ABSTRACT. Bromeliads grow almost exclusively in the New World tropics and subtropics, mainly in South America in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (ca. 1200 species). Within the last few decades, their beautiful shapes and colors, low maintenance and easy adaptability to small gardens have brought bromeliads into worldwide use as ornamental plants. While the ornamental bromeliad trade could make significant contributions to household economies in rural areas, the trade may represent a significant threat in some of the bromeliad biodiversity hotspot countries such as Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. This paper presents an overview of production volumes, analysis of the Brazilian bromeliads trade chain -at the state, national and international levels -and recommendations to address development and conservation challenges.Keywords: fair trade, floriculture, non wood forest products, ornamental plants, production chain.Espécies ornamentais de bromélias: conservação e desafios relacionados a sua comercialização RESUMO. Bromélias crescem quase que exclusivamente nas regiões tropicais e subtropicais do Novo Mundo, ocorrendo principalmente na Floresta Atlântica brasileira na América do Sul. (ca. 1200 espécies). Nas últimas décadas, pelas suas belas formas e cores, baixa demanda de manutenção e fácil adaptabilidade a pequenos jardins, as bromélias tem sido mundialmente utilizadas como plantas ornamentais. O comércio de bromélias ornamentais pode promover significante acréscimo de renda em áreas rurais, mas por outro lado pode também significar uma ameaça à manutenção da diversidade destes recursos biológicos, especialmente em países como Brasil, Bolívia e Colômbia. Este trabalho apresenta uma caracterização geral dos volumes de produção e da cadeia brasileira de comercialização de bromélias -em nível estadual, nacional e internacional assim como recomendações para promover o desenvolvimento deste setor e superar desafios relacionados ao uso sustentável deste recurso.Palavras-chave: comércio justo, floricultura, produtos florestais não-madeiráveis, plantas ornamentais, cadeia produtiva.

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Reviewed by Darcy Mitchell, M.A. Boston CollegeMulticultural education is a concept enjoying wide popularity in educational circles, but its definition is elusive. To some, incorporating units on holidays around the world constitutes a multicultural curriculum, whereas others think in terms of correcting for deficits or educating inner-city children. In AffirmingDiversity, Sonia Nieto suggests a conceptualization of multicultural education that requires broadbased school reform and addresses four potential stumbling blocks to school success: racism and discrimination, ways in which schools are structured, cultural impacts on learning, and language diversity.Laid out in textbook format, this book is intended to be used in classes for teachers in training, experienced teachers, and administrators who are or will be in positions to make changes in the ways schools serve the needs of students who increasingly represent a variety of cultural backgrounds. In her introduction, Nieto tells us that "only by listening to students can we learn how they experience school, how social and educational structures affect their learning, and what we can do to provide high-quality education for all students" (p. 4). Her text supports this premise. In addition to summarizing the current research base, giving the reader general understandings as to how students are affected by school practices, Affirming Diversity adds to the literature with 12 case studies of individual high school students, underlining and making concrete the issues discussed.The themes arising from the interviews make up the text's core chapters: racism, discrimination, and expectations of students' achievements; structural factors in schools; cultural issues and their impact on learning; and linguistic diversity in multicultural classrooms. Student interviews are included at the ends of the chapters whose themes they best represent. The voices of these students are direct and revealing in their assessments of how schools, families, and communities support or undermine their efforts at achievement. Each of these segments cries out for reflection and discussion, both of which Nieto supports through the inclusion of questions "to think about" at the end of each interview and literature review. Through careful reading and serious reflection, readers can expect to come to deeper understandings of both the current state of the research on cultural diversity as it is

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