KEEP ALL THE PIECES - SYSTEMATICS-2000 AND WORLD CONSERVATION

Conserving biological diversity requires a major effort in conducting survey and inventories, establishing priorities, selecting protected a reas, managing resources and monitoring the effects of management. Sys tematics has an important contribution to make to each of these five m ajor activities. Further, the new Convention on Biological Diversity r equires systematics information to support action under virtually all of its substantive conservation and sustainable use articles. It seems apparent that large reference collections contribute directly to deve lopment, and development assistance agencies should recognize that inv esting in maintaining these collections is a legitimate form of develo pment assistance.