Publication Details
Community-based agroforestry initiatives in Nicaragua and Costa Rica
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Year Published
2012
Publication
In: Simonetti, J.A.; Grez, A.A.; C.F. Estades, C.F., eds. Biodiversity conservation in agroforestry landscapes: challenges and opportunitites. Santiago, Chile: Editorial Universitaria, Santiago: 99-115.
Abstract
Curbing the loss of biodiversity is a primary challenge to conservationists. Estimates of current rates of species loss range from 14,000 - 40,000 species per year (Hughes et al., 2007), and although a variety of factors are implicated, habitat loss is repeatedly cited as an important cause (Sala et al., 2000). Most ecosystems are under some degree of threat, however the loss of biodiversity associated with the destruction of tropical forests is a central concern (Bradshaw et al., 2009). Tropical forests are occupied by 60% of the planet’s species (Dirzo and Raven, 2003), yet they are also valued as timber and for agricultural land. As the result of logging and conversion, the world’s tropical forests are being lost at a rate of 1.2% per year (Laurance, 1999), and the rate of deforestation appears to be accelerating (Hansen and DeFries, 2004).
Citation
King, David I.; Chandler, Richard B.; Rappole, John H.; Raudales, Raul; Turbey, Rich. 2012. Community-based agroforestry initiatives in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In: Simonetti, J.A.; Grez, A.A.; C.F. Estades, C.F., eds. Biodiversity conservation in agroforestry landscapes: challenges and opportunitites. Santiago, Chile: Editorial Universitaria, Santiago: 99-115.