Challenges to conservation: land use change and local participation in the Al Reem Biosphere Reserve, West Qatar.

ABSTRACT: One response to humanity's unsustainable use of natural resources and consequent degradation, even destruction of the environment, is to establish conservation areas to protect Nature and preserve biodiversity at least in selected regions. In Qatar, the government has shown strong support for this approach, confronted by the environmental consequences of oil and gas extraction and rapid urban development, by designating about one-tenth of the country a conservation area. Located in the west of the peninsula, it comprises the Al Reem Reserve, subsequently declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Several approaches have figured in conservation, currently popular is co-management featuring participation of the local population, which recognises that people's activities often contribute to today's

SUBMITTER: Sillitoe P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2987904 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature