Conserving Biological Diversity In Managed Tropical Forests

At the meeting of the International Tropical Timber Organization held in Bali in 1990, ITTO adopted the target of ensuring that all tropical timber marketed internationally should, by the year 2000, come from forests that are managed sustainably. This study is an attempt to determine whether the member countries of the ITTO have a legal and administrative basis for managing their production forests in ways which will allow these forests to contribute to biological diversity conservation. It also attempts to assess the extent to which such management is already applied on the ground through member country studies. A set of guidelines on ways in which management of production forests could be improved is included.

Importance pf tropical forests; characteristics of tropical forests; classification of tropical forests; deforestation in the tropics; management of tropical forests; plantatios and agroforestry systems; approaches for implementing sustainable management techniques.

This introductory textbook examines diminishing terrestrial and aquatic habitats in the tropics, covering a broad range of topics including the fate of the coral reefs; the impact of agriculture, urbanization, and logging on habitat depletion; and the effects of fire on plants and animal survival. Includes case studies and interviews with prominent conservation scientists to help situate key concepts in a real world context Covers a broad range of topics including: the fate of the coral reefs; the impact of agriculture, urbanization, and logging on habitat depletion; and the effects of fire on plants and animal survival Highlights conservation successes in the region, and emphasizes the need to integrate social issues, such as human hunger, into a tangible conservation plan Documents the current state of the field as it looks for ways to predict future outcomes and lessen human impact “Sodhi et al. have done a masterful job of compiling a great deal of literature from around the tropical realm, and they have laid out the book in a fruitful and straightforward manner...I plan to use it as a reference and as supplemental reading for several courses and I would encourage others to do the same.” Ecology, 90(4), 2009, pp. 1144–1145

How timber production and tropical biodiversity conservation can be balanced.

This book reports the more policy-oriented results of the Biodiversity programme of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Beijer Institute. The programme brought economists and ecologists together to consider where the problem in biodiversity loss really lies, what costs it has for society, and how it might best be addressed. The results are strikingly different from those reported in other works on the subject. Biodiversity loss matters for all ecosystems -- not just the megadiversity tropical forests. And it matters because it compromises the resilience and so the productivity of those systems. Biodiversity conservation requires the development of policies that change the behaviour of resource use everywhere -- not just in parks and reserves. The book is required reading for researchers and policy makers alike. It canvasses options for the reform of park management, biodiversity conservation projects, property rights, tax, trade and price regimes that are within the reach of governments everywhere.