ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses what the public sector is doing to improve Protected Areas (PAs) governance and management and what can be done to improve in these aspects. PAs are areas of land and/or sea, managed through legislation or other means, and especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and natural and associated cultural resources. Certifications and frameworks to assess governance and management effectiveness are two current trends among PAs. The quality of governance determines PAs' ability to set and meet conservation objectives to benefit society. A country's governance determines the ability of the public administration to deal with issues such as accountability, corruption, culture, decentralisation, democracy, rule of law and globalisation. Improvement on accountability, disclosure and transparency enhance collaboration and trust between regulators, PAs, corporations and civil society. In Canada and Mexico, land expropriation to create PAs caused conflicts between PA managers and former landowners.
