to Bengal tigers in South Asia, world conservationists are working with The University of Queensland Gatton in a bid to better manage environmental landmarks.
Dr Marc Hockings, a senior lecturer in environmental management at UQ Gatton, is leading the project. His brief is to work with managers of 10 of the world’s most exotic and endangered locations and develop monitoring systems to assess their management of these important sites, many of which are threatened by poachers, encroachers, tourism, development impacts and civil war.
The project includes the Royal National Park Chitwan, at the foot of the Himalayas with its Bengal tigers and single-horned Asiatic rhinoceros, and the tropical rainforests and glaciers in Latin America’s Sangay National Park, currently listed as a World Heritage in Danger.
An assessment of park management has also been undertaken for the Aldabra Atoll, and its giant tortoises, about 700km east of the African mainland, and an assessment is being completed for the Serengeti, in Tanzania, home of one of the largest remaining migrations of wildlife in the world.
The team have also turned their gaze to one of the mountain gorilla’s last remaining strongholds.
“One of the areas we’re looking at is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in Uganda, and that is home to nearly half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas,” said Dr Hockings, who is also vice chair of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas.
“Were are trying to get a clear understanding of where management is working well, where it can be improved and how to further tackle issues like the problems caused by the civil war and impacts of surrounding land use, poaching, disease and encroachment.”
The four-year, US$2 million project, Enhancing our Heritage: monitoring and managing for success in Natural World Heritage sites, involves some of the world’s leading conservation bodies including the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the IUCN. The United Nations Foundation (UNF) funded the project, which also includes Africa’s Greater St Lucia Wetlands; Kaziranga and Keoladeo National Parks in South Asia; and Canaima and Rio Platano National Parks in Latin America.
With the first 12 months of the project now complete, conservationists have pinpointed key strengths to build on – like strong community consultation at Bwindi – and deficiencies to tackle, such as the absence of current site management plans.
“Based on the research I did in the late 1990s on methods for evaluating effective management of protected areas, UNESCO became interested in applying that approach in the management of world heritage sites and improving the reporting and monitoring of those sites,” Dr Hockings said.
Working with Sue Stolton and Nigel Dudley in the United Kingdom, and Jose Courrau of Costa Rica, Dr Hockings said the world-first project would help ensure treasured natural wonders were managed effectively with decision-makers able to more clearly identify management problems and direct scarce resources to areas of need.
“This project helps sites develop a systematic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of their current management and to design appropriate ongoing monitoring and management assessment programs to better conserve the values of these areas,” Dr Hockings said.
“The next step is to put more extensive monitoring programs in place to address gaps in our knowledge and to track changes in management and the condition of resources over time.”
Media: For further information please contact Dr Marc Hockings (07) 54601 140 or Anthony Smith on 0409 265587. Images can be downloaded from:
https://www.uq.edu.au/news/press/press-gallery.php
