National Parks and Protected Areas

Developing countries frequently have huge protected area estates, but few management resources. Approaches to conservation developed three or four decades ago may not have adapted to changing social and economic circumstances.

Protected area managers are increasingly having to change their approaches in response to financial, technical, social and political realities. Protected areas are having to become more integrated with development processes beyond their borders.

The situation is dynamic, and new skills and approaches are required all the time, reflecting new policies and laws, new institutional structures and new financing mechanisms.

Just as protected areas represent the front line of conservation in developing countries, so the design, development and management of protected area networks represent one of The Environment and Development Group’s front lines of concern and expertise.

We have contributed to the management of numerous protected areas and associated projects in a range of different habitats, both temperate and tropical, terrestrial and marine. We have been able to do this primarily through the management of long-term, donor-funded projects. We have also undertaken the evaluation of a number of major projects designed to improve the management of key protected areas.

EDG’s work in protected areas has taken us to over fifty countries on four continents.