Official IUCN publications

The Loita/Purko Naimina Enkiyio forest is estimated to cover an area of 330 km2 in Kenya and serves several functions within the Loita Maasai community. When a change of the forest tenure to a reserve threatened this community, they challenged the decision and were successful in having the decision rescinded. Security of tenure can be considered the single most important factor in the sustainable management of natural resources.

There is growing recognition that centralized forest regimes, which exclude local knowledge and customary practices, have not achieved sustainable forest management. Most countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are reviewing and revising policies and laws and restructuring their agencies to accommodate emerging forest management imperatives.

The most important agro-ecological problem confronting the steppe regions of Southern Russia is desertification, in large part due to pasture degradation. This publication provides an overview of the status of the various regions in Russia, and studies the connection between desertification and the state and history of agriculture and stockbreeding in each region.

The most important agro-ecological problem confronting the steppe regions of Southern Russia is desertification, in large part due to pasture degradation. This publication provides an overview of the status of the various regions in Russia, and studies the connection between desertification and the state and history of agriculture and stockbreeding in each region.

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development placed a responsibility on States to protect the local, regional and global environment, especially problems shared by the whole community such as soil degradation.

These proceedings provide an overview of the ongoing research and management activities on polar bears in the circumpolar arctic. Together with the previous 12 proceedings, they provide an historic record of international efforts in protecting polar bears from over-harvest and document more recent concerns of threats arising from increased human activities in both the Arctic and in regions far beyond the realm of polar bears.

Once one of the most abundant grazing animals, now only seven species remain. Equids persist in some of the harshest climates and terrains in the world, habitats which are also home to many human populations. Conservation will depend on local nomadic pastoralists participating in, and benefiting from, the conservation management of their areas.