Daniel H. Janzen

What are the challenges involved in protecting biodiversity in tropical terrestrial and coastal ecosystems? What practical lessons can be learned from conservation projects? And what are the procedures and attitudes of governments, NGOs, donor agencies, development banks and consulting firms? These key questions are all answered, drawing on the author's extensive experience of conservation projects in Malaysia, Nigeria, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Costa Rica. Project descriptions illustrate two important themes in conservation: increasing the awareness of the economic value of biodiversity among decision makers and enabling and encouraging local people to participate in designing and implementing projects. The book sets out guidelines to help others design projects that are practical and effective, yet more complete and more robust than some of those designed in the recent past.

Natural history has always been the foundation of conservation biology. For centuries, botanists collected specimens in the field to understand plant diversity; now that many habitats are threatened, botanists have turned their focus to conservation, and, increasingly, they look to the collections of museums, herbaria, and botanical gardens for insight on developing informed management programs. Plant Conservation explores the value of these collections in light of contemporary biodiversity studies. Plant Conservation opens with a broad view of plant biodiversity and then considers evolutionary and taxonomic threats and consequences of habitat alteration; specific threats to plant diversity, such as invasive species and global climate change; consequences of plant population decline at the ecological, evolutionary, and taxonomic levels; and, finally, management strategies that protect plant biodiversity from further decline. With a unique perspective on biodiversity and scientific collections, Plant Conservation ultimately emphasizes the role museums and botanical gardens will play in future conservation.

What are the challenges involved in protecting biodiversity in tropical terrestrial and coastal ecosystems? What practical lessons can be learned from conservation projects? And what are the procedures and attitudes of governments, NGOs, donor agencies, development banks and consulting firms? These key questions are all answered, drawing on the author’s extensive experience of conservation projects in Malaysia, Nigeria, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Costa Rica. Project descriptions illustrate two important themes in conservation: increasing the awareness of the economic value of biodiversity among decision makers, and enabling and encouraging local people to participate in designing and implementing projects. The book sets out guidelines to help others design projects that are practical and effective, yet more complete and more robust than some of those designed in the recent past.