TITLE:
Can PA Governance Improve PA Outcomes: A Review of the Debates
AUTHORS:
Jones Lewis Arthur
KEYWORDS:
Protected Area, Governance, Legitimacy, Voice, Direction, Performance, Fair-ness, Accountability
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.7,
July
30,
2021
ABSTRACT:
Governance in the management of biodiversity
conservation serves to provide people, particularly vulnerable human societies
with opportunities for livelihood, recreation and renewal, water, food, clear
air, the genetic potential of wild species, cultural values and visitor opportunities to nature sites. The
paper explores protected area governance processes and structures,
particularly; the link between improved governance and improved PA outputs. The
main components of protected area (PA) governance (including legitimacy and
voice, direction, performance, fairness and
accountability) in respect to linking PA governance and improved PA outcomes
were examined. The paper explores the content analysis methodology to examine
the link between PA governance and PA outcomes from the perspective of
management effectiveness. Content analysis is a useful tool for exploring issues such as PA governance and outcomes from the perspective of the
qualitative content analysis to interpret the symbolic construction of
meanings. The content analysis applied both quantitatively and qualitatively
approaches to systematically analyze written, verbal or visual documentation to provide a better understanding of issues
relating to PA governance and how it relates to PA outcomes. Content analysis
was used to develop frames from the extant literature. The results were used to
make inferences about the key issues and conclusions raised in the literature
under broad frameworks developed from the categorization of the content in the
extant literature. The paper identified that the application of effective PA
governance is critical to achieving conservation outcomes. Good PA governance that
complements PA outcomes works best when factors including the coherence of
rules and decision-making processes, proper networks are built, and
decentralization works and is fully backed by relevant institutional reforms.
Good PA governance that complements PA outcomes works best when factors
including the coherence of rules and decision-making processes, proper networks
are built, and decentralization works and is fully backed by relevant
institutional reforms.