Evaluation of management effectiveness in protected areas: Methodologies and results

Protected areas (PAs) play an important role in biodiversity conservation and the implementation of ambitious multilateral environmental agreements, like the 2010 targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In the CBD's Programme of Work on Protected Areas, it is requested that each country conduct management effectiveness evaluations of at least thirty percent of its PAs by 2010. This article compares the most common methodologies of PA management effectiveness evaluations, such as the Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) Methodology, the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) and UNESCO's Enhancing our Heritage (EoH) Toolkit. These and other methodologies can help to (1) examine overall effectiveness of PAs, (2) identify factors influencing the effectiveness and (3) determine common threats and their seriousness. However, the outcomes of major studies concerning overall effectiveness as well as success and failure factors for PA management are partially contradictory. Different results can be due to the approach (e.g. number and type of indicators or assessors included in the evaluation process) or to the individual context of the PA (e.g. age, region, IUCN category) and therefore these factors need to be considered when comparing results of management effectiveness studies. Research indicates that increased attention should be paid to regular monitoring of conservation activities in PAs including systematic social science studies with a socio-economic and socio-cultural focus. Unfortunately, the outcomes of the management effectiveness studies are not easily accessible and have not yet been widely shared or distributed among the conservation community.