Biodiversity conservation in Peru's eastern montane forests

Sometimes the most appropriate form of economic development consists of ret aining native forests on steep slopes where other land uses are environment ally destructive and where economic or humanitarian considerations do not o verride these limitations. This is especially the case when native plant an d animal species are diverse and special, as, for example, in many of the f orested areas found on the humid eastern slopes of Peru's Andes Mountains. The authors recently evaluated the biological diversity there. They provide a brief outline of their findings and conclusions.