Journal article

Effectiveness of protected areas against land development in coastal areas of the Mediterranean global biodiversity hotspot


Authors listDonnelly, A.; Rodriguez-Rodriguez, D.

Publication year2022

JournalGlobal Ecology and Conservation

Volume number38

eISSN2351-9894

Open access statusGold

DOI Linkhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02223

PublisherElsevier


Abstract
The Mediterranean Basin is a heavily pressured World biodiversity hotspot. Mediterranean coastal areas are especially threatened due to tourism, inland migration and population growth, jeopardizing the remaining natural habitats. Protected areas (PAs) aim to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services in the long term. Here, we assessed whether coastal PAs in 16 Mediter-ranean countries had been effective at conserving natural habitats from land development be-tween 2000 and 2020, using a Before-After-Control-Impact design with covariates and case -control matching in R. Mediterranean coastal PAs were effective in reducing land develop-ment, with just one exception: Israel. Legally stringent reserves were generally more effective than legally lenient multiple-use PAs, with few exceptions: Albania, France and Cyprus. In a number of countries, reserves completely prevented coastal land development, which shows that reserves are a useful tool to preserve waning Mediterranean coastal habitats. Institutional, social, economic and geographic explanatory factors were analysed for PA effectiveness at country scale, but no significant results were found, suggesting high specificity of PA effectiveness.



Citation Styles

Harvard Citation styleDonnelly, A. and Rodriguez-Rodriguez, D. (2022) Effectiveness of protected areas against land development in coastal areas of the Mediterranean global biodiversity hotspot, Global Ecology and Conservation, 38, Article e02223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02223

APA Citation styleDonnelly, A., & Rodriguez-Rodriguez, D. (2022). Effectiveness of protected areas against land development in coastal areas of the Mediterranean global biodiversity hotspot. Global Ecology and Conservation. 38, Article e02223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02223



Keywords


BACI designCovariate matchingECOREGIONSPerformance factorRESERVEUrbanisation

Last updated on 2025-10-06 at 11:46