Category V protected areas – Protected Landscapes and Seascapes – are defined by IUCN as areas “of land, with coasts and seas as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection, maintenance and evolution of such areas” (IUCN 1994).
Since they are lived-in, working landscapes, this category of protected areas would appear to provide a potential mechanism for conserving agrobiodiversity. This is the thesis that this volume sets out to test through the use of case studies. In particular, this volume seeks to determine the value of Category V protected areas in the conservation of agrobiodiversity, and what lessons can be learnt from experience in this regard.
