As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.

International conservation planning at the end of the twentieth century is dominated by coarse-filter, supra-organismal approaches to conservation that may be insufficient to conserve certain species such as the jaguar ( Panthera onca ). If we are to retain broadly distributed species into the next century, we need to plan explicitly for their survival across their entire geographic range and through political boundaries while recognizing the variety of ecological roles the species plays in different habitats. In March 1999 the Wildlife Conservation Society sponsored a priority-setting and planning exercise for the jaguar across its range, from northern Mexico to northern Argentina. Field scientists from 18 countries reached consensus on four types of information: (1) the spatial extent of their jaguar knowledge, (2) the known, currently occupied range of jaguars, (3) areas with substantial jaguar populations, adequate habitat, and a stable and diverse prey base, and (4) point localities where jaguars have been observed during the last 10 years. During the exercise, these experts also conducted a range-wide assessment of the long-term survival prospects of the jaguar and developed an algorithm for prioritizing jaguar conservation units occurring in major habitat types. From this work, we learned that the known, occupied range of the jaguar has contracted to approximately 46% of estimates of its 1900 range. Jaguar status and distribution is unknown in another 12% of the jaguar's former range, including large areas in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. But over 70% of the area where jaguars are thought to still occur was rated as having a high probability of supporting their long-term survival. Fifty-one jaguar conservation units representing 30 different jaguar geographic regions were prioritized as the basis for a comprehensive jaguar conservation program. Planeación para Salvar una Especie: El Jaguar como ModeloResumen: La planeación de la conservación internacional al final del siglo veinte esta dominada por enfoques de grano grueso, supra-organísmicas que pueden ser insuficientes para conservar ciertas especies como el jaguar ( Panthera onca ). Si hemos de mantener especies ampliamente distribuidas en el próximo siglo, necesitamos planificar su supervivencia explícitamente en todo su rango geográfico a través de límites políticos al mismo tiempo que se reconozca la variedad de funciones ecológicas de las especies en diferentes hábitats. En marzo de 1999 la Sociedad de Conservación de Vida Silvestre promovió un ejercicio de definición de prioridades y de planeación para el jaguar en todo su rango de distribución, desde el norte de México hasta el norte de Argentina. Científicos de 18 países llegaron a consensos en cuatro tipos de información: (1) la extensión espacial de su conocimiento del jaguar, (2) el rango conocido, actualmente ocupado por el jaguar, (3) áreas con poblaciones importantes, hábitat adecuado y una base de presas estable y diversa y (4) localidades en las que se han observado jaguares durante los ú...

Effective conservation requires addressing three fundamental questions whose answers can only be sought in conservation practice: (1) What should our goals be and how do we measure progress in reaching them? (2) How can we most effectively take action to achieve conservation? and (3) How can we learn to do conservation better? This essay provides a conceptual framework and research agenda for a conservation science that uses the principles of adaptive management to answer these questions. The framework is based on a general model of a conservation project. The conservation target involves defining the specific area or population the project is trying to influence. This target is affected by direct and indirect threats and opportunities; we provide a table of potential direct threats. Conservation actions that are taken to counter these threats can be divided into approaches, strategies, and specific tools; we present a comprehensive table of potential approaches. Finally, the practicioners that take these actions include individuals, organizations, project alliances, and networks; we define the specific functional roles necessary to achieve effective adaptive management. We then use this framework to outline a research agenda for conservation science that involves defining clear and practical measures of conservation success, determining sound guiding principles for using conservation strategies and tools, and developing the knowledge and skills in individuals and organizations for good adaptive management and thus for making conservation more effective.Mejoramiento de la Práctica de la Conservación: un Marco Conceptual y un Programa Para la Ciencia de la Conservación Resumen: La conservación efectiva requiere trafar tres preguntas fundamentales cuyas respuestas solo pueden encontrarse en la práctica de la conservación: 1) ¿ Cuales deben ser nuestras metas y como medimos el progreso en alcanzarlas? 2) ¿ Cómo podemos realizar acciones más efectivas para lograr la conservación? y 3) ¿ Como podemos contestar a llevar a cabo mejor la conservación? Este ensayo proporciona un marco conceptual y un programa de investigación para una ciencia de la conservación que utiliza los principios del manejo adaptativo para responder estas preguntas. El marco se basa en un modelo general de un proyecto de conservación. El objetivo de conservación involucra la definición del sitio específico o población afectada por el proyecto. Este objetivo es afectado por amenazas directas e indirectas; proporcionamos una tabla de amenazas directas potenciales y otros factores. Las acciones de conservación que se realizan para contrarrestar estas amenazas se pueden dividir en aproximaciones, estrategias y herramientas específicas; presentamos una extensa tabla de aproximaciones potenciales. Finalmente, los actores que pueden participar incluyen individuos, organizaciones, alianzas de proyectos y redes que practican la conservación; definimos los papeles funcionales específicos necesarios para alcanzar un manejo adaptativo eficiente. Luego utiliza...

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