ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the reasons for uncertainty about the effectiveness of protected area management and outlines one possible approach to addressing the issue. Spiritual and cultural values have often been the primary motives for the protection of mountains by traditional societies, and it is believed that: ‘the reverence that mountains tend to awaken in cultures around the world provides a powerful source of motivation for preserving biodiversity’. In mountains, and all other environments, a detailed assessment and documentation of values and existing or potential threats to them provides a necessary basis for management planning and can also provide benchmarks for future monitoring. The linkage of management and strategic objectives is a mechanism for propagating strategic values. Arrangements cover a spectrum from sole control and implementation by the protected area authority, to collaborative management involving a large number of interest groups, to full control and implementation by communities.
