The Positive and Negative Impacts of Transboundary Protected Areas on the Environment and the Social Makeup of a Region

A Transboundary Protected Area (TBPA) is an area of land and/or sea that crosses one or more borders, whose area is dedicated to the protection of biological diversity and resources, and managed cooperatively by government, local communities and non-governmental organizations. This type of protected area is a fairly new concept that has not had much research conducted on whether or not it achieves the goals it has set out to meet. This paper will focus on the positive and negative impacts of TBPA’s on the environment and the social makeup of a region. TBPA’s do a great job of increasing the number of species in an area, but is this done at the expense of communities livelihoods? Tourism is a great way to take advantage of a protected area and to build the economy, but proper management and education is necessary if the area is going to be successful. Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar/Geography Capstone