Knight, RichardGaika, LindiweFaculty of Science2013-10-112024-10-302009/09/302009/09/302013-10-112024-10-302005https://hdl.handle.net/10566/16829Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology)At a meeting of worl leaders at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, it was recognized that because of the tremendous increase in the size of the global populations (which now is estimated to exceed six billion), there were concerns that global biodiversity was at risk if insufficient land were not put aside for conservation within formal Protected Areas. The primary aim of this study was to compare investment in Protected Areas in relation to socio-economic conditions at global and regional levels.enBiological diversity conservationConservation of natural resourcesEnvironmental economicsProtected areasThesisUniversity of the Western Cape