Conservation Biology Voices from the Tropics

The late Navjot Sodhi conceived this book as a way of bringing to the forefront of our conservation planning for the tropics the views of people who were actually working and living there.  In its 31 chapters, 55 authors present their views on the conservation problems they face and how they deal with them. 

Effective long term conservation in the tropics requires the full participation of local people, organizations and governments. The human population of tropical countries is expected to grow by more than 2.5 billion people over the next several decades, with expectations of increased consumption levels growing even more rapidly than population levels; clearly there will be a need for more trained conservationists and biologists.  Significant levels of local involvement are essential to conservation success, with the rights of local people fully recognized, protected and fostered by governmental and international assistance.  Overarching conservation plans are necessary, but cannot in themselves lead to success.   

The individual experiences presented in the pages of this book will provide useful models that may serve to build better and more sustainable lives for the people who live in the tropics and lead to the continued survival of as many species and functioning ecosystems as possible. 

Navjot Sodhi (1962-2011): Based at the National University of Singapore, Navjot was one of the great minds of conservation biology. A native of the Punjab, India, he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and then moved to an incredible fruitful 15 years documenting rain forest loss and degradation in Southeast Asia and its effects on populations of animals and plants. He was best known as a conservationist, someone who cared passionately about these rich lands and the people who live in the region, and striving, with a large group of colleagues and students, to devise ways to improve the sustainability of the area while pressures on the forest mounted rapidly. Navjot suggested the idea of this book to Peter Raven because he was so keenly aware of the differences between attitudes and actions in conservation that predominate in rich and poor countries.  He intended to share the lessons that conservation practitioners were learning in the countries where they live with the world.  Shortly before Navjot died, he asked his student Luke Gibson to step up and share the editorial responsibility with Peter Raven, and this book is the result. We believe that he would have liked this book with its varied contents very much – he always placed application in front of theory, deeply wanting to preserve the world’s biological richness and to support the very poor among us.  We miss him greatly, and are pleased to present here his last efforts in a wonderfully productive life.

Luke Gibson: At the National University of Singapore, Luke Gibson is studying tropical forest loss in Southeast Asia and its impact on biodiversity. For his PhD, he is recording extinctions of small mammal species from small forest fragments in Chiew Larn reservoir, Thailand, and the persistence – or decline – of other mammalian ungulates and carnivores in the lowland dipterocarp forest surrounding the reservoir. Before moving to Southeast Asia, he received his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his Master’s degree from the University of California, San Diego.

Peter Raven: Over the past 50 years, Peter Raven has become an influential voice in systematics, ecology and evolution worldwide. He served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and other organizations, Home Secretary of the US National Academy of Sciences, and is a member of a number of other academies worldwide. During his 39-year tenure as President of the Missouri Botanical Garden he guided the Garden to a position of global leadership in conservation, with centers of activity in the tropics of Latin America, Africa and Asia. He is co-author of the leading textbook in botany, The Biology of Plants, and has coauthored leading texts in biology and the environment. With Paul Ehrlich, he originated the important concept of coevolution.

List of Contributors vii

Notes on Contributors xi

Acknowledgments xx

Remembering Navjot Sodhi: An Inspiring Mentor, Scholar, and Friend xxi
Maharaj K. Pandit

1 INTRODUCTION: GIVING A VOICE TO THE TROPICS, 1
Luke Gibson and Peter H. Raven

PART 1: FROM WITHIN THE REGION, 5

SECTION 1: AFRICA, 5

2 CONSERVATION PARADIGMS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF BONOBOS IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 7
Bila-Isia Inogwabini and Nigel Leader-Williams

3 GOVERNANCE FOR EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT CONSERVATION IN ETHIOPIA, 19
Fikirte Gebresenbet, Wondmagegne Daniel, Amleset Haile and Hans Bauer

4 WILDLIFE IN JEOPARDY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PROTECTED AREAS IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE: THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF DISORGANIZATION, LACK OF AWARENESS, AND INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESS, 26
Inza Koné

5 CONSERVATION CHALLENGES FOR MADAGASCAR IN THE NEXT DECADE, 33
Hajanirina Rakotomanana, Richard K.B. Jenkins and Jonah Ratsimbazafy

6 CONSERVATION IN MAURITIUS AND RODRIGUES: CHALLENGES AND ACHIEVEMENTS FROM TWO ECOLOGICALLY DEVASTATED OCEANIC ISLANDS, 40
F.B. Vincent Florens

7 DESIGN AND OUTCOMES OF COMMUNITY FOREST CONSERVATION INITIATIVES IN CROSS RIVER STATE OF NIGERIA: A FOUNDATION FOR REDD+?, 51
Sylvanus Abua, Robert Spencer and Dimitrina Spencer

8 SHADES OF GREEN: CONSERVATION IN THE DEVELOPING ENVIRONMENT OF TANZANIA, 59
Flora I. Tibazarwa and Roy E. Gereau

9 SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION: TIME FOR AFRICA TO RETHINK THE FOUNDATION, 65
Mwangi Githiru

SECTION 2: AMERICAS, 75

10 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRIDGING THE RESEARCH–IMPLEMENTATION GAP IN ECOLOGICAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT IN BRAZIL, 77
Renata Pardini, Pedro L.B. da Rocha, Charbel El-Hani and Flavia Pardini

11 CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY IN A COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL SETTING: THE CASE OF COLOMBIA, 86
Carolina Murcia, Gustavo H. Kattan, and Germán Ignacio Andrade-Pérez

12 INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, CONSERVATION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES IN GUYANA, 97
Michelle Kalamandeen

13 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSERVATION OF MEXICAN BIODIVERSITY, 105
Gerardo Ceballos and Andrés García

14 PARAGUAY’S CHALLENGE OF CONSERVING NATURAL HABITATS AND BIODIVERSITY WITH GLOBAL MARKETS DEMANDING FOR PRODUCTS, 113
Alberto Yanosky

SECTION 3: ASIA, 121

15 LAND-USE CHANGE AND CONSERVATION CHALLENGES IN THE INDIAN HIMALAYA: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, 123
Maharaj K. Pandit and Virendra Kumar

16 CONSERVATION CHALLENGES IN INDONESIA, 134
Dewi M. Prawiradilaga and Herwasono Soedjito

17 SINGAPORE: HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?, 142
Richard T. Corlett

18 WANT TO AVERT EXTINCTIONS IN SRI LANKA? EMPOWER THE CITIZENRY!, 148
Rohan Pethiyagoda

19 CONSERVATION OF HORNBILLS IN THAILAND, 157
Pilai Poonswad, Vijak Chimchome, Narong Mahannop and Sittichai Mudsri

SECTION 4: OCEANIA, 167

20 TIPPING POINTS AND THE VULNERABILITY OF AUSTRALIA’S TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS, 169
William F. Laurance

21 BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS: WHY ARE WE NOT SUCCEEDING?, 181
Gilianne Brodie, Patrick Pikacha and Marika Tuiwawa

22 WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, 188
Carter T. Atkinson, Thane K. Pratt, Paul C. Banko, James D. Jacobi and Bethany L. Woodworth

23 THE CHIMERA OF CONSERVATION IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGING TRAJECTORIES, 197
Phil Shearman

PART 2 THOUGHTS FROM DIASPORA, 205

24 COMPLEX FORCES AFFECT CHINA’S BIODIVERSITY, 207
Jianguo Liu

25 GOVERNANCE AND CONSERVATION IN THE TROPICAL DEVELOPING WORLD, 216
Kelvin S.-H. Peh

26 KNOWLEDGE, INSTITUTIONS, AND HUMAN RESOURCES FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY, 226
Kamaljit S. Bawa

27 PEOPLE, PLANTS AND POLLINATORS: UNITING CONSERVATION, FOOD SECURITY, AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN EAST AFRICA, 232
Dino J. Martins

28 BALANCING SOCIETIES’ PRIORITIES: A SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE TROPICS, 239
Lian Pin Koh

29 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PERFORMANCE OF SUSTAINABLE-USE TROPICAL FOREST RESERVES, 245
Carlos A. Peres

30 CONCLUDING REMARKS: LESSONS FROM THE TROPICS, 254
Luke Gibson and Peter H. Raven

Index 259

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