Terrestrial protected areas exist in 169 countries covering 5.2% of the Earths land area, of this 3% is subject to strict protection Ghimire and Pimbert, 1997, p.9. Whilst marine protected areas account for an additional 3million km² Ghimire and Pimbert, 1997, p.9. These protected areas are recognized at international level through classification criteria resulting in legislative protection. Establishing management of protected areas at the local scale will be the focus of this essay. Addressing the capacity of the community in decision making processes, with the benefits and drawbacks that their inclusion incurs. The theory of political ecology, seeking to...
of time and that communities can successfully be involved in management activities. The community are key participants in resource use and therefore should have a greater input into management activities. Early community projects such as CAMPFIRE failed because the community was not sufficiently informed. Since then projects like those in Chile have built on the knowledge gained from past experiences. In the future it is likely that the management activities will develop further with local communities as governments recognize the need to decentralize some aspects of decision making to safeguard the future of the resources in need of protection.