The dynamics of human and natural systems are complex and characterized by reciprocal feedbacks that can interact across local and global scales. Successful natural resource management requires a better understanding of these coupled human and natural systems (CHANS), which must be incorporated at the planning stage. A CHANS approach involves both ecological and social concerns, and requires an interdisciplinary team to develop a conceptual framework of socioecological interactions (SEF), aiding all actors to consider potential outcomes from many different perspectives.

As a viable lionfish control programme will impact upon a wide range of stakeholders, it is crucial to develop a lionfish management strategy using a CHANS approach to maximize benefits and minimize unintended outcomes.

A population dynamics model that estimates lionfish population abundance, biomass and size structure under different management scenarios is central to lionfish management planning. Changes to all affected systems can then be interpreted qualitatively using the SEF.

Participative conservation is a principle by which the protection and conservation strategy that is applied in the PNCAZ starts. This is necessary because one of its challenges is to ensure an effective control and surveillance of the protected area with only 45 park rangers covering 1.35 million hectares and a perimeter of nearly 1,000 km.  These conditions demanded a participatory strategy with the incorporation of communal park rangers. This allowed the inclusion of the fronts of defense of the populations, peasant rounds, and even the local authorities themselves, in the control and surveillance strategies, within the framework of the Master Plan of the Park. All of them have acquired a commitment to assist in the conservation and protection of the park, or to define and plan the settlements of the populations to prevent their advance, and land use change.

Managing a protected area of over 1.35 million hectares with a high level of human activity in its buffer zone (2.3 million hectares), required the generation of innovative management tools, focused on social participation. CIMA implements an Intervention Model known as FOCAL, which is currently being incorporated into other protected areas in the country. FOCAL includes tools such as:

• Strengths and Uses Mapping (MUF): It gathers socio-economic information from the communities and population centers, their needs and perceptions about the area and the use of natural resources, to identify local organizations with which alliances need to be created to implement preservation actions.
• Participatory Communal Zoning (ZPC): It guides the development process of ecological-economic zoning at a community level to achieve consensus among the population regarding the sustainable use of the territory and its natural resources.
• Coexistence rules: They enable to reach agreements at the level of the populated center or community, define codes of behavior and provide stability to the planning process and the Quality of Life Plans that are created as a result.

Although the PNCA had financial support during the 2008-2013 period, these sources are not considered sustainable in the long term. For this reason, CIMA searched for mechanisms to improve the Park’s financial sustainability.  One of them was to design the Cordillera Azul REDD+ Project. As part of that project, CIMA and The Field Museum of Chicago, as a strategic partner, developed a technical document to verify how the PNCAZ has avoided the emission of more than 1.6 million tons of CO2 per year from deforestation, and almost 13 million tons of CO2 during the 2008-2015 period. This led it to be considered a REDD+ megaproject, validated by international standards such as the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), and the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standards (CCB). These standards lent legitimacy and credibility to voluntary markets through certificates of greenhouse gases emissions reduction not issued. Thanks to these certificates, the project was able to obtain its registration in Markit, a tool to manage global carbon credits internationally, which in turn led CIMA to work on carbon credits negotiation processes in the international arena.

The legal framework for protected areas in Peru favors a co-management and participatory approach, and enables the establishment of Management contracts between the Peruvian Government and private non-profit organizations, as an effective mechanism to support management. In this context, since its creation, the Cordillera Azul National Park (PNCA) has had technical support from the NGO Center for Conservation, Research and Management of Natural Areas - Cordillera Azul (CIMA - Cordillera Azul). Years later, in 2008, the State signed an agreement with CIMA for the total administration of the Park's operations for a period of 20 years. Under this framework, a Global Development Agreement (GDA) was signed with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID,) the Moore Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Field Museum of Chicago and CIMA, to combine efforts towards the conservation of the PNCAZ and to have financial support during the period 2008-2013. This allowed to establish a long-term vision for the adaptive management of the Park, to implement a participatory management model, and to achieve greater financial sustainability through the leverage of funds for the PNCAZ.

The Jaú National Park represents one of the largest extensions of protected tropical rainforests in the world, protecting a great extent of the Aguas Negras river basin. Due to its prominence, this protected area was prioritized by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA),  a program created in 2002 by the Brazilian Government and managed by the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio).

The ARPA program has the financial backing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the German Government, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Amazon Fund, through the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the Moore Foundation, and currently, private companies that act as donors to the program. The program is designed to last 13 years, and it’s aimed at expanding and strengthening the Brazilian National System of Protected Areas in the Amazon, through the protection of 60 million hectares of conservation units in the Amazonian biome, and ensuring financial resources for the management of those areas in the short and long run. It is implemented in three independent and continuous phases: Phase I between 2003 and 2010, Phase II between 2010 and 2015, and Phase III with a deadline of 25 years.

Through the process of the Unini River Extractive Reserve (RESEX) creation, and under the framework of the contract for the co-management of the Jaú National Park, the FVA implemented innovative and participative mapping methodologies for the use of natural resources, and has been investing in a process of organizational and local capacity strengthening for sustainable use of natural resources. Among them is the development and implementation of a methodology for the use of natural resources  (SIMUR) in the Unini River. This served as input for a process in 2008, after the creation of the RESEX, with the development and implementation of “Terms of Commitment” with the local communities of the Unini River. These documents represent a series of agreements among the six communities living along the Unini River in the Jaú National Park and the Government of Brazil. The goal of these agreements was to regulate their permanence in the Park and to establish a co-management process with the local population and the Park administration. As a result, community participation in the decision-making processes in both conservation units (Jaú National Park and Unini River RESEX) was and is fundamental to the efficient management of both areas.

The Bolivian legal framework establishes the legitimate right of groups of local actors to decide on protected areas management and their natural resources. Since 1996, the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park developed a governance model through the creation of a Management Committee that was built gradually and that nowadays helps in planning, decision-making and the achievement of management goals for the area. The actors of the Committee are members of national, departmental, and local government as well as members of the non-government sector, with the participation of the Friends of Nature Foundation (FAN) during the co-management period of the Park (1995-2005). It also includes representatives of the seven indigenous communities and the Bolivian Indigenous Union of Bajo Paraguá. Besides this, since 2013 two additional governmental institutions participate with only the right to vote. Both of them are important in border protection and in supporting the protected area and its neighboring communities development. Since the creation of Management Committee, it has worked as a strong governing body for the protected area, without interruption in its meetings.

With the loss of large fields of agricultural grasslands to corn and soybean, and the lack of interest in installing new ones, wildlife dependent upon this habitat inevitably are impacted. Grasslands in North America rank as one of the region's 21 most endangered ecosystems. Many remaining grasslands, especially in eastern North America are almost entirely embedded within agricultural landscapes. Because of landscape changes, many endangered birds and other wildlife, including pollinators, are increasingly dependent on the agricultural community for habitat creation, maintenance, and health.

Consumers have discovered the health benefits of ancient varieties and the rising popularity of gluten-free products has increased usage of non-gluten containing specialty grains, such as spelt. A 2004 report published by the Australian Department of Industry & Investment found that: “In animal feed the hull fiber of spelt is particularly beneficial for ruminants, such as cattle, as it increases the digestibility of the feed and reduces acidosis problems." Incorporation of spelt into a crop rotation and using it to attract declining bird species, can be a useful method for farms to attract additional clientele via wildlife watching (eco-agitourism). Through this value-added aspect , the public can become better educated on the importance of supporting local farming, as well as understanding the connection between agriculture, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, wildlife to our natural systems and food supply.