| The political and administrative borders imposed on landscapes rarely align with ecological spatial boundaries. The Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE) supports internationally recognized habitat and species diversity, however, mounting human demands and a variety of uncoordinated jurisdictional mandates threaten the region's natural resources. Cooperative management approaches, such as the Crown Managers Partnership (CMP), are necessary to mitigate the effects of boundaries. This study identifies the driving forces and barriers to transboundary wildlife management in the CCE using two methods: (1) a case study of a multinational European initiative for comparison with the CMP and (2) qualitative interviews with CCE managers, biologists and scientists. Driving forces include social factors such as personal relationships and public values. Institutional obstacles and a lack of financial and human resources are among the top barriers to transboundary management. Recommendations to the CMP include clarifying and formalizing the partnership's identity and common problem statement, hosting a transboundary symposium, and enlisting the assistance of other groups such as non-governmental organizations on a case by case basis. Recommendations to manage shared wildlife included a re-examination of traditional environmental problem solving techniques, and the use of metapopulation ecology. |
