A Portfolio O F S T O R I E S

The ever-present threat ofbiodiversity loss challenges conservationiststo explore new approaches for action. Although

early conservation methods offered short-term

successes at a limited scale, they failed to set

long-term, visionary goals to safeguard the

planet’s diversity of life. Conservation organiza-

tions are now building on the lessons learned

from past successes as well as shortcomings to

develop innovative approaches that meet the

needs not only of biodiversity today, but also

over the next 50, 100, or even 500 years.

WWF’s approach—ecoregion conserva-

tion—is a new model for the conservation of

terrestrial, marine, and freshwater spaces.

Ecoregion conservation is grounded in sound

science and blended with innovative strategies

and bold ambition. Experience in the field and

advances in technology, such as geographic

information systems, are helping us to think

and act at broader scales focusing on the

conservation of larger spaces over longer

periods of time. Ecoregion Conservation: A

Portfolio of Stories offers an introduction to the

development and evolution of this living

conservation model. The stories provide an

insider’s look at some of the places where

ecoregion conservation is beginning to pay off

for people and for biodiversity.

WWF, in partnership with other like-minded

organizations, is exploring these fundamental

changes in scale, scope, analysis, and collabora-

tion. The following joint statement articulates

the common direction and principles from

which conservationists in the 21st century will

build their actions to achieve positive gains for

biodiversity conservation.

Contents2 Ecoregions Defined

4 Ecoregion Conservation Defined

5 Key Features of Ecoregion Conservation

7 Changing the Face of Conservation

8 Atlantic Forests

10 Bering Sea

12 Chihuahuan Desert and Springs

14 Congo Basin

16 Russian Far East

18 A Perspective on Challenges

20 The Global 200

21 Resources

Guiding Principles1. Conserving—and where necessary restoring—the full range of biodiversity

2. Planning conservation and development at landscape or regional scales

3. Investing in good science

4. National sovereignty and international cooperation

5. Long-term commitment

Our vision is of a world in which both the full diversity of life and

the richness and well-being of human cultures are secured for future generations.

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S

page1

Conservation IN THE

21st Century

Moving to larger scales will also help us to address more effectively the

broader social, economic, and policy factors that are critical to sustainable

livelihoods and ecosystems. This is important because some of the impacts

upon a particular region may originate in other parts of the world; for

example: through international demand for a particular commodity.

Achieving our vision will be challenging because the pressures on the

natural world generated by the sheer scale of human activities worldwide

are greater than ever. But the alternative is impoverishment—not only of

the natural world, but of our own children and of theirs. As we all know,

the conservation of nature and natural processes is not an optional extra

in achieving sustainable development, but the essential foundation of

human welfare.

In conclusion, the traditional focus of our organizations on species,

protected areas, environmental policy, and public information has gener-

ated significant conservation action. But the challenges are growing, and

it is clear that we need to work together with all the stakeholders at larger

geographical scales to address these challenges, learning and adapting as

we go, without reducing emphasis on the traditional conservation activi-

ties that remain critically important. The various terms that are being

applied to such approaches are far less important than their shared

principles, based on a long-term commitment to the welfare of species,

ecosystems, and human societies.

Joint Statement by

Conservation International, IUCN–The World Conservation Union,

The Nature Conservancy, World Resources Institute, and WWF

September 19991

See last page for information on how to contact any of these organizations.

A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / J O I N T S TAT E M E N T

ver the past several years, our organizations have dramatically

changed the way we think about, and seek to implement, conserva-

tion. Several terms have been developed for these new approaches,

including the ecosystem approach (Convention on Biological Diversity),

ecosystem-based management (IUCN), ecosystem conservation (CI), biore-

gional planning (WRI, IUCN), and ecoregion-based conservation (TNC,

WWF). Although there are differences in methodology and application

reflecting the distinctions in our organizational missions and strategies, the

overall guiding principles are in each case the same. These principles repre-

sent a shared vision and goals that we believe should point the way forward

for conservation in the 21st century, and they are set out below.

Our vision is of a world in which both the full diversity of life and the

richness and well-being of human cultures are secured for future genera-

tions. This will involve a balance between built and cultivated areas, a strong

emphasis on networks of fully implemented protected areas, and corridors

linking these core areas and buffer zones for restricted use—balance that

will secure the future both for humans, and for the millions of other species

with which we share the planet. The size and interrelationships of these

areas will depend on the dynamics of the species, ecosystems, and human

populations in the regions concerned. But the result will be the same wher-

ever our vision is achieved: regions and communities in which people can

realize their potential and live with dignity while ensuring that the full

range of species and ecosystem diversity is maintained, both for their own

sakes and for the vital ecosystem services they provide.

The intrinsic value of biodiversity and its critical importance to human

welfare mean that the aim must be zero loss of species due to human inter-

vention. In practice, this means planning and implementing integrated

conservation and development programmes on a larger scale than has been

attempted so far. We are broadening our focus to encompass landscape,

seascape, and regional scales, working closely with the key stakeholders, and

using the best scientific information to help ensure that we conserve the

most important and representative terrestrial, freshwater, and marine

ecosystems, both within and between countries.

O

Fore

st P

ath:

© D

igita

l Sto

ck, D

olph

in: ©

WW

F-Ca

non

/ Syl

via

Earle

, Ele

phan

t: ©

WW

F-Ca

non

/ Mar

tin H

arve

y, C

hild

: © P

hoto

disc

. Cov

er: C

hild

: © P

hoto

disc

, Cor

al: ©

Wol

cott

Hen

ry, R

ound

Isla

nd: ©

WW

F-Ca

non

/ Kev

in S

chaf

er, T

iger

: © W

WF-

Cano

n / K

lein

& H

uber

t, Lo

gged

For

est:

© W

WF-

Cano

n / E

dwar

d Pa

rker

, Inu

it Ch

ild: ©

WW

F/M

arga

ret W

illia

ms,

Aga

vace

ae P

lant

: © W

WF-

Cano

n / E

dwar

d Pa

rker

. Bac

k Co

ver:

Gia

nt P

anda

:© W

WF-

Cano

n / M

iche

l Gun

ther

© WWF -Canon / Martin

Harve

y

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / E C O R E G I O N S D E F I N E D

What is an ecoregion?WWF defines an ecoregion as a large unit of land or

water containing a geographically distinct

assemblage of species, natural communities, and

environmental conditions. Ecoregion boundaries

are porous and encompass an area within which

important ecological and evolutionary processes

most strongly interact. Three ecoregions that

represent freshwater, terrestrial, and marine

habitats, respectively, are featured here:

Southeastern Rivers and Streams, Southwestern

Amazonian Moist Forests, and Sulu-Sulawesi Seas.

All of the world’s ecoregions may be categorized into a total of 26

terrestrial, freshwater, or marine major habitat types. Using this

analysis, WWF has prioritized 238 ecoregions—the Global 200

ecoregions—that together represent outstanding examples of

biodiversity from every continent and ocean basin.2

Why is the ecoregion a unit for conservation action?Ecoregions are defined in biological terms and, as such, are logical

units for conserving biodiversity. By moving from geographically or

politically defined units to biologically delineated ecoregions, we

can better assess what is necessary to maintain the full array of

biodiversity—species, communities, and ecosystems. Using nature’s

boundaries to define the units that need conservation action better

reflects the ecological and evolutionary processes that create and

sustain biodiversity.3

EC OR EG ION S

Defined

Global 200 EC OR EG ION

Descriptions

freshwater

terrestrial

marine

Freshwater Ecoregion: Southeastern Rivers and Streams

As one of the most species-rich temperate freshwater areas in the world,

the Southeastern Rivers and Streams ecoregion runs from southern

Virginia west to Tennessee and south to Alabama and Florida. The water-

sheds of these rivers and streams cover about 250,000 square miles

(650,000 square kilometres)—roughly the size of the state of Texas.

From the ecoregion’s clear, cool streams in the Appalachian Mountains

to its brackish marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, a diverse

community of aquatic animals has evolved, thanks to its habitat variety, age,

favourable climate, geologic stability, and escape from glaciation

during the last Ice Age. This region is a hot spot for mussels, crayfish, and

freshwater fish. For instance, of all the crayfish found in the United States,

70 per cent (250 species) are found here, as are more than 300 species of

mussels and more than half the country’s freshwater fish species.

Terrestrial Ecoregion: Southwestern Amazonian Moist Forests

As one of the few large, intact rainforests in the world, the Southwestern

Amazonian Moist Forests ecoregion is truly a natural wonder; 94 per cent

of its original habitats still remain, including lowland tropical moist

forests, unique flooded savannas dotted with palm trees, and bamboo-

dominated forests blanketing an area the size of England. Unusual oxbow

lakes and meandering river systems create a mosaic of different habitats

within the region. High rainfall, relatively complex topography, and

varied soils contribute to the variety and abundance of life within these

forests, which hold the last refuge for jaguars, harpy eagles, and giant

river otters.

Marine Ecoregion: Sulu-Sulawesi Seas

The Sulu-Sulawesi Seas ecoregion supports one of the world’s most

diverse concentrations of reef fish, reef corals, and other invertebrates.

Fish diversity reaches its highest level worldwide in these seas, where there

are more than 450 species of stony corals, compared to 50 in the

Caribbean and 200 in the western Indian Ocean. The Tubbataha Reef,

with corals covering more than 81,000 acres (32,800 hectares), is the

heart of coral diversity for the region. In addition to the rainbow of

colourful and endemic fish, six of the world’s eight species of sea turtles

can be found here, as well as eight species of cetaceans.

90W

70W

30N

40N

United States

Cuba

Miami

Atlanta

Washington D.C.

Ottawa

Mexico

•

•

•

•

20N

140E

100E

Equator

Thailand

Cambodia

Vietnam

Brunei

Malaysia

Australia

Papua New Guinea

Palau

Philippines

Japan

China

Laos

Myanmar

Indonesia

20S

40S

60W

80W

40W

Equator

Brazil

Venezuela

Colombia

Guyana

Suriname

French Guiana

Chile

Argentina

Uruguay

Paraguay

Ecuador

Peru

Bolivia

pages2/3A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / E C O R E G I O N S D E F I N E D

Terrestrial Ecoregionswith Southwestern Amazonian Moist Forests ecoregion highlighted

Freshwater Ecoregionswith Southeastern Rivers and Streams ecoregion highlighted

Marine Ecoregionswith Sulu-Sulawesi Seas ecoregion highlighted 4

C O R A L R E E F C O M M U N I T Y ,

S U L A W E S I S E A

L A K E C O C H A O T O R O N G O , M A N U

N A T I O N A L P A R K , N O R T H O F C U Z C O , P E R U

G R E A T S M O K Y M O U N T A I N S N A T I O N A L P A R K ,

U N I T E D S T A T E S

Smok

y M

ount

ains

: © W

WF-

Cano

n / K

evin

Sch

afer

, Lak

e Co

cha

Oto

rong

o, P

eru:

© W

WF-

Cano

n / A

ndré

Bär

tsch

i, Co

ral:

© W

olco

tt H

enry

, All

map

s on

this

pag

e: ©

Con

serv

atio

n Sc

ienc

e Pr

ogra

mm

e, W

WF-

US

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N D E F I N E D

coregion conservation is an ambitious, broadscale, integrated

approach that aims to conserve and, where necessary, restore the full

range of biological diversity of an entire ecoregion. This means that our

strategies and actions should work toward achieving the broad goals of

(1) Representation—species, communities, and habitats must berepresented and maintained within the ecoregions;

(2) Resilience—areas maintained must be large enough or connectedenough that they are resilient to disturbances and change;

(3) Viable Populations—populations of key species are large enoughto ensure long-term survival;

(4) Healthy Processes—key ecological processes are also maintained.

One of the major innovations in the approach of ecoregion conservation isthe articulation of biodiversity targets for ecoregion programmes usingthese four goals adapted from the major principles of conservationbiology.5 These targets are expressed as a part of a biodiversity vision thatidentifies priority areas and specifies ways to capture these goals.

Achieving biodiversity goals of

this scope and nature will not be

possible without specific regard for

achieving an economically sustain-

able and socially equitable future.

Economics and social justice issues

often are at the root of biodiversity

loss; thus it behooves us to explore,

understand, and address these

issues within the framework of

ecoregion conservation.

EcoregionConservation

D E F I N E D

E

Ecoregion conservation provides

a geographic context at a scale that

requires a strategic and integrated

assessment of the threats to a partic-

ular region, and a framework for

making decisions about mitigating

those threats. It also provides a

meaningful scale for determining

how both economic development

and biodiversity conservation can,

and should, proceed with mutually

beneficial and sustainable results.

Within this framework governments,

businesses, and consumers can

come to understand what they can

do in their own communities and

regions to ensure that economic

development and sociocultural

needs go hand-in-hand with

biodiversity conservation.

TucsonAbilene

El Paso

San Antonio

Monterrey

Chihuahua

Ciudad Victoria

San Luis Potosi

UnitedStates

Mexico

100W

110W

30N

20N

Vision Maps

United States

Russia

ChukchiSea

Gulf ofAlaska

BeringSea

BeaufortSea

170E

180

170W

70N

60N

50N

160W

150W

WrangelIsland

St. LawrenceIsland

St. MatthewIsland

AnadyrBay

Karaginsky Bay

Norton Sound

Cape Navarin

NunivakIsland

PribilofIslands

CommanderIslands

Aleutian Islands

Chihuahuan Priority SitesTerrestrial Priority Sites

Freshwater Priority Sites

Ecoregion Complex

H A R V E S T I N G M E S Q U I T E F O R F I R E W O O D ,

C H I H U A H U A N D E S E R T

Chihuahuan Desertwith Priority Areas highlighted

Bering Seawith Priority Areas highlighted

© W

WF-

Cano

n/E

dwar

d Pa

rker

© C

onse

rvat

ion

Scie

nce

Prog

ram

me,

WW

F-U

S, C

ON

ABIO

(Nat

iona

l Com

mis

sion

for t

he K

now

ledg

e an

d U

se o

f Bio

dive

rsity

)

© C

onse

rvat

ion

Scie

nce

Prog

ram

me,

WW

F-U

S, T

NC

pages4/5A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / K E Y F E AT U R E S

Key FeaturesofEcoregion C O N S E R VAT I O N

Conserving the full range of biodiversity is thefundamental goal of ecoregion conservation. Genes, species, commu-

nities, ecosystems, and ecological phenomena must be conserved on a scale

that ensures their integrity and long-term survival. To begin developing a

vision for the biodiversity of the ecoregion, we must think ahead 50–100

years and visualize the desired state of nature and ecological processes.

Rigorous methods for developing this biological vision are being tested

and adapted in ecoregions throughout the world. The result is an unprece-

dented integration of biological information into conservation plans that

promote ambitious visions. These are already catalysing action across land-

scapes and waterways. Investing in good science as the basis for an ambi-

tious biodiversity vision provides a credible foundation for the future.

When matched with commitment across different interests, these shared

visions can create powerful forces for action.

From Vision to Action: Restoring Wild Rivers in the Klamath-Siskiyou Negotiating Land Use:

Weaving a Fabric of Conservation in the Terai Arc“I consider myself a voice for the voiceless

ones.” These are the words of Agnes “Tao-

why-wee” Pilgrim, the elder spokesperson

of the Rogue Band Takelma Indians that

once lived along the salmon-rich rivers and

in the old-growth forests of the Klamath-

Siskiyou ecoregion in the U.S. Agnes shares

a dream with conservationists: to restore

and protect biodiversity for future genera-

tions when “my many grandchildren

will live on these lands long after I move

on to the other world.” Each year this self-

proclaimed “gray-headed grandmother”

leads a ritual during salmon spawning

that has inspired growing community

support for restoration and protection

of undammed rivers of the Siskiyou

Mountains. This shared dream has catal-

ysed momentum to establish the Siskiyou

Wild Rivers National Monument.

It is a tangible step towards conservation

that is both scientifically driven, and a

“monument to help preserve and restore

the beauty of the Siskiyous and homelands

of my people.”

Planning conservation and development atecoregional scales is essential. Though it is obvious that

human development agendas need to be reconciled with biodiversity

conservation, the ecoregion conservation approach provides the context

in which to make this reconciliation a reality. Ecoregions provide a larger

palette from which to make land use and resource use plans, policies,

and legislation compatible with conservation. Understanding this context

begins with an information gathering exercise, and continues on to more

in-depth analyses of stakeholders and the threats against, as well as

opportunities for, achieving biodiversity targets. In this way, ecoregion

conservation provides a platform from which to negotiate multiple

agendas from the diversity of stakeholders, including local people living

off the land, governments, multilateral donors and development agen-

cies, private sector interests, and society at large.

Stretching along the foothills of the

Himalayas and bordering India and

Nepal, the Terai Arc is a landscape known

for its unique biological wealth and

extremely high population of people.

Across this rich, complex tapestry of life,

the key to long-term conservation success

is to look beyond parks to a mosaic of

restored, managed, and protected land

and to connect protected areas over the

entire landscape. Conservation in the

Terai Arc landscape, a part of the Eastern

Himalayas ecoregion, calls for the restora-

tion of degraded forest corridors linking

all 11 protected areas. This design relies

on the early successes of communities

such as Annapurna that managed their

land to benefit from tourism income

while protecting biodiversity. Because

efforts such as these work for both

people and nature, national governments

are supporting policies to use this as a

model for other communities. Royal

Chitwan National Park and Royal Bardia

National Park are now benefiting from poli-

cies that enable people living around

protected areas to share 40 per cent of the

park revenues. On their own, these isolated

policies would represent the frayed edges

of an incomplete plan. But when combined

with supportive national and transnational

strategies, these become the powerful

threads to negotiate conservation and

development across the landscape.© V

oice

of t

he W

ild S

iski

you

© W

WF-

Cano

n / J

im Ja

bara

Ecoregion conservation requires a constant and careful balance of analysis,

planning, and action. To succeed at this scale means building on the strengths and lessons of historical

conservation approaches and tools, and adapting or creating new ways of operating to meet new

challenges. We must think differently—explore and understand the linkages between social and biological

factors in a way that will help direct and sustain our actions at a variety of scales. Based on the need to

think and act differently (broader visions, larger scales, longer time horizons, and greater impact), WWF

has defined a set of key features of ecoregion conservation: conserving the full range of biodiversity based

on the best available science; planning conservation and development at ecoregional scales; national

sovereignty and international cooperation; and long-term commitment. These were developed and

refined by ecoregion conservation practitioners over the last few years, based on experience in the field.

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / K E Y F E AT U R E S

Reaching for New Heights Across the Carpathian Mountains

National sovereignty and international cooperation are the essential backdrop for collaborativepartnerships. If ecoregion conservation is to be effective, actions need

to be coordinated at many levels. Partnerships and cooperation among

institutions and individuals are vital for getting the best input and

broadest commitment to programme design and implementation, and

to ensure that scarce resources are efficiently applied. Institutions can

play many different roles throughout—from catalysts to implementers—

but they must be open about their needs and desires, so that true part-

nerships and fruitful collaboration can result. In particular, WWF will

sometimes lead an ecoregion conservation programme, and sometimes

not. In the latter case, acting as a catalyst might be enough to sway deci-

sion making and provide the impetus for change.

Long-term commitment relies on adaptation throughlearning. New information and innovative tools for large-scale conser-

vation echo what WWF and others have gleaned from decades of expe-

rience. Long-term success requires a continuous reshaping of actions

and strategies; thus, research and monitoring must be integral compo-

nents of ecoregion conservation programmes. Information and indica-

tors of progress are only useful if institutions can respond and adapt to

them, so frameworks that provide feedback to stakeholders and deci-

sion makers are critical to making a difference both in the short term

and in the future. Flexibility and responsiveness are also crucial if

actions are to be dynamic, attuned to the latest challenges, and

powerful in their impact.

Partnerships for ConservationIn the Madagascar Spiny Forests

With these four features guiding the process, ecoregion conservation relies on the

strengths of multidisciplinary teams: biologists work side-by-side with sociologists and economists; field

staff and policy staff; key stakeholders and partners. The inquiry must be wide-ranging because, while

biodiversity priorities are set at the ecoregional scale, many ecological processes and socioeconomic

forces extend beyond the boundaries of the ecoregion. Long-term commitment and innovative

financing mechanisms also present new horizons as we seek to sustain a full panoply of biodiversity

in each ecoregion long into the future.

In the heart of Europe—a region marked

by profound political changes in the last

decade—the Carpathian Mountains are a

unifying force that represents the natural

harmony of nature and peoples’ way of

life. To reinforce this, the Carpathian

Ecoregion Initiative is working with seven

countries to strengthen ongoing efforts

and catalyse new strategies for conserva-

tion. The sheer scale means that WWF

cannot work alone. In practice, this means

working with over 40 key decision-making

organizations within and outside the

region, from high level international part-

nerships down to small-scale crossborder

projects. The initiative is

helping to put the spotlight on

already existing models for the

region that have sprung up to

promote the benefits of

sustainable development for

biodiversity, local people, and the

Carpathian economy. Linking this to

broader support, the initiative is ensuring

that crossborder cooperation takes place

at the government level. The president and

government of Romania, in partnership

with WWF and HRH Prince Philip, hosted a

summit for ministries from each country in

the region. An agreement on the conserva-

tion, restoration, and sustainable develop-

ment of the Carpathian region was signed.

This kind of cooperation across political

borders is the passport for uniting people

across the different national and ethnic

divides that characterize these landscapes.

In the Spiny Forests of Madagascar,

WWF has worked with health organiza-

tions, government bodies, community

groups, scientists, religious institutions,

and academics, to outline a 25 year

vision for the ecoregion. This vision

aims to conserve sites representative of

the ecoregion’s sub-arid habitat, while

supporting the long-term social,

economic, and cultural development of

the region’s people. Involvement of

community groups at the national,

regional, and local levels early on has

encouraged many stakeholders to

direct their actions toward the common

goals set forth in the biodiversity

vision. Health care groups have been

introduced to local communities as a

result of WWF partnerships, delivering

primary and women’s health care, family

planning education, and related services.

Indigenous leaders have incorporated

traditional ecological knowledge into the

science-based biodiversity assessments

and monitoring programmes associated

with creation and implementation of the

vision. And under the umbrella of the

Malagasy Environment Programme, part-

nerships between local communities and

regional decision-making bodies have

worked to design frameworks for commu-

nity-based natural resource management

programmes. Throughout all of these

activities, WWF supports processes that

systematically review objectives, monitor

impacts from actions, and make adaptive

changes in activities where needed. The

art of mediation among varied interest

groups, the promotion of biodiversity

conservation in a context of extreme

poverty, and active participation from a

variety of social sectors is part of a day-

to-day adaptive learning process in the

Spiny Forest ecoregion.

Key FeaturesofEcoregion C O N S E R VAT I O N

© W

WF-

Cano

n / N

atha

niel

Qua

nsah

© W

WF/

Elis

abet

h Sa

mec

P I A T R A C R A I U L U I N A T I O N A L P A R K , R O M A N I A

Though the approach has been implemented for less than a

decade, already there are some clear benefits for biodiversity

conservation and sustainable development. Rather than treating

the symptoms of threats, ecoregion conservation relies on identi-

fying the far-reaching causes and driving forces of degradation.

Tracing these pathways gives insight into where best to target

actions and invest efforts. Taking analytical steps back to under-

stand threats allows us to take practical steps forward to ensure

we are working in the right place at the right time.

Ecoregion conservation also explicitly opens the door to

engaging many other partners and to understanding and tack-

ling the often complex influences and dynamics that affect

conservation solutions. With its expanded geographic scope and

lengthened time span, ecoregion conservation provides a

panoramic view of biodiversity—its function, its health, and its

importance—to a broad body of stakeholders.

The time scale on which the conservation field operates is

often too short. Ecoregion conservation provides a horizon to see

beyond what is happening today to what will be important

tomorrow. It means asking what are the trends of global change

not just for a few years, but for the next few decades? Only

through this broader view can we see how and when to effect

positive change for biodiversity conservation.

Ecoregion conservation is changing the way we conduct our

business in creating a sustainable world. In places as diverse as

the Carpathian Mountains of Europe or the forests of the Congo

Basin of Africa, far-reaching biodiversity visions act as catalysts for

action. The following stories show how large-scale efforts are

evolving and making a difference throughout the world.

pages6/7A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / C H A N G I N G T H E F A C E O F C O N S E R VAT I O N

Changing the faceof C O N S E R VAT I O N

Ecoregion conservation provides a horizonto see beyond what is happening today to

what will be important tomorrow.

© W

WF-

Cano

n/Ed

war

d Pa

rker

he realities of conservation programmes struggling in the face of broader influences are spurring a dynamic evolution in conservation thinking. Ecoregion conservation is at

the heart of this evolution. It offers an approach with a more complete, holistic mindset forstrategic action. Using ecoregions as the lens through which we set science-based conservationtargets means using a scale that better reflects how nature operates.

T

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / AT L A N T I C F O R E S T S

The Context

ention “tropical rainforest” and “South America” in the same

sentence and thoughts automatically turn to the Amazon.

Understandably so: the Amazon is by far the largest expanse of tropical

forest in the world, stretching across nine countries and encompassing a

region larger than Western Europe. But it is by no means the only rainforest

region in the New World; indeed, some forest areas, while nowhere near as

vast, challenge the Amazon’s levels of species richness, diversity, and

endemism. The Atlantic Forests ecoregion, extending along the coast of

Brazil into Argentina and Paraguay, is one of these.

Isolated geographically from other forest types, the Atlantic Forests boast

an extraordinary level of endemism. More than 52 per cent of the tree

species and 92 per cent of the amphibians found there are found nowhere

else. Of Brazil’s 77 primate species (more than any other country in the

world), 18 occur only in the Atlantic Forests. A 1993 survey identified 450

different tree species in less than one hectare. At least 199 endemic species

of birds live in the forests, as well as many palms, bromeliads, and orchids

known only to this ecoregion.

However, whereas the Amazon remains relatively intact, the Atlantic

Forests have been decimated. Before the arrival of Europeans, they covered

more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometres) along Brazil’s

coast, but this part of Brazil was the first to be colonized and has developed

into the agricultural, industrial, and population centre of the country.

Inhabited by 75 per cent of Brazil’s population, the region generates 80 per

cent of Brazil’s gross national product and includes two of South America’s

largest cities: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Of this, the largest forest blocks

are in areas of Argentina and Paraguay, which are isolated from dense

population centres. Such growth and expansion has, predictably, come at

the expense of the rainforest, so that now only 7 per cent of the original

forest cover remains.

Atlantic Forests:Beyond Borderson NATURE’S TERMS

W

S

20 S

30 S

60 W

MAtlantic Forestswith focal areas of the Tri-national

Green Corridor Initiative highlighted

© C

onse

rvat

ion

Scie

nce

Prog

ram

me,

WW

F-U

S

Atlantic Forests EcoregionTerrestrial Ecoregion

Remaining Forest within Ecoregion

pages8/9A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / AT L A N T I C F O R E S T S

Making matters worse, much of

the surviving forests have been

further fragmented into isolated

“islands” by centuries of clearing for

agriculture and urban development.

As a result, populations of species

that exist only in the Atlantic Forests

are subdivided and reduced to

precariously low numbers.

Nearly all of the forests’ endemic

species can be considered endan-

gered. Several are already on the

verge of extinction, and the proba-

bility of survival for many of the

others is regarded as low.

The Face of Conservation

Since 1972, WWF has focused its

work in the Atlantic Forests on

saving as many as possible of these

remnants. This includes support for

establishing the 7,200 acre (2,920

hectare) União Reserve near Rio

de Janeiro, home to many of the

approximately 800 golden lion

tamarins still surviving in the wild.

Organizations such as the

Associação Mico-leão Dourado

(AMLD) have successfully pushed

the establishment of reserves on

private farms, and have planted

corridors to link many of them as

part of a long-term goal of sufficient

habitat protection to guarantee the

tamarins’ survival. The Brazilian

Ministry of Environment supported

a coalition of non-governmental

organizations, coordinated by

Conservation International, to orga-

nize a national priority-setting work-

shop for the Atlantic Forests. It

became clear that, wherever

possible, the creation of corridors

across the ecoregion is crucial to

increasing the viability of otherwise

isolated patches of forest, and to

improving the chances of survival

for the species that live in them.

Sometimes, however, corridor estab-

lishment requires cooperation

across national boundaries, and it is

just such cooperation that has led to

the development of the Tri-national

Green Corridor Initiative.

One of the sparks for this initia-

tive was generated when researchers

using radio collars to track jaguars

in Brazil noticed their territories

extended into forest across the

border in Argentina. In fact, says

WWF’s Lou Ann Dietz, “although it

had seemed that jaguars in the

Atlantic Forests in Brazil were

restricted to two isolated patches, it

turned out that those areas were

connected by a corridor—except

that that corridor was in Argentina.”

Beginning in 1995, and then

again in 1997, representatives from

various agencies in Argentina,

Brazil, and Paraguay met to discuss

a number of issues surrounding

their common boundary areas.

These were the first occasions in

recent history where such a

dialogue had been opened; the

trust that they generated provided a

window of opportunity for environ-

mentalists and researchers to act.

Non-governmental organizations, in

cooperation with a wide range of

government agencies, established a

forum for discussion and coordina-

tion of conservation and sustainable

development actions across the

entire landscape of the Atlantic

Forests. It was an almost immediate

success that mobilized people to

protect the forests, especially in

Argentina, and motivated the

different countries to work with

each other on forest conservation.

In December 1999, the Misiones

Provincial legislature in Argentina

passed a law creating a “green

corridor” of nearly 2.5 million acres

(1 million hectares) of protected

90%O F I T S A M P H I B I A N S E X I S T N O W H E R E E L S E

199S P E C I E S O F E N D E M I C B I R D S E X I S T

C O N T I N E N T

G L O B A L 2 0 0 E C O R E G I O N

M A J O R H A B I T A T T Y P E

South America

Atlantic Forests

Tropical and SubtropicalMoist Broadleaf Forests

B R O M E L I A F L O W E R S

G O L D F R O G

G O L D E N L I O N T A M A R I N

forest connecting the Iguazú

National Park and other existing

Brazilian and Argentine reserves.

Collaboration among non-govern-

mental organizations persuaded

Brazil to close a road which bisects

the Iguaçu National Park, a World

Heritage Site in peril; protection for

the site was implemented and

UNESCO has since removed the

park from imperiled status. Other

efforts are continuing, such as infra-

structure development for

protecting the 8,200 acre (3,320

hectare) Reserva de Vida Silvestre

Urugua-í, located within the green

corridor; and work with Paraguayan

environmentalists, scientists, and

officials to complete a national

action plan for their portion of the

Atlantic Forests, as part of the tri-

national initiative.

The Result

In his classic book, An Introduction to

Tropical Rain Forests, T.C. Whitmore

is wistful in his description of the

demise of the Atlantic Forests. He

writes that they merge “southwards

into subtropical rain forest of

simpler structure and different

flora, but in a way we shall never

now be able to define.” The devasta-

tion of the Atlantic Forests has been

almost complete but, amazingly,

every species that has ever been

recorded there still exists.

Conservation measures still have a

chance of success, and efforts such

as the Tri-national Green Corridor

Initiative, linking the fragmented

patches that remain across the

ecoregion, present the best hope of

preserving the world’s most endan-

gered rainforest.

In the Atlantic Forests:

© W

WF-

Cano

n/

Mic

hel G

unth

er

© W

WF

/ Kev

in S

chaf

er

© WWF-Canon / Juan Pratginestos

© W

WF-

Cano

n / M

iche

l Gun

ther

© W

WF-

Cano

n / J

uan

Prat

gine

stos

Only7percent of the original forest cover remains.

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / B E R I N G S E A

The Context

he Arctic conjures up visions of

a bright blue sky over a green

tundra, or white polar bears on pack

ice in the cold winter. Whatever the

image, our thoughts are of a pristine

wilderness with occasional human

footprints. People have shared the

land and waters of the Arctic and

sub-Arctic regions for thousands of

years. Native peoples have hunted,

foraged, and dwelled in these lands,

living as one with their environ-

ment. However, this land is

changing. Not by machines or cities,

but by a wave of chemical contami-

nants wafting in the air and flowing

in the waters. Environmental conta-

minants that are produced and

released thousands of miles away in

the United States, southern Canada,

Asia, and Europe are moving to the

Arctic regions and accumulating in

the animals and plants. They are

appearing in the people of the

North as well.

Scientists give many names for

the process by which chemicals

move to the Arctic: “Cold

Distillation,” the “Grasshopper

Effect,” or “Global Fractionation

and Cold Condensation.” The

cumulative effect is seen each year

as “Arctic Haze”—a chemical cloud

that appears over the polar cap each

winter as contaminants from the

lower latitudes paint the sky a

yellowish brown colour. Each spring,

as the sun begins to warm this North

Country, the chemicals rain out

across the land and water, a term

hauntingly called the “Arctic Sunrise

Effect.” Pesticides used on lawns,

components of plastics production

and incineration, and residues of

chemicals long since banned,

continue to rain down and enter the

delicate food web of life in the

Arctic. As chemical usage increases

in our lives, these contaminants add

to next year’s Arctic Haze.

One of the areas experiencing

the most change is the Bering Sea,

the northernmost extent of the

North Pacific Ocean. Covering

T

Toxicsin the Bering Sea:

Mobilizing Action Across Multiple Scales

roughly 885,000 square miles (2.3

million square kilometres), the sea

is one of the richest and most

diverse of the world’s northern

marine ecosystems. It connects to

the Arctic Ocean through the 53-

mile (85-kilometre)-wide Bering

Strait, which separates Alaska and

Siberia. Hundreds of thousands of

marine mammals, including the

endangered bowhead and northern

For native communities,95 per cent of their food comes from the area’s land and sea.

Steller sea lion population decline A T U G A M A K I S L A N D

1 9 6 9 1 9 7 9 1 9 8 6

B E L U G A W H A L E

Stel

ler S

ea L

ions

:© N

atio

nal M

arin

e M

amm

al L

abor

ator

y, N

atio

nal M

arin

e Fi

sher

ies

Serv

ice

© WWF-Canon / Kevin

Scha

fer

right whales, migrate through the

Bering Strait annually. The Bering

Sea supports tens of millions of

seabirds, and over 450 species of

fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and

molluscs, and supplies more than

half of the annual U.S. fish catch.

But in recent decades, coastal

residents, fishermen, and biologists

have documented precipitous

declines in Steller sea lions,

United States

Russia

ChukchiSea

Gulf ofAlaska

BeringSea

BeaufortSea

170E

180

170W

70N

60N

50N

160W

150W

WrangelIsland

St. LawrenceIsland

St. MatthewIsland

AnadyrBay

Karaginsky Bay

Norton Sound

Cape Navarin

NunivakIsland

PribilofIslands

CommanderIslands

Aleutian Islands

pages10/11A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / B E R I N G S E A

northern fur seals, and seabirds such as red-legged kittiwakes and specta-

cled eiders. Although scientists remain uncertain about the cause of these

declines, evidence increasingly points to myriad contributing factors,

ranging from overfishing to changing climatic conditions, and even past

overhunting of whales.

Meanwhile, native residents along the Bering Sea coast of Alaska’s

Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta have noticed other changes. “People are very

concerned about increasing tumors in fish, about fish that are showing up

with parasites and deformities,” says Mike Smolen of WWF. Although here,

too, a wide variety of causes may be responsible, a great deal of suspicion is

falling on the role that pollution might play. Persistent Organic Pollutants

(POPs)—including industrial chemicals such as PCBs and pesticides like

DDT—are associated with a wide range of human ailments and are also

linked to reproductive and other problems in wildlife in the Arctic and else-

where.

It may seem strange that such contaminants should exist at high levels in

the Arctic, but the pattern of wind and ocean currents is such that much of

the pollution from the industrialized world is ultimately deposited in the

northern polar regions. In addition, there are local sources. For example, a

U.S. Air Force base near Hooper Bay (on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta) has

had numerous documented fuel spills, and is shown to have concentrations

of PCBs in the soil. The concern for nearby residents is whether these

chemicals have reached the waters of the bay, where they could ultimately

have found their way into the fish and marine mammals that they rely on

for food.

For native communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, such a scenario is

of more than passing concern. Most people remain highly isolated and, as

Smolen points out, “most of their food comes from the area’s land and sea.”

However, gathering information about ecosystem contamination is not

an easy task. Taking samples of fish and shellfish suspected of being contam-

inated is a first step, of course, but by itself does not tell the whole story. For

example, the fact that fish in a certain place show high levels of contami-

nants does not necessarily mean that the particular area is highly polluted.

Rather, because many fish are highly migratory, they may have become cont-

aminated far away. For that reason among others it is important not just to

sample for pollutants but also to address issues of pollutant distribution

among wildlife populations.

The Face of Conservation

In an attempt to answer some of these questions researchers have been

visiting the region, collecting samples, and acquiring a better biological

overview of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Of crucial importance, the effort

does not involve only outside experts; instead, those experts have been

working with local communities, relying on their indigenous knowledge

and, in turn, training them in sampling techniques. After the first trainings,

the idea has evolved into a grassroots enterprise. Eventually, when commu-

nities express concerns about possible contamination of their food and

water supply, what Smolen calls “SWAT teams” of trained residents from

nearby villages will be able to respond to the call, take the necessary

samples, and, working with scientists, get answers to their questions. The

native-run health corporation is also involved in gathering and distributing

samples and maintaining a database on findings. In this way, a web of

informed grassroots knowledge is created across the ecoregion. This adds to

the understanding of man-made contaminants in marine systems, and

empowers and links communities across the ecoregion as the advocates for

change and the long-term stewards of the Bering Sea.

The Result

This kind of bottom-up effort also joins international policy initiatives to go

after the source of pollutants. Throughout the Arctic, and around the

world, voices are rising against the impacts of POPs on ecosystems and

human health. The Stockholm POPs Convention eliminated or severely

restricted the production and the use of 12 of the most dangerous POPs.

Although many POPs will continue to be produced, this is at least a first

step toward a time when the people of the Bering Sea no longer have to

monitor their environment for pollutants that originate thousands of miles

away. This will be a triumph for these communities as well as for the entire

web of life of the Bering Sea.

The Bering Sea provides:

56%O F A N N U A L U. S. F I S H C AT C H

450SPECIES OF FISH, CRUSTACEANS, AND MOLLUSCS

C O N T I N E N T S

G L O B A L 2 0 0 E C O R E G I O N S

M A J O R H A B I T A T T Y P E

North America,Asia

Bering-Beaufort-Chukchi Seas

Polar

S T . M A T T H E W I S L A N D , A L A S K A

© W

WF-

Cano

n / K

evin

Sch

afer

© W

WF-

Cano

n/K

evin

Sch

afer

© C

onse

rvat

ion

Scic

nce

Prog

ram

me,

WW

F-U

S, T

NC

Bering Seawith Priority Areas highlighted as developed jointly with The Nature Conservancy

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / C H I H U A H U A N D E S E R T

The Context

he Chihuahuan Desert is one of the most biologically diverse regions

of its kind in the world. Among desert ecosystems, only the Great

Sandy Desert in Australia and the Namib-Karoo in southern Africa can chal-

lenge its variety and abundance of animals and plants. In fact, although

deserts are widely dismissed as barren and lifeless, the Chihuahuan has

more plant species than North America’s Pacific Northwest and more bird

species than the Florida Everglades.

Of the world’s 1,500 known cacti species, 350 are found here, as are 250

species of butterfly, including the giant swallowtail, the largest butterfly in

North America. Birds such as the zone-tailed hawk and Aplomado falcon

circle the skies, while the greater roadrunner dashes along the ground.

Majestic predators like the mountain lion and the jaguar prowl the desert

lands in search of prey, from the pronghorn antelope to the blacktailed

prairie dog.

The desert is a region of dramatic extremes. Forested mountain ranges

thrust skyward like islands in a desert sea, vast grasslands stretch across the

region’s northern expanse, and dunescapes of white sands ripple through

much of New Mexico and Coahuila. But the central component of the whole

ecoregion is, perhaps surprisingly, water: specifically, the watershed of the Río

Grande/Río Bravo river system, one of the largest in North America.

Among North American rivers, the Río Grande/Río Bravo is, at 1,825

miles (2,940 kilometres) in length, shorter only than the Mississippi-

Missouri-Red Rock system and the Yukon. Its extensive watershed, including

major tributaries such as the Pecos River in Texas and the Río Conchos in

Chihuahua, encompasses 335,000 square miles (867,600 square kilometres),

11 per cent of the area of the continental United States.

However, the rich tapestry of habitats—salt marshes, mudflats, wetlands—

has dwindled and disappeared, choked off as the water flow has been altered

to suit the demands of increasing human habitation. More and more water is

diverted to irrigate fields and supply towns; today, over 90 per cent of the Río

Grande is regularly diverted for irrigation. In some places, the scale of such

diversion is so great that the river is completely bereft of water.

Structures such as the Elephant Butte, a massive reservoir in New Mexico,

have drastically altered the hydrology of the basin, reducing stream flows and

interrupting the historical cycles of flood and drought that shaped and

replenished the river’s habitats. Incessant pumping of groundwater has dried

up springs, lowered water tables, and prevented the recharge of surface

waters. The Laguna de Mayrán, once northern Mexico’s largest lagoon and

home to many species, including the endangered whooping crane, is

completely dry; the Río Nazas, which formerly fed it, is tamed by dams and

has lost 99 per cent of its water to irrigation, with drought claiming the rest.

The scale of these and other threats, such as excessive grazing and introduc-

tion of non-native species to the Río Grande basin, has often been too

daunting for any one organization to address.

The Face of Conservation

Fortunately, the plight of the Chihuahuan Desert has not gone unnoticed.

Environmental groups, local organizations, government agencies, and citi-

zens of both countries are working to stop and reverse the ecoregion’s

ecological decline. “In the near term,” says WWF’s Jennifer Atchley, “we

need to get more of the Chihuahuan Desert’s important habitat areas under

some form of protection.” Scarcely 2 per cent of the ecoregion is under

protected status, but groups throughout the area are working to change

that. In December 2000, a collaborative effort by the Huichol Indians, the

Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, Conservación Humana, and WWF resulted

T

pages12/13

in a doubling of the size of the Huiricuta protected area in Mexico. In part-

nership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, WWF raised

US$1.5 million to support local stakeholders in planning protected areas in

the upper San Pedro River vicinity, and efforts by the local conservation

group Biodesert are focused on protecting a critical reach of the Río Nazas.

“In addition,” says Atchley, “we are working with private landowners to

improve resource management, to develop education and public awareness

programmes, and to build the capacity of local conservation groups.”

All of these steps are essential. In the long term, however, they will come

to naught, Atchley argues, without a “serious examination of how water is

allocated and used across the ecoregion.” Today, the vast majority of

Chihuahuan Desert water is devoted to agriculture, where much of it is lost

to evaporation and inefficient distribution. Urban centres, which also lose

tremendous amounts of water to inefficiency and waste, are growing explo-

sively, putting ever greater pressure on the scarce and vital resource. In the

face of burgeoning demand, says Atchley, “we need to somehow secure

enough water to conserve and, where necessary, restore the ecoregion’s

globally outstanding freshwater and riparian habitats.”

The Result

In 2002, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Julia Carabias,

head of Mexico’s Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y

Pesca, jointly chaired a meeting of federal and state water managers, acade-

mics, and non-governmental organizations to discuss the impact of water

use on biodiversity in the middle Río Grande/Río Bravo. The meeting

resulted in the formation of an international task force to explore, among

other things, the feasibility of restoring instream flows to portions of the

river. Work is progressing to develop legal and policy options to secure

instream flows, while also facilitating actions with communities and the agri-

cultural sector to collaboratively reform practices. WWF is working with

other Texas-based organizations to create a water trust for the region, and is

fostering collaboration between U.S. and Mexican protected areas to imple-

ment a saltcedar eradication project for the river system. The effort aims to

reduce the use of precious water by this aggressive invasive species. Efforts

like these need to continue across the ecoregion to ensure that water, the

lifeline of the desert, continues to flow.

Chihuahuan Desertwith Río Grande/Río Bravo highlighted

The Chihuahuan Desert encompasses:

350S P E C I E S O F C A C T I

250S P E C I E S O F B U T T E R F L I E S

C O N T I N E N T

G L O B A L 2 0 0 E C O R E G I O N S

M A J O R H A B I T A T T Y P E S

North America

Chihuahuan-Tehuacán Deserts,Chihuahuan Freshwater

Deserts & XericShrublands,Xeric Basins

H I K E R S O N T O P O F A L A R G E D U N E

A G A V A C E A E P L A N T I N G Y P S U M D U N E S

P R O C E S S I N G C A N D E L I L L A P L A N T F O R W A X

A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / C H I H U A H U A N D E S E R T

All p

hoto

s on

thes

e pa

ges:

© W

WF-

Cano

n / E

dwar

d Pa

rker

United States

Mexico

100W

110W

30N

Rio

Gra

nde/

Rio

Brav

o

Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregions

Freshwater Boundary

Terrestrial Ecoregion

Human populations are growing rapidly throughout the region and as they use more space and

natural resources, wild animals and plants face increasing pressure.

© C

onse

rvat

ion

Scie

nce

Prog

ram

me,

WW

F-U

S

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / C O N G O B A S I N

Until recently, the 300,000 square-

mile (777,000 square-kilometre)

Congo Basin was sparsely populated

and relatively intact. However, an

expanding population, economic

growth, and political instability are all

combining to bring about change.

Shifts in how the inhabitants of the

Congo Basin make their livelihood,

accompanied by magnifying scales of

land conversion due to a population

increase of 1.7 million people per year,

are creating increased demand for

food, fuel, and shelter at a great cost to

biodiversity.

There are other pressures. Political

unrest has prompted an influx of

rebels, refugees, and army factions,

who have decimated the area’s plants

and animals. Illegal trade in ivory

threatens forest elephants. National

parks have become refuges for illegal

miners and woodcutters. Trade in bush

meat, traditionally a source of local

meat consumption but now increas-

ingly being directed toward sale to

urban centres and export abroad, is

devastating wildlife: a 1999 study esti-

mated that the total annual consump-

tion in Central Africa equaled about

one million metric tons, the equivalent

of about four million cattle. In addi-

tion, the need for economic develop-

ment is in danger of leading to rapid,

unchecked growth in mining and

forestry, with potentially drastic

economic consequences.

The Context

he lowland forests of the Congo Basin constitute the Earth’s second

largest contiguous rainforest, smaller only than the Amazon. Renowned

for high levels of biodiversity and endemism, the forests contain the greatest

number of species of mammals, primates, birds, amphibians, fish, and swallow-

tail butterflies in Africa. They are the only forests to shelter all three subspecies

of gorilla: the lowland gorilla, the endemic eastern lowland gorilla, and the

endangered mountain gorilla. The rare bonobo, sometimes known as the

pygmy chimpanzee, is found here and here alone. Bird species unique to the

area include the Congo peacock, the Congo sunbird, and Brazza’s martin.

The Congo River, the second largest river in the world, flows through these

forests. Every wet season the Congo overflows its banks, supplying its flood-

plain forests with vital nutrients and providing feeding and breeding areas for

abundant fish and other animals. Among the diverse fish species of the Congo

Basin are catfish and spiny eels with reduced eyes for life in the lower Congo

rapids, characids that feed on the fins of other fish, and snout fishes with

pronouncedly long rostrums to feed in between rocks or in the mud and sand.

Otter shrews hunt for crabs, fish, and frogs in the water at night, while Allen’s

swamp monkeys sleep in trees above the flooded forest.

All told, the tropical forests and freshwaters of Central Africa are some of

the most valuable in the world in terms of species richness and ecological

diversity. But they are valuable also in other ways: they contain a veritable trea-

sure of tropical timbers and other forest products, as well as oil, gas, and

diamonds. And such richness is placing the ecosystems and their wildlife

under threat.

CongoBasin:N E G O T I A T I N G

Livelihoodsand Leaders

10S

20S

30E

10E

Equator

Angola

Zambia

Uganda

Chad

Gabon

Equatorial Guinea

Cameroon

Nigeria

Congo

Sudan

Rwanda

Burundi

Tanzania

DemocraticRepublic of Congo

CentralAfrican

Republic

Congo Basin

HRH PRINCE PHIL IP WITH CENTRAL AFRICAN

OFFIC IALS AT YAOUNDÉ SUMMIT

T

© W

WF-

Cano

n / C

laud

e M

artin

© W

WF-

Cano

n / M

artin

Har

vey

© W

WF

CARP

O (C

entr

al A

frica

n Re

gion

al P

rogr

amm

e O

ffice

), Co

nser

vatio

n Sc

ienc

e Pr

ogra

mm

e, W

WF-

US

Congo Basin Ecoregions

Terrestrial EcoregionsFreshwater Boundaries

The Face of Conservation

Recognizing the growing urgency of the situation, heads of state and their

representatives from six Central African nations came together for an

unprecedented gathering in Cameroon in March 1999, and signed the

Yaoundé Declaration on the Conservation and Sustainable Management of

Tropical Forests. Recognizing “the need to preserve and sustainably manage

their forest ecosystems,” the heads of state proclaimed their “commitment

to the principle of conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable manage-

ment of forest ecosystems in Central Africa.” They committed to pursuing a

wide range of efforts to address the growing problems facing their forests,

including taking measures to reconcile the wish to protect forest ecosystems

with the need for economic development; involving local communities in

efforts to check severe poaching and other non-sustainable methods of

exploitation; and harmonizing national forestry policies.

The Yaoundé Declaration was, says WWF’s Richard Carroll, “highly

significant. We had been working at all levels to try and foster protection for

these forests. We had been working at the village level, all the way to the

ministerial level. We’d been working a lot with various ministries, but many

of these ministers’ mandates are conflicted—in charge of, say, both environ-

mental protection and logging. We needed to make a quantum leap ahead

on a political level, and what transpired was a series of high-level, very

visible commitments from the heads of state themselves.”

The Congo Basin ecoregions provided the common denominator to

leverage this high-level political support. And although environmental

conservation is littered with empty promises from governments and leaders,

the Yaoundé Declaration is one instance, says Carroll, where the signatories

are proving as good as their word. “In many cases, the presidents are clearly

putting pressure on their ministers to ensure that their wishes are carried

out. Throughout the region, it is clear that they are making major efforts to

live up to their commitments.”

One early consequence was an agreement to develop a biodiversity plan

for the Congo Basin ecoregions: a scientific review that will enable scientists,

conservationists, and planners to determine the areas of greatest species

richness and diversity and establish comprehensive ecoregional conservation

priorities. This review is now complete and has led to greater cooperation

between the nations involved, because it recognizes that protection of the

Congo Basin forests requires more than isolated, national initiatives. Results

include a collaborative commitment to raise financial assistance at the scale

needed, as well as the first practical steps in the overall plan for conservation

action across the basin. For instance, governments have agreed to protect

corridors of habitat that link different national parks in different countries.

In the Sangha River Tri-national Park, which straddles the Central African

Republic, the Republic of Congo, and Cameroon, the combined efforts have

led to the creation of a truly international reserve. The biodiversity plan for

the region has designated ten additional international reserves to be estab-

lished by 2005. And WWF, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation

Society and Conservation International, has raised US$2.3 million to support

the creation of 13 new national parks in Gabon.

The Result

In many parts of the world, the devastation that has already been visited on

ecosystems by human activity is such that conservation efforts are forced to

try to salvage as much as possible of what is left. In the Congo Basin, now is

an opportune and critical time to move efforts at this broader scale toward a

longer-term vision, while there still remain large and relatively intact forest

areas. The Yaoundé summit and its follow-up actions present a rare oppor-

tunity to act before it is too late to protect one of the most spectacular and

biologically valuable areas on Earth.

G A M B A R E S E R V E , G A B O N

A E R I A L V I E W O F I N D I A N R I V E R

A N D K O R U P R A I N F O R E S T,

C A M E R O O N

G L O B A L 2 0 0 F R E S H W A T E R E C O R E G I O N S

M A J O R H A B I T A T T Y P E S

C O N T I N E N T

Africa

Cameroonian Crater Lakes, Congo Basin PiedmontRivers and Streams, Congo River and FloodedForests, Gulf of Guinea Rivers and Streams, Niger River Delta

G L O B A L 2 0 0 T E R R E S T R I A L E C O R E G I O N S

Central Congo Basin Moist Forest, Congolian CoastalForests, Northeastern Congo Basin Moist Forest,Western Congo Basin Moist Forest

Large Rivers, Large River Deltas, Large RiverHeadwaters, Small Lakes, Small Rivers, Tropicaland Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

C H I L D R E N O F T H E I T U R I F O R E S T

A F R I C A N W O O D O W L

50% O F T H E R E G I O N

H A S B E E N A L L O C A T E D F O R

L O G G I N G C O N C E S S I O N S

M O R E T H A N

1,000S P E C I E S O F B I R D S E X I S T

In the Congo Basin:

Child

ren:

© W

WF-

Cano

n/ S

. Mba

nefo

Obi

ago,

Woo

d O

wl:

© W

WF/

Rich

ard

Carr

oll,

Indi

an R

iver

: © W

WF

/Ed

war

d Pa

rker

, Gam

ba:©

WW

F-Ca

non

/ Mic

hel G

unth

er

Act before it is too late to protect the second largest contiguous rainforest in the world.

pages14/15A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / C O N G O B A S I N

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / R U S S I A N F A R E A S T

The Context

xtending across an area

roughly the size of California,

the temperate forests of the Russian

Far East are among the richest and

most unusual anywhere in the world.

Unlike much of the surrounding

region, they escaped the inexorable

march of glaciers during the last Ice

Age, and provided a refuge for

species and communities that else-

where succumbed to the cooling

climate. As a result, long after the

glaciers have retreated, the forests

remain home to a unique assem-

blage of wildlife.

An inventory of the forest’s

wildlife is a “Who’s Who” of species

that do not exist anywhere else on

Earth. Steller’s sea eagle, Siberian

spruce grouse, Japanese Crane,

Blakiston’s fish owl, Amur sturgeon,

13 species of freshwater mussels, 2

species of swallowtail butterfly, goral

(a type of antelope), Himalayan

black bear, Amur forest cat, and

several hundred species of rare

vascular plants, ferns, lichens, liver-

worts, mosses, and fungi: all are

found in this region. The forests are

the only home of the Amur

(Siberian) tiger, and of the Far

desire for hard currency. The problems, says WWF’s Dan Cao, are becoming

more acute with “Russia’s poor economy, which hasn’t recovered from the

1998 crash, contrasted with the growing economies of the Asian countries

next door, which are driving the markets.”

The Face of Conservation

Since 1994, conservation efforts have been directed toward supporting

protected areas within the ecoregion, providing education for students and

teachers on the area’s importance, funding anti-poaching patrols, devel-

oping a strategy to save the Far Eastern leopard and Amur tiger, and identi-

fying economic uses of the forest’s resources that are sustainable, not

destructive.

The focus for much work in the region is the conservation of the Amur

tiger and its habitat. The tigers are much sought after in the Asian market

for traditional Chinese medicines, and with the people of the region so

desperate for money, tiger poaching can be a lucrative business. “Part of the

problem,” ventures Dan Cao, “is that poachers in Russia have historically

been regarded as heroic figures. What we have been trying to do is address

that image, and largely as a result of our education efforts, local attitudes

about poaching are changing completely.”

Tigers make a good focus because they are a dramatic, charismatic

species that easily attracts attention and support, and because their conser-

vation is crucial to other species in the forest. Saving the tiger as a flagship

Russian Far East:from Species to Landscapes

In the Forests of the Russian Far East:

O N LY450S I B E R I A N T I G E R S R E M A I N

E

Poachers in Russia have historically been regarded as heroic figures.

Eastern leopard, of which fewer

than 30 are believed to remain.

Conservation of these forests

is vital—all the more so given that,

whereas similar forest communities

once existed in China, Japan,

and the Korean Peninsula, those

in the Russian Far East are now

essentially the last ones remaining.

Unfortunately, the existence of the

forests and the wildlife they contain

are coming under increasing pres-

sure. Overharvesting and illegal

cutting of timber are major threats

to the region’s forests. Multinational

timber corporations seek to clear-

cut extensive tracts of forest and

entire watersheds for inexpensive,

high quality timber. Poaching is

driven by a demand for animal parts

in Asian medicines, a growth in

organized crime in the region, and a

G L O B A L 2 0 0 E C O R E G I O N S

M A J O R H A B I T A T T Y P E S

C O N T I N E N T

Asia

Russian Far East Broadleafand Mixed Forests,RussianFar East Rivers and Wetlands

Temperate Broadleaf andMixed Forests,Small Rivers

O V E R100FRESHWATER FISH SPECIES E X I S T

pages16/17A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / R U S S I A N F A R E A S T

species better ensures that other species associated with it will survive. If the

tiger or Far Eastern leopard disappeared, the extinction would alter the

densities of prey such as the sika deer, roe deer, and wild boar, and would

subsequently influence the regeneration of native forests. “We’ve been able

to get out the idea that wildlife protection is important, not only for tigers

and leopards, but for their prey, and the forests themselves,” says Cao.

There are signs that the efforts are paying off. Although the number of

tigers in the region remains distressingly low at about 450, that is a consider-

able improvement on estimates just a few years ago, when it was believed

there were as few as 300. Even so, it is far too early to be complacent, and

education by itself is not enough. To that end, WWF, in cooperation with

international and local non-governmental organizations, has also been

funding a network of anti-poaching patrols.

Heading up the patrols is Pavel Fomenko, WWF’s biodiversity conserva-

tion officer in the Russian Far East. Honored by TIME magazine as one of

its “heroes of the planet,” Fomenko has helped WWF fight tiger poaching

for six years. His work frequently sends him into -40°C temperatures and

deep snows, but despite the obstacles he and the brigade members face,

they have been tremendously successful. Since 1995, his 14 anti-poaching

brigades have captured more than 700 weapons, punished 2,000 criminals,

and recovered 40 tiger skins and countless bones. Fewer than 30 tigers were

poached in 1999, and it is in large part because of their efforts that the tiger

population across the landscape has now stabilized. This protection relies

on the combined contributions of other partner organizations such as the

Wildlife Conservation Society, Hornrocker Wildlife Institute, WildAid, and

TIGRIS Foundation.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that the range of the

Siberian tiger—and of the Far Eastern leopard, and the forest habitat

itself—does not end at the Russian border, nor do the sources of the threats

they face. Just as the Chinese medicine market is the single biggest driving

force behind tiger poaching, so China and Japan are the primary destina-

tions for timber from the Russian Far East. “Because of economic develop-

ment in China, and because the cost of timber is so low there right now, just

about everybody is renovating or building new houses. And because the

Chinese government has imposed a ban on logging in China, immense

Russia

Japan

North Korea

South KoreaChina

Mongolia

Sakhalin Island

Kurile Island

KamchatkaPeninsula

Lake Baikal

50N

40N

110E

130E 15

0E 30N

Amur

River

The Result

The establishment of the new

359,000 acre (145,000 hectare)

nature reserve is a great achieve-

ment for both the Chinese and

Russian governments in their efforts

to safeguard the habitat for endan-

gered species. As Cao urges, “It is an

important step; if we only protect

wildlife on the Russian side, we’re

not doing the whole job. We need

to work together across borders.”

pressure is placed on Russia’s

forests to supply China’s demand

for timber,” says Cao.

There has been, however, almost

no discussion on conservation

efforts at any level between the two

countries about their shared

resources—until recently. By

adopting a broader ecoregional

approach, Russian and Chinese

agencies have begun to open a

dialogue over cooperation to

protect the Far Eastern leopard,

Amur tiger, and Amur River water-

shed. In December 2001, a new

transboundary nature reserve in

Hunchun, Northeast China, was

established with joint support from

WWF, the Wildlife Conservation

Society, and Wetlands International.

This reserve will prove to be a crit-

ical piece of a network of protection

for tigers, leopards, and birds

migrating between China and

Russia.

S W A L L O W T A I L B U T T E R F L Y

P R I M O R Y E R E G I O N , R U S S I A N F A R E A S T

J A P A N E S E C R A N E

© C

onse

rvat

ion

Scie

nce

Prog

ram

me,

WW

F-U

S

© W

WF-

Cano

n / K

lein

&Hu

bert

Japa

nese

Cra

ne:©

WW

F-Ca

non

/ Pau

l Bar

ruel

, Sw

allo

wta

il Bu

tter

fly: ©

WW

F-Ca

non

/ Har

tmut

Jung

ius,

Prim

orye

Reg

ion:

© W

WF

Russ

ia /

Vlad

imir

Med

vede

v

Russian Far East Ecoregions

Terrestrial Ecoregion

Freshwater Boundary

Russian Far East

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / A P E R S P E C T I V E O N C H A L L E N G E S

Acting now for the future

Great challenges in biodiversity conservation accompany the benefits of

scaling up our thinking and actions. One of these challenges is to

balance short-term projects that yield fast results with long-term plan-

ning. Our experience to date suggests that quick, high profile actions as

well as locally initiated catalytic projects both have important relation to

long-term programmes that are slower to develop. Either way, to ensure

an involved and connected constituency that will maintain conservation

at ecoregional scales over the long term, the key is to use creative moni-

toring activities that engage stakeholders.

Moving forward

Conservation must be grounded in good science. A lack of information

about ecosystem functioning is at best disruptive, and at worst can stop

conservation efforts in their tracks. Given the limits of our current knowl-

edge, how can we know that the biological targets set today will still be used

in the future? The truth is that unless we are willing to accept the cost of

inaction—the complete and irreversible loss of entire ecosystems—we must

act now and set priorities with the best information available. The key to

progress is an openness to adaptive learning and a practice of innovative

thinking. By using our past experience to judge what does and does not

work, we increase the probability of setting robust targets and initiating

effective conservation efforts in spite of an unpredictable world.

Scaling up

Taking on conservation challenges at the ecoregional scale opens up a far

wider spectrum of structures, discussions, and tensions than traditionally

encountered at the site level. As a result, conservation will often be part of

a larger regional equation driven by political, private sector, and civil

society interests. The strength of ecoregion conservation is in recognizing

that these complexities are an inherent part of the ecological and social

systems in which we are promoting change. From local governance of

resource use and regional agricultural policies to international trade, any

and all aspects of the evolving global economy can affect biodiversity and

sustainable development in ways that we may or may not be able to influ-

ence. The leaders of these efforts are in the best position to mitigate the

actions or attitudes that threaten the state of biodiversity crucial to the

world’s economy. Ecoregion conservation therefore provides a framework

for a coherent package of strategies to be designed and carried out by

multiple stakeholders at multiple levels.

the cornerstone of ecoregion conser-

vation, which sets out biological goals

(often represented on a map) that

provide the guide for negotiating

resource use options across large

areas. The integration of biodiversity

visions at this scale—from local to

national planning and within interna-

tional development agendas—can be

of help to both conservation and

development by providing options

for both.

For instance, in the Southwest

Amazon ecoregion, the process of

developing a biodiversity vision and

map with multiple experts and stake-

holders identified priority areas for

protection across the entire ecore-

gion, which spans Peru, Bolivia, and

Brazil. During land-use planning

discussions in Brazil, the map directly

informed the zoning process for the

State of Acre because it provided

guidance for the incorporation of the

majority of recommended biodiver-

sity priority areas into a regional land-

use plan.

A Perspectiveon C H A L L E N G E S

Too hot to handle

Many parts of the world are

immersed in social and political

instability. Conservation is far from

the minds of decision makers in

places where survival is paramount

or civil strife is ongoing.

Conservation efforts are not usually

feasible in such places. The strength

of ecoregion conservation is that

rather than planning around

shifting political boundaries, it

allows us to think about entire

regions—thereby creating a plan-

ning framework that waits out social

and political instability, but is

poised for action when stability and

opportunity set in.

The power of vision

Development agendas can conflict

with biodiversity conservation

agendas. Since regional resource

use planning does not always

proceed in a coordinated way, the

results can be compromised by

inaction and different priorities.

This is true whether the plans are

for improving economic welfare or

for environmental protection. Just

as inappropriate development can

be the root cause of biodiversity

loss, so too can biodiversity loss and

loss of ecosystem function be the

demise of the most detailed devel-

opment efforts.

Ecoregion conservation offers a

strategic tool in this dilemma. It

begins with the biodiversity vision,© WWF-Canon / Mich

el Gunth

er

pages18/19A P O R T F O L I O O F S T O R I E S / M E E T I N G T H E C H A L L E N G E

Our way of protecting biodiversity has changed.

Thinking and acting at multiple scales better

enables us to meet the demands of global influ-

ences as well as localized human needs, whether orchestrating collaboration

across borders in the forests of South America, designing new legislation

to protect and restore riparian habitats in Asia, discussing conservation

priorities at the same table as development agendas in Central Africa, or

catalysing efforts to redefine resource rights in the Río Grande and Bering

Sea. This Portfolio brings you stories from the field about how ecoregion

conservation is changing the face of conservation.

Changing the faceof C O N S E R VAT I O N

...Meeting the challenge

© W

WF-

Cano

n / M

iche

l Gun

ther

E C O R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N / T H E G L O B A L 2 0 0

he Global 200 is a science-based selection of biologically coherent regions representing outstanding examples of every major

ecosystem on earth. The aim of the Global 200 analysis is to ensure that the full range of ecosystems is represented within regional

conservation and development strategies so that they can contribute to a global strategy for biodiversity conservation. By prioritizing the

conservation of the broadest range of habitats, the Global 200 aims to secure the conservation of the fullest possible range of species.

The Global 200 also provides the geographical framework for WWF’s work in its chosen priority issues—forest, freshwater, and marine biomes;

species; toxics; and climate change. WWF’s regional programmes around the world are now prioritizing their conservation efforts at an

ecoregional scale in selected Global 200 ecoregions. Well over 30 ecoregion conservation programmes are now underway with an additional

30 Global 200 ecoregions slated for additional WWF support over the next few years.

T

238

G L O B A L 2 0 0

Freshwater and Marine Ecoregions

Glossarybiodiversity—the variety of life on Earth, reflected in the variety ofecosystems and species, their processes and interactions, and thegenetic variation within and among species.

biodiversity vision—long-term goals for the ecoregion’s biodiversityconservation and actions that identify key sites, populations, thresholds,and ecological processes.

conservation targets—practical targets that guide priority setting andimplementation of strategies—namely, distinctive units of biodiversity;larger intact habitats; intact biotas; keystone habitats, species, andphenomena; large-scale ecological phenomena; species of specialconcern; and native biotas without alien species.

ecological processes—complex mix of interactions between animals,plants, and their environment that ensure that an ecosystem’s fullrange of biodiversity is adequately maintained. Examples include popu-lation and predator-prey dynamics, pollination and seed dispersal,nutrient cycling, migration, and dispersal.

ecoregion—a large unit of land or water containing a geographicallydistinct assemblage of species, natural communities, and environ-mental conditions. The boundaries of an ecoregion encompass an areawithin which important ecological and evolutionary processes moststrongly interact.

ecoregional plan—comprehensive strategy for all concerned, imple-mented by a consortium of WWF and its partners. Scale depends onstrategy, but may focus field actions on a small number of prioritizedsites within the ecoregion.

major habitat type—set of ecosystems that experience comparableclimatic regimes, have similar vegetation structure, display similarspatial patterns of biodiversity, and contain flora and fauna with similarguild structures and life histories.

stakeholder—any person, group, or institution that affects or isaffected by, positively or negatively, a particular issue or outcome.

AcknowledgementsThanks to all those who helped with this publication, especially John Brown, Juliette Brown, JamesCauley, Karen Eng, Wendy Faxon, Chris Hails, Scot Howard, Beth Joselow, Bob Kiernan, Jim Leape, ZandraMcGillivray, Judy Oglethorpe, Linda Redmond, Gibby Waitzkin, Wes Wettengel, Diane Wood. Thanks alsoto Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) for generous software donations. Text: JenniferAtchley, Richard Carroll, Sarah Christiansen, Eric Dinerstein, Curt Freese, Kimberley Marchant, JamesMartin-Jones, Tony Mokombo, Richard Mott, Kieran Mulvaney, Sheila O’Connor, David Olson, JenniferReed, David Stone. Photo Research: Michele Depraz, Ulli Lagler, Jennifer Reed. Map Editor: HollyStrand. Maps: Tom Allnutt, Jennifer D’Amico, Colby Loucks, Holly Strand, Wes Wettengel. Copy Editors:Nicole Ardoin, Alice Taylor. Research Assistants: Miranda Mockrin, Veronica Parcan, Gautham Rao.Reviewers: Dan Cao, Lou Ann Dietz, Bronwen Golder, James Martin-Jones, Sheila O’Connor, DoreenRobinson, Michael Smolen, Holly Strand, Chris Williams, Margaret Williams. Managing Editors: SarahChristiansen, Ulli Lagler, Kimberley Marchant, Jennifer Reed.

Resources and Web LinksWWF-US www.worldwildlife.org

WWF International www.panda.org

Wild World www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld, www.nationalgeographic.org/wildworld

Conservation International (CI) www.conservation.org

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) nature.org

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) www.iucn.org

World Resources Institute (WRI) www.wri.org

The ecoregion visions discussed within this publication are available by request from erbcinfo@wwfus.org.

Notes and References1. Adapted from the full text that includes further details on the guiding principles. A copy of the joint

statement is available by request from erbcinfo@wwfus.org.2. The Global 200 is a science-based global ranking of the Earth’s most biologically outstanding terres-

trial, freshwater, and marine habitats. The guiding principle is representation of all major habitat types.By focusing on large, biologically distinct areas of land and water, the Global 200 provides a compre-hensive strategy that sets the stage for conserving biodiversity at the broadest scale on which natureoperates.

3. Olson, D., and E. Dinerstein. 1998. The Global 200: A representation approach to conservingthe Earth’s most biologically valuable ecoregions. Conservation Biology 12: 502-515.

4. These marine ecoregions include only Global 200 ecoregions.5. Adapted from Noss, R.F., and A. Y. Cooperrider. 1994. Saving nature’s legacy: protecting and

restoring biodiversity. Washington, DC: Defenders of Wildlife and Island Press.

G L O B A L 2 0 0

Terrestrial Ecoregions

The Global 200®

Blueprint for a LIVING PLANET ®

Both

Map

s:©

Con

serv

atio

n Sc

ienc

e Pr

ogra

mm

e, W

WF-

US

WWF is the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organization. It has 4.7 million supporters and a global network active in 96 countries.

WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by• conserving the world’s biological diversity• ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable• promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption

C O N S E R VAT I ON F O R A L I V I N G P L A N E TPublished in Washington, D.C., USA in January 2003 by WWF

© 2003 WWF. All rights reserved by World Wildlife Fund, Inc.

Printed on recycled paper.

WWF InternationalAvenue du Mont-Blanc1196 GlandSwitzerlandwww.panda.org

World Wildlife Fund1250 Twenty-Fourth Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20037 USAwww.worldwildlife.org ©

198

6, W

WF

– W

orl

d W

ide

Fun

d F

or

Nat

ure

. Als

o k

no

wn

as

Wo

rld

Wild

life

Fun

d ®

WW

F R

egis

tere

d T

rad

emar

k O

wn

er. 1

-200

3/50

00

This publication was made possible through support provided by theOffice of Environment, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, andTrade, U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms ofAward No. LAG-A-00-99-00048-00. The opinions expressed herein arethose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of theU.S. Agency for International Development.