Reporting progress in protected areas : a site-level management effectiveness tracking tool

Abstract

There is a growing concern amongst protected area professionals that many protected areas around the world are not achieving the objectives for which they were established. One response to this concern has been an emphasis on the need to increase the effectiveness of protected area management, and to help this process a number of assessment tools have been developed to assess management practices. It is clear that the existence of a wide range of situations and needs requires different methods of assessment. The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) has therefore developed a 'framework' for assessment. The WCPA framework aims both to provide some overall guidance in the development of assessment systems and to encourage standards for assessment and reporting.