ABSTRACT
Advocates of an ecosystem approach to establishing and managing protected areas recognize the complex dynamics between natural and social systems. This complexity includes the need for people to help restore and maintain ecological integrity and biological diversity while preserving a sustainable livelihood for themselves and for their communities (Slocombe, 2003; Dorcey, 2003; Ellsworth and Jones-Walters, 2006). This understanding is accompanied by a call to increase democratic processes for making decisions about the management of those areas, in particular to include local people in decisions that affect them directly (Cortner and Moote, 1999; Bagbey and Kusel, 2003). Community participation could range from education and stewardship projects to negotiated co-management agreements for governing natural resources, such as fisheries or forests. Francis (this volume) provides a more global overview of governance and systems perspectives that influence or impact upon protected areas. We portray some of the ways these larger-scale factors are exemplified more immediately within protected areas situated in regional landscapes.
