%0 Journal Article
%T A Comparison of the South African and United States Models of Natural Areas Management
%A Daniel S. Licht
%A Brian C. Kenner
%A Daniel E. Roddy
%J ISRN Biodiversity
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/737832
%X In May-June of 2013 we visited several South African parks and reserves to learn about wildlife and natural areas management in that country. We focused our visit on parks and reserves that are of moderate size (5,000¨C100,00£¿ha), comprised of grassland/savanna habitats, located within agrarian landscapes, and enclosed with boundary fences, characteristics similar to several parks and reserves in the Northern Great Plains region of the United States. In this paper we compare the South African model of natural areas management to the United States model. We observed that South African parks and reserves with the aforementioned characteristics are more likely to (1) reintroduce and conserve small, nonviable wildlife populations, (2) reintroduce and conserve top-level predators, (3) have more intensive management of wildlife, (4) manage in partnership across multiple landowners, (5) engage local communities, (6) be self-funding, and (7) restrict visitor movement. The South African model is arguably more effective in conserving biodiversity as measured by conservation of apex predators and natural processes. The differences between the countries appear to be driven in large part by socioeconomic factors. Knowledge of natural areas management in other countries may lead to more innovative and creative models that could benefit biodiversity conservation. 1. Introduction The United States is often perceived and portrayed as a leader in natural areas management [1], a perception that has some merit considering that the country established Yellowstone National Park in 1872, arguably the world¡¯s first national park. Over time a convention and mode of natural areas management evolved in the USA [2]. At the same time other countries were establishing parks and reserves and developing their own management models [1]. South Africa is one such country that is now widely recognized for its innovative and progressive park and reserve management. With that in mind, the authors went to South Africa, met with colleagues there, and reviewed wildlife and natural areas management in that country. Many of the parks and reserves in South Africa are similar to natural areas in the Northern Great Plains region of the United States in that they are moderate in size (5,000¨C100,00£¿ha), they conserve grassland and savanna ecosystems, and they are fenced and/or surrounded by agrarian landscapes. In this paper we qualitatively identify and discuss the most notable differences we observed between the two countries in terms of natural areas management and biodiversity conservation. We did
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.biodiversity/2014/737832/