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Restoring Resilience

Changing the Landscape Legacy in Patagonia

By Dawn R. Tanner, Jim A. Perry

Restoring Resilience


 

Abstract

Sheep ranching has destroyed habitat and decimated species in many areas of the world, but in Patagonia declining wool prices provide an opportunity to turn the tide. This case study places students in the role of advisor to an international NGO that has funds to advance conservation goals. A PowerPoint slideshow is used to present the Patagonian landscape, species, and variables that should be considered in conservation decisions.  After the presentation, students are given two maps: the first shows park boundaries, topography, roads, and major land forms; the second includes land prices overlaid on the first. Student groups are assigned a budget, and with the help of a set of guiding questions, they identify and defend a potential land purchase to develop as a protected area. The case is intended for use in an undergraduate class in conservation biology, environmental science, or ecology, and is an extension of another case in our collection titled "The Great Patagonia Land Grab" by C.E. Quinn and J.E. Quinn.

   

Date Posted

01/20/2015

Overview

Objectives

By the end of the case, students should have developed:

  • Knowledge about the history of poor land management and its effects.
  • Knowledge about the many layers of impact associated with invasive species.
  • A better understanding of the complexity of conservation and land-management issues.
  • An ability to think about conservation objectives across a range of temporal and spatial scales.
  • An ability to articulate the difficulty of conserving species that already face extensive habitat loss and modification and threats from invasive species, which now confront a changing climate.
  • Improved skills in landscape analysis and presentation.
  • Ideas about how to involve a range of stakeholder groups to work toward conservation goals.

Keywords

Conservation; protected areas; PA; land use; estancia; ranches; guanacos; huemul deer; invasive species; Torres del Paine National Park; Patagonia; Chile; Argentina; South America

  

Subject Headings

Ecology
Environmental Science
Interdisciplinary Sciences
Natural Resource Management
Wildlife Management

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division

  

FORMAT

PDF, PowerPoint

   

TOPICAL AREAS

Legal issues, Policy issues, Regulatory issues

   

LANGUAGE

English

   

TYPE/METHODS

Dilemma/Decision, Directed, Discussion, Role-Play

 

 

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