| The integrity of tropical biodiversity depends on effective protection, however many protected areas face significant management issues as a consequence of human activities both within and surrounding the parks. These threats include oil extraction with the main outcome of road construction, colonization of unoccupied lands, illegal timber harvesting, slash-and-bum agriculture, cattle ranching and introduction of other domestic animals, changes in the patterns of human settlements that displace indigenous people and increase accessibility for hunting and extraction of other non-timber products.; Yasuni National Park, located within the Amazon of Ecuador, covers approximately 9,800 km2 is considered one of the most biologically rich areas in the world (Pitman et al. 2002). However, in the past 20 years it has experienced marked increase in human activities which impact and threaten the conservation of biological diversity in the area. Those threats include oil exploitation, timber harvesting, road construction, colonization and hunting. The main objective of this study was to determine which areas and habitats within Yasuni are currently impacted or at risk given current information on oil development and human activities in the region. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
