CAN CONSERVATION PROJECTS SAVE BIODIVERSITY IN SOUTH-AMERICA

At the urging of environmental groups, bilateral and multilateral deve lopment agencies are trying to save biological diversity in Africa, As ia, and Latin America. There are few results to show so far, in part b ecause most projects are barely under way. Unfortunately, there is lit tle reason to expect major pay offs in the future. This paper contains a critical examination of donor agencies' efforts on behalf of biodiv ersity conservation in South America. We argue that the campaign is fa ltering for five reasons. First, it is concentrated too much on the Am azon Basin. Second, projects often reflect wishful thinking about loca l communities' regard for natural ecosystems. Third, many biodiversity projects involve an attempt to transplant national parks, a rich-coun try institution, to an alien setting. Fourth, the strong link between renewable resource mining and economic activity in frontier areas is i gnored. Fifth, complementarities between economic development and ecos ystem conservation are not being exploited. A major thrust of the camp aign should be to improve production, income, and employment in other areas, including cities, towns, and places where agriculture is alread y well established. Unless this is done, the campaign to save biodiver sity will fail.