Conservation and social outcomes of private protected areas

Government administered protected areas (PAs) have dominated conservation strategies, discourse and research, yet private actors are increasingly managing land for conservation. Little is known about the social and environmental outcomes of these privately protected areas (PPAs). We review the global literature on PPAs in English and their environmental and social outcomes. We find research on PPAs is geographically skewed. There is evidence of mostly positive environmental outcomes, but social outcomes of PPAs are reported less and more mixed. PPAs can increase the number or extent of different ecosystems, ecoregions or species covered by PAs (representativeness), PA network connectivity and be effective at reducing deforestation and restoring degraded lands. Few PPA owners report negative social outcomes and receive improved social capital, property value and a reduction in taxes. Local communities benefit from increased employment, training and community wide developments (e.g. building of schools) but they report reduced social capital and no significant difference to household income. The causal mechanisms through which PPAs influence social and environmental outcomes remain unclear, or how political, economic and social contexts shape these. Further research would benefit from widening the geographical focus and diversifying the types of PPA being studied. Future research should also put greater emphasis on evaluating how PPAs operate as institutions and the environmental and social outcomes of PPAs in varying contexts, determining their casual mechanisms and how PPA benefits (if any) are shared. Lastly, we propose an initial framework for how PPAs can be assessed to better inform PPA conservation policy and practice.

Article Impact statement: Private protected areas appear to have positive environmental impacts, but their social outcomes are less clear.