Conservation Challenges for the Austral and Neotropical America Section |
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Authors: | GERARDO CEBALLOS§§ MARIANA M VALE† CRISTIAN BONACIC‡ JULIO CALVO-ALVARADO§ RURIK LIST NORA BYNUM RODRIGO A MEDELLÍN JAVIER A SIMONETTI†† JON PAUL RODRÍGUEZ‡‡ |
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Institution: | Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, México D. F. 04510, México;Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã, CEP 20550-011, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;Fauna Australis, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Correo 22, Santiago, Chile;Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Apdo. 159-7050, Cartago, Costa Rica;Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West, 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, U.S.A.;Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile;Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Apdo. 20632, Caracas 1020-A, Venezuela |
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Abstract: | Abstract: The Austral and Neotropical America (ANA) section of the Society for Conservation Biology includes a vast territory with some of the largest relatively pristine ecosystems in the world. With more than 573 million people, the economic growth of the region still depends strongly on natural resource exploitation and still has high rates of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. A survey among the ANA section membership, with more than 700 members, including most of the section's prominent ecologists and conservationists, indicates that lack of capacity building for conservation, corruption, and threats such as deforestation and illegal trade of species, are among the most urgent problems that need to be addressed to improve conservation in the region. There are, however, strong universities and ecology groups taking the lead in environmental research and conservation, a most important issue to enhance the ability of the region to solve conservation and development conflicts . |
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Keywords: | Austral and Neotropical America capacity building Latin America |
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