ABSTRACT
In Latin America, as in other regions, conservation strategies are becoming increasingly bioregional, operating on the scale of ecosystems and the wider landscape to conserve biological and cultural diversity. There is growing recognition that protected areas can no longer be treated as islands, but must be seen in the context of overall land use, with an emphasis on compatible management of surrounding lands and creating linkages among reserves (IUCN, 1997). The region’s experience with ‘paper parks’ – protected areas in name only – has demonstrated forcefully that approaches that rely solely on regulation and enforcement are costly and too often meet with failure. Conservationists are finding they must adopt inclusive approaches that encourage local participation.
