Abstract

The event is free to attend but registration is required. To book your place please visit http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/26617. Places are limited.

Paul Ferraro, the Humanitas Visiting Professor in Sustainability Studies 2015-16, will participate in a seminar run by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. This is part of a series of events with Paul Ferraro on the theme of Effective Environmentalism. The seminar will be chaired by Professor Nigel Leader-Williams (Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership).

To develop effective protected area networks, practitioners need credible, scientific evidence about the degree to which protected areas affect environmental and social outcomes, and how these effects vary with context. Such evidence has been lacking, but the situation is changing as conservation scientists adopt more sophisticated research designs for evaluating protected areas’ past impacts and for predicting their future impacts. With a deeper understanding of the moderators and mechanisms through which protected areas operate, scholars and practitioners are more likely to design and implement protected areas in ways that enhance their desired impacts and reduce their undesired consequences. Professor Ferraro describes the growing empirical evidence base, the gaps in our knowledge, and the current evidence implies for effective protected area design.