Introduction: The Changing Geography of Protected Areas

There are tens of thousands of areas around the world that have been set aside to protect the resources within them. These include national parks, forests, recreation areas, wilderness, and a dizzying array of other designations, which can be collectively referred to as Protected Areas (PAs). These places have long been of interest to geographers, who have studied them in a variety of. This chapter reviews what these places are and provides an overview of the research in this volume.