More cool than tool: Equivoques, conceptual traps and weaknesses of ecological networks in environmental planning and conservation

• Autores: Spartaco Gippoliti, Corrado Battisti
• Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 68, 2017, págs. 686-691
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The paper critically examines the equivoques, conceptual traps and weaknesses of the recent ‘ecological network’ paradigm, invocated as a cool environmental planning tool to the aim to mitigate the effect of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. We highlight as: (i) there is a semantic ambiguity deriving from the languages used in this interdisciplinary arena; (ii) these plans will be considered a true tool for biodiversity conservation when they will adopt a logic of problem solving and the standards requested in project cycle management (clear objectives, decision-making approach, appropriate monitoring and indicators, adaptive management); (iii) planners should follow a costs/benefits analysis comparing different scenarios and verifying that the ‘connectivity’ option effectively work better; (iv) each ecological network should be considered as a context-specific strategy where connectivity is only a simplified and schematic key of interpretation; (v) planners should carried out a local selection of fragmentation-sensitive targets that may not correspond with the species of conservation concern included in global or national red lists.