Threats to Biodiversity in Protected Forests
Karpanty in Madagascar’s
Ranomafana National Park.
Many of the world’s tropical forest preserves are experiencing declines in biodiversity, reports a team of conservation researchers in the journal Nature.
Tropical forests are rich in terms of numbers of species, but protected areas are struggling to sustain their diversity—mirroring threats to the surrounding areas, such as lack of protection and encroachment from illegal colonists, hunters, and loggers.
The study found that most preserves do help protect the surrounding forests, but about half were losing old-growth trees and wildlife, such as many primates, stream-dwelling fish, and amphibians.
“We need to be as aggressive in eliminating threats outside of park boundaries as we are in establishing new parks or maintaining existing ones,” concludes Sarah Karpanty, associate professor of wildlife conservation at Virginia Tech.
Source: Virginia Tech, www.vt.edu.