MAINTENANCE OF DIVERSITY IN TROPICAL FORESTS

Focuses on the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil which have been reduced to <10% of their former extent and which have been greatly fragmented. Implications of such loss and fragmentation to species richness are reviewed, and possible management steps to counteract such trends are mooted, bearing in mind the need to marry conservation with human needs. Marginal lands should be excluded from intensive development, and extensive, sustainable alternative forms of land use should be promoted. Hunting needs to be regulated. Maximum interconnectedness between wildlands should be aimed at, especially using watershed boundaries and watercourses as corridors. -P.J.Jarvis