Nearly 90 percent of the earth's land surface is directly affected by human infrastructure and activities, yet
less than 5 percent is legally "protected" for biodiversity conservation--and even most large protected
areas have people living inside their boundaries. In all but a small fraction of the earth's land area, then, conservation
and people must coexist. Conservation is a resource for all those who aim to reconcile biodiversity with human
livelihoods. It traces the historical roots of modern conservation thought and practice, and explores current perspectives
from evolutionary and community ecology, conservation biology, anthropology, political ecology, economics, and
policy. The authors examine a suite of conservation strategies and perspectives from around the world, highlighting
the most innovative and promising avenues for future efforts.
Exploring, highlighting, and bridging gaps between the social and natural sciences as applied in the practice of
conservation, this book provides a broad, practically oriented view. It is essential reading for anyone involved
in the conservation process--from academic conservation biology to the management of protected areas, rural livelihood
development to poverty alleviation, and from community-based natural resource management to national and global
policymaking.