ABSTRACT
The institutionalized integration of conservation with economic development is the ambitious goal of the World Conservation Strategy (WCS). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and UNESCO are among the agencies and organizations that support numerous third world projects in concert with WCS precepts—specifically, the maintenance of essential ecological processes, the preservation of genetic diversity, and the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems. James Barborak and Gina Green document four Latin American activities which have been able to develop and sustain local support, stabilize land use and tenure around protected areas, overcome budgetary constraints sufficiently well to function effectively, and deal appropriately with institutional frameworks, in part by helping strengthen them. Focus of these accounts is directed toward the significant roles played by non-governmental organizations in the accomplishment of the WCS goal.
