Community engagement and volunteerism in NGO-managed protected areas
By Sanaa Shah, University of Sydney Honours student, and Catarina Agostino, Sydney Environment Institute.
Catarina Agostino: What inspired you to choose this topic area for your Honours project?
Sanaa Shah: In a third-year environmental law class, I learned about Private Protected Areas (PPAs), which are protected areas that fall under private governance. They can be governed by an individual landowner who wants to protect some bushland on their property, a private corporation, or even an NGO. In Australia, some of the NGOs that purchase large parcels of land for conservation purposes include Bush Heritage Australia, the Nature Foundation, and BirdLife Australia.
Previously in this class, we also learned about the consequences of exclusionary conservation practices that were associated with the earliest creation of protected areas. This form of ‘strict’ conservation is widely criticised for its environmental injustice, with examples of forced evictions, isolation of local communities, and denial of Indigenous stewardship being documented across the world.
While private protected areas are not a new phenomenon, they are now playing an important role in global conservation efforts. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s 30x30 target, calling for the protection of 30% of lands and waters by 2030, recognises that conservation must encompass diverse tenures. NGOs across the world are helping states meet their conservation targets, however, their growing relevance also raises questions about equity, community engagement, and their long-term sustainability, especially in light of the historical injustices associated with protected area conservation.
How do NGOs balance their growing role in conservation governance with the responsibility traditionally held by the state?
NGOs are offering a complementary role to the traditional conservation duties held by the state, providing a crucial role in meeting the 30x30 target. While the government will continue to be responsible for conservation management on public land, other forms of conservation, such as PPAs and Indigenous Protected Areas, are expanding national conservation efforts. PPAs may be small in size but they can link with public protected areas to provide vital wildlife corridors, highlighting how collaboration can promote biodiversity protection.
My early research has revealed that NGOs view themselves as an important gap-filler as they are able to respond to conservation issues when the government may lack the capacity to do so, for example, due to budgetary concerns or lengthy bureaucratic processes. NGOs can also enhance public engagement in conservation. One common approach is through volunteering opportunities. Unlike public protected areas, PPAs may not always be accessible to the public (though some do allow full public use), making volunteering one of the few ways for the public to engage with these sites.
How do you envision your research contributing to broader policy discussions on conservation governance in Australia?
As the government continues to work with non-governmental players in conservation, there is a need for policy discussions to include the scientific and social dimensions of conservation. In addition to protecting threatened species and securing critical wildlife corridors, PPAs have the potential to facilitate social benefits, such as conservation volunteering.
Some of the NGOs I interviewed expressed that they had greater capacity to engage volunteers on their reserves, in comparison to already over-stretched public protected area managers. During my research, I took part in bushcare at a local PPA and experienced firsthand how volunteering promoted physical and mental well-being, community cohesion, and practical conservation education.
As more biodiversity protection is required, small, community, and often volunteer-run, groups are emerging as important players in conservation. For these groups, the success of participation in volunteering indicates the sustainability of localised forms of conservation. Volunteering should therefore be viewed as a practical form of conservation management, with NGOs being able to abate management costs through the help of volunteers, but also, an important element for social well-being.