One Region, Several Municipalities, Many Communities

Abstract

The dominant model for protected areas worldwide is in a state of flux. A vocabulary is emerging to codify new ideas about what a protected area is and how it should be managed. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas and its partners share a vision for protected areas of the 21st Century. This vision introduces new ideas that have the potential to be ecologically and socially constructive. These ideas include conservation strategies that become mainstream public policy, that emphasize bioregional approaches, and that involve local people. The IUCN recommends that decision-making authority be shared between the regional, municipal and community levels. The Condor Bioreserve, in highland Ecuador, has many elements of the archetypical protected area of the 21st Century as described by the IUCN. This paper makes three central recommendations for effective bioregional planning that does not compromise power at the local and municipal levels: (1) The Condor Bioreserve concept should transition into a neutral concept that all stakeholders feel a part of, rather than an exclusive idea that emanates from The Nature Conservancy, (2) plans that will be implemented across the entire bioregion should be limited, extremely specific, and clearly communicated to all participants. Finally, (3) municipalities and community park guards should be genuinely involved in all bioregional planning.

Key Words:

• Bioreserve
• Ecuador
• protected area management
• bioregional conservation
• community-based conservation
• World Commission on Protected Areas
• decentralization