Conservation outside protected areas

In situ conservation outside protected areas

The in situ conservation of species outside these formally protected areas is also known as off-reserve management¹. A range of actions must be employed to complement protected area systems and offer a higher degree of protection for CWR. Such actions may depend on engaging private landowners in the conservation process and include methods to contain and reduce threats to CWR such as:

• Conservation easements (both voluntary and legal)
• Incentive-based schemes 
• Local conservation strategies
• Public and private collaboration for conservation
• Special cases such as conservation in vegetation fragments and micro-reserves 
• Habitat conservation planning (HCP) and mitigation banking.

_{1 - Hale, P. and Lamb, D. (eds) (1997) Conservation Outside Nature Reserves. Centre for  Conservation Biology, University of Queensland, Brisbane.}

Conservation easements

Conservation easements are legal agreements allowing landowners to voluntarily restrict or limit the kinds of development occurring on their lands^{1, 2, 3}. They are usually voluntary agreements between landowners and a private local or national conservation organization for the preservation and protection of land in its natural, scenic, historic, agricultural, forested or open space condition.

Easements serve as a means of helping protect biodiversity in cases where purchase of the land is not possible. They are legally binding and can afford long-term protection, as they are perpetual and apply to future owners of the land.

_{1 - Merenlender, A.M., Huntsinger, L., Guthey, G. and Fairfax, S.K. (2004) ‘Land trusts and conservation easements: Who is conserving what for whom?’, Conservation Biology, vol 18, pp 67–75.
2 - TNC (2003) Conservation Easements - Conserving Land, Water and a Way of Life, The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
3 - TNC (2008) Conservation easements: all about conservation easements, The Nature Conservancy (TNC).}

Conservation of CWR in traditional agro-ecosystems

CWR are frequently found in disturbed, pre‐climax plant communities such as roadsides, field margins and orchards and often occur in traditionally managed agro-ecosystems and agro-forestry systems or in marginal environments. Their conservation in such areas is incidental and not a result of deliberate policy. Steps to enhance or reinforce such incidental conservation of CWR, including the creation of micro-reserves need to be considered.