Summary

Science faces major challenges in tackling the inter-linked problems of poverty and environmental sustainability. This book reviews how practical science can be applied to real-life conservation and development problems, and aims to demystify the sometimes obscure science of natural resources management, interpreting it for the benefit of those who need to deal with the day to day problems of managing complex natural resource systems. The authors give practical guidance to those who design and manage conservation programmes and demonstrate that technologies are available that enable integrated natural resource management to move from a theory to a reality. They argue that the threats to the natural environment posed by globalisation require an integrated response encompassing different scales, system components, disciplines and knowledge types, and that such a response can yield real benefits to those living in tropical developing countries, whilst also achieving global environment objectives.