Over thirty years ago a debate began as to whether religion in general, or the Judaeo-Christian faith in particular, were in some sense responsible for the present environmental predicament. Islam, as a major world religion which shares the same Abrahamic roots as the Judaeo-Christian tradition, has been largely absent from this debate. Most conservationists now believe that it is essential that there be comprehensive discussion not only of environmental policies, but also of the ethics underlying environmental protection. This paper looks at the importance of the environment in the main sources of Islamic instruction, namely the Koran and Prophet's Hadiths (teachings). These texts turn out to be on the side of conservation, the emphasis being on respect for creation, the protection of the natural order and avoidance of all wasteful activities which may cause injury to the environment. These positions are contrasted with views expressed by political Islam, which has become influential in a large part of the Muslim world and rejects the conservation measures advocated by Western writers.

Legally recognized Indian reserves of Brazilian Amazonia span over 100 million ha of largely intact forest and are potentially valuable for biodiversity conservation. An important example is provided by the Kayapó territories which span more than 13 million ha in Pará and Mato Grosso, Brazil, and protect a unique and vulnerable Amazonian forest type that is poorly represented in existing nature reserves. The Kayapó of southern Pará have stopped invasion of their lands by the most perverse threats to Amazonian forests, but they have become involved extensively in the sale of illegal logging concessions for the high-value timber species mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla). In 1992, the non-governmental organization Conservation International do Brasil (CI-Brasil) began a conservation and development project with the Kayapó community of A’Ukre with the objective of providing economic alternatives to logging and protecting a population of mahogany trees. This paper demonstrates the conservation benefits that can be achieved by supporting sustainable development of indigenous peoples in the Amazon. Specifically, we: (1) evaluate the ecological importance of the Kayapó reserves from a biodiversity conservation viewpoint, (2) evaluate the conservation success of the CI-Brasil project and test whether the implementation of the conservation alliance between A’Ukre and CI-Brasil satisfies common pool resource principles, and (3) propose a model for expanding the small-scale conservation results achieved by the CI-Brasil project to all Kayapó territories. Several mammals (Tayassu pecari, Pteronura brasiliensis, Priodontes maximus, Panthera onca) and at least one bird species (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) listed as endangered were regularly encountered within 15 km of A’Ukre. Taxa encountered at relatively high densities in the project area included large cracids, lowland tapir, and white-lipped peccary, indicating an ecosystem that is not severely impacted by hunting. Harvest offtakes of mahogany averaged 0.44 stems ha−1 within groves and 0.13 stems ha−1 at the landscape level. We estimate that 85% of the fruiting population of Swietenia macrophylla has been removed in harvested Kayapó territories in Pará. We found Kayapó social organization in A’Ukre to meet criteria of successful common pool resource institutions. The CI-Brasil project resulted in protection of an intact mahogany population in 8000 ha of forest maintained by the community for ecological research purposes and mahogany preservation. Our analysis attributes the success of the conservation alliance with A’Ukre to: (1) direct benefits accruing to all members of the community, (2) fulfilment of criteria for development of common pool resource institutions, and (3) long-term commitment of an external agency. We propose that by implementing these three elements elsewhere, the modest conservation result achieved at A’Ukre could be expanded to include the entire Kayapó nation and thereby contribute to conservation of more than 13 000 000 ha of forest and cerrado in the south-eastern Amazon.

Soybeans represent a recent and powerful threat to tropical biodiversity in Brazil. Developing effective strategies to contain and minimize the environmental impact of soybean cultivation requires understanding of both the forces that drive the soybean advance and the many ways that soybeans and their associated infrastructure catalyse destructive processes. The present paper presents an up-to-date review of the advance of soybeans in Brazil, its environmental and social costs and implications for development policy. Soybeans are driven by global market forces, making them different from many of the land-use changes that have dominated the scene in Brazil so far, particularly in Amazonia. Soybeans are much more damaging than other crops because they justify massive transportation infrastructure projects that unleash a chain of events leading to destruction of natural habitats over wide areas in addition to what is directly cultivated for soybeans. The capacity of global markets to absorb additional production represents the most likely limit to the spread of soybeans, although Brazil may someday come to see the need for discouraging rather than subsidizing this crop because many of its effects are unfavourable to national interests, including severe concentration of land tenure and income, expulsion of population to Amazonian frontier, and gold-mining, as well as urban areas, and the opportunity cost of substantial drains on government resources. The multiple impacts of soybean expansion on biodiversity and other development considerations have several implications for policy: (1) protected areas need to be created in advance of soybean frontiers, (2) elimination of the many subsidies that speed soybean expansion beyond what would occur otherwise from market forces is to be encouraged, (3) studies to assess the costs of social and environmental impacts associated with soybean expansion are urgently required, and (4) the environmental-impact regulatory system requires strengthening, including mechanisms for commitments not to implant specific infrastructure projects that are judged to have excessive impacts.

Dry forests are among the most threatened ecosystems and have been extensively converted into grasslands, secondary forest, savanna or agricultural land. Knowledge of seed germination and seedling establishment is required for the success of efforts on restoration of these forests. This review focuses on the ecological requirements at seed and seedling stages, and collates the current knowledge of seed viability, dormancy, germination pattern and seedling behaviour of dry tropical tree species. The spatio-temporal variations within the tropical dry forest biome in soil moisture, light, temperature, nutrients and intensity of predation, significantly affect the seed and seedling traits of component species. The majority of dry tropical species possess orthodox seeds which are characterized by dormancy, while a few have recalcitrant seeds which possess little or no dormancy. Seed coat dormancy, which can be overcome by mechanical or acid scarification or sometimes by transit through animal guts, is most prevalent in the dry tropical forest species. Persistent species dominating the undisturbed portions of the forest have bigger seeds compared to those that mostly occur in disturbed regions and require shade for the survival of their seedlings. Shade demand is associated with drought endurance, and may be absolute in species such as Guettarda parviflora and Coccoloba microstachya, or facultative as in Plumeria alba and Bursera simaruba. The fluctuation in temperature significantly affects seed germination in several species of dry Afromontane forest trees of Ethiopia. Seedling mortality is primarily a function of moisture stress during the dry period. Adaptive responses of seedlings to drought stress include increased chlorophyll content, for example in Acacia catechu, and root biomass, as in several dry forest species (for example Drypetes parvifolia, Teclia verdoornia) of Ghana. Mulching, application of fertilizers, interplanting of leguminous species and mycorrhizal inoculation are useful tools for promoting seedling establishment in nutrient-poor dry tropical soils. Periodic forest fires, and predation affect recruitment and seedling development according to their intensity. Many species experiencing frequent fires have evolved thick seed coats, produce fire-hardy seedlings, or escape the effect by temporal separation of seed dispersal and fire events. Predation may result in abortion of fruits or may enhance germination and recruitment by scarification and dispersal, as in most species of the Guanacaste dry forest. Exposure to elevated CO2 has increased relative growth rate, total leaf area and water use efficiency in most of the dry tropical seedlings tested, but the magnitude of the effect has varied markedly among species. Due to the availability of a large source of energy, large seeds show higher germination percentage, greater seedling survival and increased growth. Seeds originating from different provenances exhibit differences in germination and seedling growth (for example Prosopis cineraria, Albizia lebbeck, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Acacia mangium), efficiency of nodulation (for example Acacia nilotica, A. auriculiformis), and stress resistance (for example Populus deltoides, Dalbergia sissoo). The review points out the need for coordinated, long-term, field-based studies for identification of multiple cues and niches for germination, on seed and seedling dynamics in response to fire, and on within-species genetic variability for selection of suitable provenances. Field-based studies at species and community levels are also needed to permit manipulations of biotic components to augment the recruitment of desired species and to suppress that of undesirable species.

A global wood shortage generating real inflation-adjusted price increases for wood has been a long and widely-held expectation. This paper assesses the validity of this view by examining global trends in wood and wood-products consumption, developing a model to explain movements in wood prices and testing it empirically. No evidence was found of increasing real prices for wood over the long-term, indicating that there is no looming global wood shortage. A global wood shortage is not predicted because technology is increasing resource productivity, enabling wood products to be made using less wood, and also increasing wood supply. It is superficial to interpret this to mean that there is little to worry about from a native forest biodiversity perspective. The analysis presented in this paper suggests that real prices for wood are likely to continue to fall. This will discourage commercially-driven investment in plantation establishment on existing agricultural land. But industrial pressure will continue for a wood resource that is attractive in cost and quality terms, increasing the risk of biodiversity loss through intensification of native forest management and clearing of native forests for plantations. It is prudent to consider approaches that encourage plantation investment on existing agriculture land using the price mechanism. Currently, much private sector plantation investment is based on price expectations derived from an incorrect view of an imminent global wood shortage. Withdrawing old-growth forests from commodity wood supply is likely to increase wood prices in line with widely-held, though apparently false, expectations and also deliver an absolute best ecological outcome. As increasing volumes of wood become available from maturing plantations, government policy changes will be required to ensure that levels of logging in native forests actually decline rather than new markets being found for native forest wood. Despite its strategic commercial importance, little is known about the potential of the existing global plantation estate to supply wood. Addressing this information gap is a timely task that would enhance industry policy and clarify future plantation investment requirements.

Visions of nature are the subject of much philosophical and policy debate. The present paper focuses, however, on the visions of nature held by people not professionally involved in the issue, namely those of the general public. These visions constitute the democratic basis of environmental conservation and the frame for effective two-way communication between professionals and communities on nature protection and management. It appears that the general public in Europe and the USA has developed a strong general ‘biophilia’ (nature-friendliness). One indicator of this is that in quantitative research, 70–90% of the population recognize the right of nature to exist even if not useful to humans in any way. In qualitative research settings, lay people reveal a remarkable richness and depth of views and experiences of nature. A quantitative survey on images and values of nature, and a qualitative study consisting of in-depth interviews on the relationship between childhood experiences in nature and adult visions of nature were conducted in the Netherlands. A factor analysis revealed a classification of types of nature, which included ‘wild nature’, ‘arcadian nature’, ‘penetrative nature’ and other such images that, with wild nature in the lead, were ascribed a smoothly decreasing degree of naturalness. Asked to rank the values and functions of nature, the top three were formed by the value for human health, the intrinsic value and the value for future generations. In the qualitative interviews, indications were found that more intense childhood experiences with nature could be associated with later ascription of a high degree of naturalness to wild nature, and less intense experiences with later ascription of a high degree of naturalness to arcadian nature. Many significant experiences took place beyond the reach of parental supervision. Findings such as these are of obvious relevance for environmental education and the design of ‘experiential nature’ in and around protected areas. Social science research concerning nature protection is often triggered by frictions between local people and protected area authorities. Such situations tend to be dominated by the airing of grievances, demands for economic compensation and so on, and these then also tend to dominate the research findings. Taking place away from these specific hot spots of conflict, social science research of the types discussed in this paper shows that many non-conflictual lines of communication are open for nature protection agencies.

Trade restrictions stemming from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have created a situation in which rare and attractive bird species command high prices on international pet markets. Most of these species are of tropical or subtropical origin, and many are amenable to captive breeding. Hence, the possibility of exporting birds under CITES provisions for the export of captive-raised animals is under debate in many countries around the world. If export bans are replaced by systems of export permits, the economics of avicultural markets will govern the magnitude, timing, and nature of the impacts of the bird trade. Avicultural economics, however, is little studied, and the long-term economic viabilities of exotic pet markets are poorly understood. In order to elucidate these, a dynamic model of an avicultural market was constructed, based on descriptive information. Model simulations showed that the high prices commanded by sought-after bird species tended to bring about oversupply and rapid price decline. Short-lived, fecund species produced a rapid, sharp pulse of oversupply; longer-lived species produced more persistent but less acute conditions of oversupply. The present high prices for protected bird species may be regarded as a potential source of windfall profits, or as a factor that might be manipulated to discourage the poaching and smuggling of wild birds. If export-oriented aviculture is considered as a component of strategies for diversification of agriculture and promotion of sustainable development, it is important that decision-makers factor in the likelihood of significant declines in bird prices and that they consider the risk of accidental species introductions that is inherent in holding large exotic-bird populations.