Doctoral Dissertation Research: Human Dimensions of Conservation Corridors: Cordillera Blanca in Peru

对保护自然环境感兴趣的团体已经开发了一套实现这一目标的方法。其中一个策略就是发展保护走廊。这个环境保护计划是基于景观斑块之间的连通性和网络的原则。该设计旨在通过保护、恢复或保护周围的景观，将孤立的、有管理的景观（如国家公园和自然保护区）联系起来。本博士论文研究项目将探讨保护走廊方法在秘鲁科迪勒拉布兰卡和华华什科迪勒拉的可行性。一条保护走廊已被提议连接受保护的华斯卡兰国家公园，其中包括科迪勒拉布兰卡，以及南部未受保护的科迪勒拉华华什。该地区的国家和国际环境组织主张建立一条走廊，以保护山区生态系统，并发展一个相互联系的保护区网络。虽然生态数据支持走廊的保护计划，但保护走廊的社会背景和后果尚未得到研究。该项目将通过调查参与走廊倡议的人们的各种行动和表达，并通过检查拟议走廊的空间属性、土地利用和土地覆盖，来解决这一保护议程的人类层面。本研究将使用定性和空间定量数据来评估和分析保护走廊的社会和空间动态。正式和非正式访谈以及参与者观察将阐明当地人如何参与走廊并在走廊边界内成为社会网络。整个走廊的综合保护和发展项目将被参观和编目。卫星图像和地理信息系统（GIS）将有助于对走廊和保育和发展项目目标地区的土地使用和土地覆盖数据进行空间上明确的分析。在秘鲁的实地工作将揭示线人的土地使用决定和保护问题，并将与来自训练样本的土地覆盖数据相结合。这些数据将被编入一个属性数据库，以分析在走廊边界内进行的保育活动的位置和类型。将进行空间和统计分析，以评估在保护走廊中所涉及的社会和空间网络的作用，并检验在走廊中形成的社会联系正在为当地人民创造新的机会和建立社会资本的假设。保育走廊作为景观管理的一种手段，已被广泛接受。这项研究将侧重于由于保护倡议而形成的社会联系和网络，从而解决保护和社区发展规划的潜在社会效益。这个项目的结果应该有助于加强或挑战现有的保护和公园议程。该项目将为秘鲁这一地区提供社会经济、土地利用和土地覆盖数据，并有助于更广泛地了解全球变化的人为因素。该项目还将提供对区域保护计划的社会方面的见解，以及在不同政治和地理尺度上所涉及的联系。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Groups interested in preserving natural environments have developed a suite of approaches toward achieving this goal. One of those strategies has been the development of conservation corridor. This environmental conservation plan that is based on principles of connectivity and networks between landscape patches. The design aims to connect isolated, managed landscapes, such as national parks and nature reserves, by preserving, restoring, or conserving the surrounding landscape. This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the viability of the conservation corridor approach in the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Huayhuash of Peru. A conservation corridor has been proposed to connect the protected Huascaran National Park, which contains the Cordillera Blanca, and the unprotected Cordillera Huayhuash to the south. National and International environmental organizations in the region advocate the establishment of a corridor to protect the mountain ecosystem and to develop a connected network of protected areas. While ecological data support conservation plans for a corridor, the social context and consequences of a conservation corridor have not been studies. This project will address the human dimensions of this conservation agenda by investigating the various actions and articulations of people involved in a corridor initiative and by examining the spatial attributes and the land use and land cover of the proposed corridor. The research will use qualitative and spatially quantitative data to assess and analyze the social and spatial dynamics of the conservation corridor. Formal and informal interviews as well as participant observation will elucidate how local people are becoming engaged in the corridor and becoming socially networked within the boundary of the corridor. Integrated conservation and development projects throughout the corridor will be visited and cataloged. Satellite imagery and a geographic information system (GIS) will facilitate a spatially explicit analysis for data about the land use and land cover of the corridor and areas where conservation and development projects are targeted. Fieldwork in Peru will reveal the land-use decisions and conservation concerns of informants and will be combined with land-cover data from training samples. These data will be compiled into an attribute database to analyze the location and the type of conservation activities taking place within the corridor boundary. Spatial and statistical analysis will be conducted in order to assess the role of social and spatial networks involved in conservation corridors and to test the hypothesis that social linkages formed in the corridor are creating new opportunities and building social capital for local people.Conservation corridors are being widely accepted as a means of landscape management. This research will address the potential social benefits of conservation and community development planning by focusing on the social linkages and networks that are formed as a result of conservation initiatives. The results of this project should help strengthen or challenge existing conservation and park agendas. The project will provide socioeconomic, land-use, and land-cover data for this region of Peru, and it will contribute to broader understandings of the human dimensions of global change. The project will also provide insights into social aspects of regional conservation plans and the linkages that are involved at different political and geographic scales. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.