Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
BOX 3.1
DEFINING GOALS, FOCAL BIOLOGICAL
ELEMENTS AND TARGETS
A goal is essentially the long-term conservation outcome
you wish to achieve. For example, in a forested landscape
of south-west Cameroon, the goal might be, 'Conserve
suffi cient connected habitat to maintain viable long-term
populations of lowland gorilla, forest elephant, and forest
buffalo'.
Focal elements refer to the set of biological characteris-
tics that make an area signifi cant for conservation. Focal
elements include species (such as elephants, endemic
birds and plant species), habitats (cloud forest, wetlands,
miombo woodlands) and processes (colonial nesting sites
for birds, elephant migration routes). For example, in the
Cameroon Highlands the endemic birds would be focal
species; the montane forests would be focal habitat; and
the hydrological function of water catchment to lowland
areas would be a focal ecological process.
A target is the amount, type, and confi guration of the
land needed to conserve the focal elements. It might also
contain, in the case of species, a determination of viable
population levels. Following the example above, a target
for, for example, mountain gorillas might be, 'Conserve
minimum of 500 km 2 of interconnected forests ranging
in altitude from 1400 metres to 3000 metres, and access
to water'. A full set of targets should maintain the focal
elements of an area.
for interventions across larger landscapes (Franks, 2001; Burgess et al.,
2002b). In recent years, a landscape approach to the design and imple-
mentation of ICDPs has been in favour, for example in the Participatory
Environment Management Programme in Uganda and Tanzania. 2 The
design of ICDPs at the landscape scale is perhaps even more challenging
than at smaller scales. Landscape-level design can use biological features
(forest cover, area-dependent species, ecological processes) to derive the
conservation targets (Box 3.1). Alternatively, the targets for the ICDP
can be derived from analyses of the threats (or pressures) to the natural
resource values (Box 3.2), or can use human socioeconomic indicators to
design the conservation interventions. Whether using biological features,
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