ABSTRACT
In order for PAs to provide benefits – both in terms of biodiversity conservation and socio-economic well-being – a number of measures need to be carried out to ensure that PAs are effectively designated and managed. As outlined in Chapter 3, these measures include maintaining or restoring the site, such as the removal of invasive alien species or reintroduction of native species, investing in physical infrastructure to facilitate human access, and activities to monitor PA’s ecological status. Some profitable activities within PAs may be stopped or reduced if they have a negative impact on sites’ biodiversity and ecosystems, such as certain agriculture practices or building developments. This means that securing the proper functioning of PAs requires costs to be incurred (see Section 3.3), either in terms of time and resources (management costs) or in terms of forgone lucrative activities which are prevented by the PA (opportunity costs). PAs can also be a source of human-wildlife conflicts and/or lead to broader social and welfare costs – even in extreme cases including displacement of local communities – creating inconvenience or damages to local populations. All of these costs need to be taken into account when assessing PAs in order to identify their net benefits (see Chapter 12).
