Designing the Masoala National Park in Madagascar Based on Biological and Socioeconomic Data

: Conservation biologists have developed powerful tools for reserve selection and design over the past two decades, yet seldom are protected areas actually designed on scientific grounds. Using fundamental biological and socioeconomic principles of conservation science, we designed a new protected area and its multiple-use zone on the Masoala Peninsula in the humid forest zone of Madagascar. The explicit design criteria determined the data gathered for the work, which included (1) spatial distribution and quality of habitat, (2) the areas and species at greatest risk, (3) the relationship between environmental gradients and species distributions, (4) current and predicted human settlement and land and resource use, and (5) the economic potential of natural forest management as an alternative to deforestation. We used a geographic information system to integrate these data layers and applied the design criteria to develop a park proposal that balanced human and wildlife needs. The proposal won the approval of local residents, and a national decree in 1997 designated 2100 km2 of rainforest and three satellite marine reserves as the Masoala National Park, with a surrounding multiple-use zone of approximately 1000 km2. The new park is Madagascar's largest protected area and protects more lowland (<400 m) humid forest habitat than the entire reserve system combined, a significant step forward in conserving a globally important ecoregion. Consideration of local needs and the national economy was a key element in gaining approval for the Masoala Park. Such an approach toward reserve design could be applied elsewhere to improve chances of establishing and maintaining protected areas over the long term. Resumen: Durante las ultimas dos decadas, los biologos conservacionistas han desarrollado herramientas poderosas para la seleccion y diseno de reservas, sin embargo, aun son pocas las areas protegidas que se disenan realmente con bases cientiificas. Utilizando los principios biologicos y socioeconomicos fundamentales de la ciencia de la conservacion, disenamos una nueva area protegida y su zona de usos multiples en la Peninsula Masola en la zona de bosque humedo de Madagascar. Los criterios explicitos del diseno determinaron los datos recogidos para el trabajo, los cuales incluyeron: (1) distribucion espacial y calidad del habitat, (2) areas y especies en mayor riesgo, (3) relaciones entre gradientes ambientales y distribucion de especies, (4) establecimiento actual y predecido de humanos y uso del suelo y los recursos y (5) potencial economico del manejo del bosque natural como una alternativa a la deforestacion. Utilizamos SIG para integrar estas capas de datos y aplicamos el criterio del diseno para desarrollar una propuesta del parque que equilibrie necesidades humanas y de la vida silvestre. La propuesta gano la aprobacion de los residentes locales y un decreto nacional en 1997, mismo que designo 2100 Km2 de bosque lluvioso y tres reservas marinas satelite como el Parque Nacional Masola, con una zona aledana de usos multiples de aproximadamente 1000 Km2. El nuevo parque es el area protegida mas grande de Madagascar y protege mas tierras bajas (<400m) de habitat de bosque humedo que la totalidad del sistema de reservas combinado. Un paso significativo en la conservacion de una ecoregion globalmente importante. La consideracion de las necesidades locales y de la economia nacional fueron elementos clave para ganar la aprobacion del Parque Masola. Este tipo de aproximacion para el diseno de reservas puede ser aplicado en cualquier otra parte para mejorar las posibilidades de establecer y mantener areas protegidas a largo plazo.

[1]  Claire Kremen,et al.  Assessing the Indicator Properties of Species Assemblages for Natural Areas Monitoring. , 1992, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[2]  Ross Nelson,et al.  AVHRR-LAC estimates of forest area in Madagascar, 1990 , 1993 .

[3]  G. Green,et al.  Deforestation History of the Eastern Rain Forests of Madagascar from Satellite Images , 1990, Science.

[4]  H. Gichohi,et al.  Segregation effects and the impoverishment of savanna parks: the case for ecosystem viability analysis , 1993 .

[5]  David Tilman,et al.  A World of Wounds: Ecologists and the Human Dilemma , 1998 .

[6]  J. Terborgh,et al.  A method for siting parks and reserves with special reference to Columbia and Ecuador , 1983 .

[7]  Michiel F. De Vires.  Large Herbivores and the Design of Large‐Scale Nature Reserves in Western Europe , 1995 .

[8]  Olivier Langrand,et al.  Madagascar : revue de la conservation et des aires protégées , 1989 .

[9]  P. Alpert.  Integrated Conservation and Development Projects Examples from Africa , 1996 .

[10]  A. Bennett.  Microhabitat use by the long-nosed potoroo, Potorous tridactylus, and other small mammals in remnant forest vegetation, south-western Victoria , 1993 .

[11]  Subhrendu K. Pattanayak,et al.  Ecological and Economic Analysis of Watershed Protection in Eastern Madagascar , 1997 .

[12]  A. Johns,et al.  Timber Production and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Rain Forests: Frontmatter , 1997 .

[13]  Robert K. Colwell,et al.  Terrestrial Arthropod Assemblages: Their Use in Conservation Planning , 1993 .

[14]  R. Watson,et al.  New record, ranging behaviour, vocalization and food of the Madagascar Red Owl Tyto soumagnei , 1997 .

[15]  Paul C. Paquet,et al.  Conservation Biology and Carnivore Conservation in the Rocky Mountains , 1996 .

[16]  Dennis D. Murphy,et al.  Ecological Monitoring: A Vital Need for Integrated Conservation and Development Programs in the Tropics , 1994 .

[17]  Peter B. Landres,et al.  Use of the guild concept in environmental impact assessment , 1983 .

[18]  R. Wayne,et al.  A role for ecotones in generating rainforest biodiversity , 1997 .

[19]  Andrew P. Dobson,et al.  Hopes for the Future: Restoration Ecology and Conservation Biology , 1997 .

[20]  Kamaljit S. Bawa,et al.  Natural Forest Management and Conservation of Biodiversity in Tropical Forests , 1998 .

[21]  Participatory planning, scientific priorities, and landscape conservation in Madagascar , 1998, Environmental Conservation.

[22]  Steward T. A. Pickett,et al.  Patch dynamics and the design of nature reserves , 1978 .

[23]  Michael Wells,et al.  People and Parks: Linking Protected Area Management With Local Communities , 1992 .

[24]  R. Mittermeier,et al.  Lemurs of Madagascar , 1994 .

[25]  Claire Kremen,et al.  Biological Inventory Using Target Taxa: A Case Study of the Butterflies of Madagascar , 1994 .

[26]  Richard Margoluis,et al.  Measures of Success: Designing, Managing, and Monitoring Conservation and Development Projects , 1998 .

[27]  M. Pearl,et al.  Conservation for the twenty-first century , 1990 .

[28]  Christine Jasch,et al.  Principles and Criteria , 1997 .

[29]  Rapid Assessment of Richness and Density of Primate Species on the Masoala Peninsula, Eastern Madagascar , 1998, Folia Primatologica.

[30]  P. Sammarco.  Comments on coral reef regeneration, bioerosion, biogeography, and chemical ecology: future directions , 1996 .

[31]  Jerome K. Vanclay,et al.  GROWTH AND YIELD OF A TROPICAL RAIN FOREST IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON 13 YEARS AFTER LOGGING , 1995 .

[32]  Leemans,et al.  Impacts of climate change on ecosystems and species : marine and coastal ecosystems. A marine conservation and development report , 1994 .

[33]  Simon Ferrier,et al.  How well protected are the forests of north-eastern New South Wales? − Analyses of forest environments in relation to formal protection measures, land tenure, and vulnerability to clearing , 1996 .

[34]  Amanda T. Lombard,et al.  Reserve systems for limestone endemic flora of the Cape Lowland Fynbos: Iterative versus linear programming , 1996 .

[35]  Andrew F. Howard,et al.  Simulated financial returns and selected environmental impacts from four alternative silvicultural prescriptions applied in the neotropics: a case study of the Chimanes Forest, Bolivia , 1996 .

[36]  G. Hodgson.  Resource Use: Conflicts and Management Solutions , 1997 .

[37]  G. A. D. da Fonseca,et al.  Logging and Tropical Forest Conservation , 1998, Science.

[38]  R. Watson,et al.  Avian inventory and key species of the Masoala Peninsula, Madagascar , 1997, Bird Conservation International.

[39]  E. C. Pielou.  The Interpretation of Ecological Data: A Primer on Classification and Ordination , 1984 .

[40]  Andrew Grieser Johns,et al.  Timber Production and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Rain Forests: Field procedures , 1997 .

[41]  M. Soulé,et al.  Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity , 1987 .

[42]  M. Usher,et al.  Wildlife Conservation Evaluation , 1986 .

[43]  E. Leigh,et al.  Tree diversity on small plots in Madagascar : a preliminary review , 1996, Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie).

[44]  John E. Estes,et al.  Species RichnessA geographic approach to protecting future biological diversity , 1987 .

[45]  S. Cairns,et al.  Seven forms of rarity and their frequency in the flora of the British Isles , 1986 .

[46]  Chris Margules,et al.  Patterns in the distributions of species and the selection of nature reserves: An example from Eucalyptus forests in South-eastern New South Wales , 1989 .

[47]  J. Ganzhorn.  Low‐Level Forest Disturbance Effects on Primary Production, Leaf Chemistry, and Lemur Populations , 1995 .

[48]  J. Moat,et al.  A REFINED CLASSIFICATION OF THE PRIMARY VEGETATION OF MADAGASCAR BASED ON THE UNDERLYING GEOLOGY: USING GIS TO MAP ITS DISTRIBUTION AND TO ASSESS ITS CONSERVATION STATUS. , 1996 .

[49]  D. Simberloff,et al.  What do genetics and ecology tell us about the design of nature reserves , 1986 .

[50]  C. Kremen,et al.  Monitoring Impacts of Natural Resource Extraction on Lemurs of theMasoala Peninsula, Madagascar , 1998 .

[51]  O. Langrand.  Guide to the birds of Madagascar , 1990 .

[52]  Bruce D. Patterson,et al.  Natural change and human impact in Madagascar , 1997 .

[53]  N. Myers.  Threatened biotas: "Hot spots" in tropical forests , 1988, The Environmentalist.

[54]  M. Fenton.  Science and the Conservation of Bats , 1997 .

[55]  J. Lawton,et al.  Rare species, the coincidence of diversity hotspots and conservation strategies , 1993, Nature.

[56]  J. Finn,et al.  Remote sensing imagery for natural resources monitoring : a guide for first-time users , 1996 .

[57]  C. Kremen,et al.  A null model for species richness gradients: bounded range overlap of butterflies and other rainforest endemics in Madagascar , 1999 .

[58]  C. Schaik,et al.  Last stand: protected areas and the defense of tropical biodiversity. , 1997 .

[59]  W. Newmark,et al.  Legal and biotic boundaries of western North American national parks: A problem of congruence , 1985 .

[60]  A. P. Smith,et al.  Regional Biodiversity Planning and Lemur Conservation with GIS in Western Madagascar , 1997 .

[61]  William C. McComb,et al.  IDENTIFYING GAPS IN CONSERVATION NETWORKS: OF INDICATORS AND UNCERTAINTY IN GEOGRAPHIC-BASED ANALYSES , 1997 .

[62]  W. Newmark.  Insularization of Tanzanian Parks and the Local Extinction of Large Mammals , 1996 .

[63]  A. O. Nicholls,et al.  Selecting networks of reserves to maximise biological diversity , 1988 .

[64]  Robert K. Colwell,et al.  Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. , 1994, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[65]  K. Lance,et al.  An Interdisciplinary Tool for Monitoring Conservation Impacts in Madagascar , 1998 .

[66]  Paul R. Ehrlich,et al.  Identifying Extinction Threats: Global Analyses of the Distribution of Biodiversity and the Expansion of the Human Enterprise , 1994 .

[67]  M. Shaffer.  Minimum Population Sizes for Species Conservation , 1981 .