The Opportunities and Challenges of Transboundary Conservation – Solutions in Adaptive Management

The notion of conservation of biodiversity hotspots across an international border has been around ever since the initial understanding of the protection of natural resources. However, it has recently gained a lot of attention around the globe that led to the proliferation of transboundary conservation areas. If all these areas were combined, they would span an area even larger than India. This chapter looks at the importance of borders in generating multiple social, cultural, economic as well as ecological opportunities on a global scale. It also discusses possible challenges to attaining these opportunities while looking for solutions to effective management from the field of adaptive governance. It is highlighted that a transboundary conservation approach is especially interesting due to its multidimensional social, political and ecological benefits. However, there are challenges that need to be overcome for the realization of these opportunities regarding poor communication, weak governance and high costs. If the planning of the transboundary conservation sites is performed in an adaptive manner, which is a circular process allowing flexibility to the evolving plan, then a successful and effective transboundary conservation approach may be achieved.