"This land is the place where we know where to find all that it provides for us--food from hunting and fishing, and farms, building and tool materials, medicines. This land keeps us together within its mountains: we come to understand that we are not just a few people or separate villages, but one people belonging to a homeland."

Even if most of Earth's remaining natural ecosystems could be protected from development, they could not adequately maintain biodiversity. The remaining wild is simply not large enough to meet all species' habitat needs or to provide important ecological services, and many of these still-natural ecosystems will inevitably be transformed by human use in coming decades.

Clearly, the success of biodiversity conservation will depend upon how well the overall landscape is managed to minimize biodiversity loss. Human needs and activities must be reconciled with the maintenance of biodiversity, and protected areas must be integrated into natural and modified surroundings. Farms, forests, grazing areas, fisheries, and villages belong on the same planning grid as land restoration projects, protected areas, and species-conservation efforts. The scale of such efforts must be tailored to both ecological processes and the needs and perceptions of local communities. This integrative approach is here termed bioregional management.

Actions to manage biodiversity in the human environment

Create the institutional conditions for bioregional conservation and development.

• Develop new methods and mechanisms at the bioregional level for dialogue, planning, and conflict resolution.

• Give weak and disenfranchised groups the means to influence how the bioregion's resources should be managed and distributed.

• Establish intersectoral and interagency task forces to facilitate bioregional planning and action.

• Establish bioregional information centers to heighten public awareness and support biodiversity conservation.

Support biodiversity conservation initiatives in the private sector.

• Establish tax incentives for conservation.

• Support the establishment of private Biodiversity Conservation Trusts.

Incorporate biodiversity conservation into the management of biological resources.

• Incorporate biodiversity conservation practices into the management of all forests.

• Promote agricultural practices that conserve biodiversity.

• Restore degraded lands in ways that enhance their productivity and biodiversity.