The Last Rain Forests: A World Conservation Atlas

As seen from Skylab a mere ten years ago, the Amazon Basin was a dense expanse of trees stretching from horizon to horizon. Broken only by winding rivers, it was a lush image of endless growth. More recent photographs, however, depict quite a different landscape: a blazing forest enshrouded in a vast cloud of smoke that thinned only at the foot of the Andes. Once it was difficult to comprehend the extent of rain forests; now it is hard to comprehend the extent of their destruction. In 1989 alone, more than 55,000 square miles of rain forests were lost around the world: burned for cattle ranching and small-scale farming, flooded by dam projects, plundered for precious ores, timber, and rare species of animals and plants, scarred by roads built by the ravaging invaders. If the present rate of deforestation continues, many rain forests in tropical America, Africa, and Asia will be gone by the end of the next century. In fact, less than .02 percent are currently being managed on a sustainable basis. The Last Rain Forests is an authoritative, comprehensive, and--with more than 200 full color photographs and maps--stunningly beautiful guide to the people, flora, and fauna of the richest habitats on earth. Prepared in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a consortium of some 500 major conservation organizations across the globe, and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, this is the first popular reference to map the world's rain forests, spell out the problems facing these regions, and propose realistic strategies for ensuring their survival. It discusses in detail what the world's rain forests are, how they work, who lives in them, and why we need them, and explores the threats they face today. The volume then presents a unique, thoroughly up-to-date atlas of more than fifty rain forests, from the Caribbean to Central Africa, from Brazil to Bangladesh. It concludes with concrete proposals for saving these imperiled regions and, ultimately, our planet. A pictorial feast, an authoritative reference, and a blueprint for change, The Last Rain Forests allows readers to shape informed opinions--and take positive action--on one of the most pressing environmental issues of our day.

About the Author :
About the General Editor Mark Collins is Head of the Habitats Data Unit at the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, England. Trained at Oxford University and Imperial College, London, Collins spent a decade living in the tropics of Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and has carried out ecological research in all the world's major rain forests. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre is a joint venture of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The World Conservation Union (IUCN) was founded in 1948 as the Internatioanl Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. It is an organization of governments, private organizations, research institutions, and conservation agencies in 120 countries.