The Circle: Protected Areas and Beyond

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: WWF 2012
• Subjects: Atmosphere; Fauna; Terrestrial; Arctic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/1734/; http://library.arcticportal.org/1734/1/circle0312_web.pdf

The history of protected areas in the Arctic goes back more than a century, to the establishment of Afognak Island State Park in Alaska. Historically, such parks were considered to be places that would protect natural values, from species to landscapes. However, there are pressures in the Arctic that mean future conservation models must expand from the existing, relatively static park system towards more dynamic and comprehensive concepts. In this issue of the Circle, we explore existing models for a new, expanded conservation approach and consider how they could be applied in the North -- whether by adapting a successful model from somewhere else in the globe, or growing a local approach in the Arctic. Whatever the conservation methods chosen, it is clear that the Arctic is changing fast, and that policy makers and conservation managers must also move quickly in order to be effective at conserving the locally and globally valued – not to mention valuable - species, landscapes, and ecosystems in the region.