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Evaluating the impacts of protected areas on human well-being across the developing world.


ABSTRACT: Protected areas (PAs) are fundamental for biodiversity conservation, yet their impacts on nearby residents are contested. We synthesized environmental and socioeconomic conditions of >87,000 children in >60,000 households situated either near or far from >600 PAs within 34 developing countries. We used quasi-experimental hierarchical regression to isolate the impact of living near a PA on several aspects of human well-being. Households near PAs with tourism also had higher wealth levels (by 17%) and a lower likelihood of poverty (by 16%) than similar households living far from PAs. Children under 5 years old living near multiple-use PAs with tourism also had higher height-for-age scores (by 10%) and were less likely to be stunted (by 13%) than similar children living far from PAs. For the largest and most comprehensive socioeconomic-environmental dataset yet assembled, we found no evidence of negative PA impacts and consistent statistical evidence to suggest PAs can positively affect human well-being.

SUBMITTER: Naidoo R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6447379 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluating the impacts of protected areas on human well-being across the developing world.

Naidoo R R   Gerkey D D   Hole D D   Pfaff A A   Ellis A M AM   Golden C D CD   Herrera D D   Johnson K K   Mulligan M M   Ricketts T H TH   Fisher B B  

Science advances 20190403 4


Protected areas (PAs) are fundamental for biodiversity conservation, yet their impacts on nearby residents are contested. We synthesized environmental and socioeconomic conditions of >87,000 children in >60,000 households situated either near or far from >600 PAs within 34 developing countries. We used quasi-experimental hierarchical regression to isolate the impact of living near a PA on several aspects of human well-being. Households near PAs with tourism also had higher wealth levels (by 17%)  ...[more]

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