Plant Conservation: An Ecosystem Approach (People and Plants Conservation)

✍ Scribed by Alan Hamilton, Patrick Hamilton

• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 351
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In this, the latest in the People and Plants series, plant conservation is described in the context of livelihoods and development, and ways of balancing the conservation of plant diversity with the use of plants and the environment for human benefit are discussed. A central contention in this book is that local people must be involved if conservation is to be successful. Also examined are ways of prioritizing plants and places for conservation initiatives, approaches to in situ and ex situ conservation, and how to approach problems of unsustainable harvesting of wild plants. Roles for botanists, foresters, sociologists, development workers and others are discussed. This book acts as a unifying text for the series, integrating case studies and methodologies considered in previous volumes and pointing out in a comprehensive, accessible volume the valuable lessons to be learned.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 8
List of figures, tables and boxes......Page 12
The People and Plants Initiative......Page 17
Foreword......Page 18
Introduction......Page 20
People and Plants Partners......Page 22
Plant conservation websites......Page 24
Acknowledgements......Page 26
Plants and conservation......Page 28
Conservation concerns relating to plant diversity......Page 30
Conservation concerns relating to plant resources......Page 35
Conservation concerns relating to ecosystem services......Page 38
Approaches to plant conservation......Page 40
Threats posed by biological and ecological processes......Page 46
The human factor......Page 48
Human activities directly causing plant loss......Page 51
Invasive alien species and genes......Page 55
Climatic change......Page 58
Pollutants......Page 59
Roles for plant conservationists......Page 62
Roles for governments......Page 63
The roles of international and regional conservation agreements......Page 67
Roles for botanical institutes, networks, societies and NGOs......Page 73
Information......Page 78
Knowledge......Page 80
Learning......Page 84
Research......Page 86
How can biodiversity research benefit conservation?......Page 89
Types and names of plants......Page 98
Human influences on plant types......Page 101
The living plant......Page 104
Vegetation types......Page 108
Vegetation dynamics......Page 110
Resource acquisition and social modes......Page 114
Management processes, tools and systems......Page 118
Landscape management for conservation......Page 124
Case study: Fodder systems at Ayubia, Pakistan......Page 131
Symbolism of plants and nature......Page 136
Needs, motivations and values......Page 139
Material uses of plants......Page 144
Future uses of plants......Page 152
Detecting patterns of plant species......Page 154
The evolution of plants......Page 157
Environmental and historical determinants of plant patterns......Page 159
Ice Age influences......Page 164
People and plant geography......Page 167
Case Study: Projek Etnobotani Kinabalu (an ethnofloristic inventory in Malaysia)......Page 169
Perspectives......Page 172
Plants, places or resources?......Page 176
Plants......Page 177
Places......Page 186
Some large-scale plant patterns relevant to conservation......Page 191
Case study: Prioritizing plant resources for community use at Bwindi, Uganda......Page 193
Tenure and resource rights......Page 196
Customary conservation......Page 200
Statutory law......Page 204
Protected areas......Page 207
Case study: Church forests in Ethiopia......Page 213
The local: The heart of plant conservation......Page 216
Assessing the sustainability of resource supply......Page 217
Strengthening resource management......Page 223
Collaborating in resource management......Page 227
Finding alternatives to wild harvest......Page 231
Building cultural support for conservation......Page 233
Linking livelihood support and plant conservation......Page 235
Case study: Amchi medicine and conservation of medicinal plants in Nepal......Page 239
The usefulness of applied ethnobotany......Page 242
Preparations for community-based projects......Page 244
Fieldwork......Page 249
Field methods and tips......Page 257
Ex situ and circa situm conservation......Page 266
Plant genetic resource systems......Page 271
Reintroductions, restoration and revitalization......Page 276
Wild plants in trade......Page 282
Historical dynamics of trade in wild plants......Page 288
Actions in favour of conservation......Page 291
Standards and certification......Page 296
Market systems and their study......Page 298
Case study: certification of woodcarving in Kenya......Page 301
Acronyms and abbreviations......Page 304
References......Page 308
Index of Scientific Names of Plant Species, Genera and Families......Page 336
General Index......Page 342