ABSTRACT
Global biodiversity is seriously threatened by widespread habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity is especially acute in the equatorial belt, where the greatest part of the world’s biodiversity is concentrated (Western and Pearl 1989). Protected areas, notably national parks with strict protection regimes, are widely considered a principal means for conserving global biodiversity. However, there is growing recognition that protected areas cannot effectively achieve the conservation of biodiversity needed at the wider landscape levels beyond them. Also, new paradigms in protected areas governance are emerging that embrace a ‘humans in nature’ view, recognizing the critical roles played by local and indigenous communities in biodiversity conservation (Phillips 2003; Berkes 2007; Dudley 2008; Borrini-Feyerabend et al 2010). There is also an acknowledged need to redress injustices suffered by indigenous people in natural resource access and use (Brechin et al 2003).
