PEOPLE, PARKS, FORESTS OR FIELDS - A REALISTIC VIEW OF TROPICAL FOREST CONSERVATION

This article is a rejoinder to the preceding article, 'Conserved to de ath: are tropical forests being over-protected from people?', by David Wood. It has three aims: to comment on Wood's paper, to look at curre nt approaches to park and forest protection, and to review the opportu nities for and constraints upon resource management by rural communiti es. The author concludes that, until it is clear what makes people man age resources effectively over the long term, we cannot abandon park p rotection as a method of conserving biodiversity.