The biodiversity issue and Latin America

Latin America is a center for much of the world's biotic diversity, with an impressive variety of plants and animals occurring from Mexico's northern border to the tip of South America. Over most of this region habitats are being threatened due to burgeoning human populations, uncontrolled habitat conversion, commercial hunting, and other factors that adversely affect ecosystems. This assault on biodiversity has alarmed people throughout the world and led to a great concern among scientists. This concern has resulted in various efforts to discuss or limit environmental degradation in Latin America, with a good deal of criticism of Latin American governments being voiced by people living in developed nations. Curiously, the natural habitats of most developed countries have been greatly modified in the process of their economic development. Entreaties to Latin American countries to preserve their ecosystems can appear shallow when they are made by scientists living in nations that were built on the principle of development of "unused" lands. Latin America has developed an extensive infrastructure of scientists, private foundations and governmental agencies t t is equipped to deal with many of the that negatively affect biodiversity. However, there is often a lack of adequate funding available to support long-term research and training in disciplines related to biodiversity. There is a great deal of expertise on the biology of Latin America's flora and fauna that is shared between scientists living in developed and underdeveloped countries. The expertise for the successful implementation of conservation plans or the integration of research results into a society's understanding of the biodiversity problem, however, resides principally with the scientists of Latin America themselves. Successful reversal of trends in species loss will only occur through real and extensive cooperation between scientists from underdeveloped countries and those living in developed nations, but the fmal responsibility for the implementation of effective plans of conservation resides with the governments and scientists of Latin America. Their preeminent role in large-scale conservation plans must be recognized, for they are the "front-line soldiers" in the global battle against species loss.