Leeanne E. Alonso – författare

Over the past half century, slash-and-burn rice farming on Madagascar has slowly expanded from the coastal lowlands into the dense tropical forests of the island's central plateau - many of which are officially protected reserves. This rapid assessment focuses on the Reserve Naturelle Integrale of d'Ankarafantsika, in the northern portion of the island. The area is filled with diverse endemic species but is increasingly threatened by local agricultural methods, and this assessment is critical to the process of evaluating risks and developing sound conservation policies for the future.

A team of researchers, students, and local staff surveyed the vertebrate and invertebrate species in four areas of the Okavango Delta in northwestern Botswana. The survey reports water quality as benign and healthy with the exception of low dissolved oxygen levels. About a fourth of the 1250 plant species known from the Delta were recorded and were found to have moderate diversity and surprisingly uniform populations. The findings of diversity in the fish communities and a breeding colony harboring fourteen endangered bird species provide substantial support for the report's recommendations on conserving this ecologically significant area.

The Konashen Community Owned Conservation Area (COCA) - a stretch of 625,000 hectares of forest in the southern region of Guyana - is relatively unexplored and considered to be one of the last large intact areas of tropical wilderness remaining in Guyana. The data collected during a rapid assessment survey, summarized in this volume, indicate that the forests of the Konashen COCA - maintained primarily by members of the Wai Wai indigenous group - are in very good condition and support rich biodiversity. The assessment team recorded twelve species that are likely new to science as well as more than sixty species found for the first time in Guyana and a number of threatened and endemic species.

This report contains the findings from a rapid biological assessment of the Kwamalasamutu region of southwestern Suriname. Focusing on the plant and animal species important to the indigenous Trio people, this survey establishes baseline information on the region's biodiversity and ecosystem health in order to better inform ecotourism and monitoring efforts. The RAP team found the Kwamalasamutu region to harbor rich biodiversity, with few signs of ecosystem degradation, and at least forty-six of the species identified in this volume are new to science. Further conservation and management recommendations are provided.

This report contains the findings from a rapid biological assessment of the Grensgebergte and Kasikasima mountains of southeastern Suriname. Suriname is one of the last places on Earth where an opportunity still exists to conserve huge tracts of pristine, diverse tropical forests. This volume is part of a series of surveys in Suriname designed to support the protection of biodiversity and freshwater and other ecosystem services through collection of baseline biological and socioeconomic data. The researchers in southeastern Suriname investigated plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, and water quality. Over one hundred new species were discovered, including fish, beetles, and katydids.