Publisher's Synopsis
The worldwide conservation effort has often been focused on a few "flagship" species. It is recognised by experts that large sums of money need not be spent on single mammal or bird species while tens of thousands of plants, invertebrates and microorganisms are being lost year by year from the face of the Earth. Various partners involved in the conservation and sustainable development need to move from the emotionally-based activities to more scientifically sound work. This will require working on key species which have a core function either ecologically or socioeconomically. These species might not necessarily be those that arouse the public's attention, but yet scientists believe that they are the most important species for the long term survival of Homo sapiens. To develop the concept of key species a technical workshop was held in Trinidad and Tobago. The objective was to equate diverse views on what are key species, how to identify and conserve them in the context of current socioeconomic development? The first part of this book gives a complete report of the proceedings of the workshop. The second part contains the results of the first attempts by five member countries of the Commonwealth to identify key species in their respective countries based on the concepts given in the first part.
