ABSTRACT
To recap the issues of concern outlined in the previous chapters, it is increasingly difficult to have faith in the long-established mechanisms of biodiversity protection and land designation for several reasons.
The isolation of some reserve sites from the ecological processes, such as flooding in a river-side grassland, may lead to long-term species losses.
The increasing fragmentation of habitats has isolated reserves to the point where reinforcement from surrounding habitats has become less common.
Many reserves are too small to be viable in themselves and have no buffering capacity to safeguard against stochastic catastrophe. Management operations are also often made extraordinarily difficult by the small size.
Some species have fallen to population levels which are too small to be viable.
Climate change and other impacts threaten to undermine the long-term future of many plant and animal communities.
Without a greater political and social commitment from all levels of society it is clear that many reserves are temporary refuges that will gradually fall to external development pressure.
