AGIR Publishing House, 2008, 668 pages

Richard B. Primack, Maria Patroescu, Laurentiu Rozylowicz, Cristian Ioja

The paper, appeared under the patronage of the Romanian Academy of Technical Sciences, is dedicated to “professors teaching environmental sciences, biology, ecology, biodiversity, and whose concerns will inspire future generations in the effort of conciliating conservation biology with human needs.”

Conservation biology represents a new complex science, with several major objectives, such as: studying the planet’s biological diversity, assessing human impact upon species, finding methods for preventing species extinction and protecting and restoring biological communities. This complex science appeared because none of the traditional sciences could understand and reduce biodiversity destruction. Therefore this science is complementary to traditional sciences.

In the 21 chapters of the treaty, the authors try to cover, practically and theoretically, the new sciences’ objectives; the chapters being: What is conservation biology? What represents biological diversity? Where do we find biological diversity? Ecological economy and direct economical values; Indirect economical values; Conservation biology ethics; Extinction; Habitats fragmentation, degradation, destruction and global climate changes; Over-exploitation, invasive species and diseases; Small populations problems; Populations applied biology; Establishing new populations; Ex-situ conservation strategies; Protected areas establishment; Designing protected areas networks; Protected areas management; Conservation outsides protected areas; Ecological restoration; Local conservation and sustainable development; International dimension of conservation and sustainable development; Agenda for the future.

Authors:
Richard B. PRIMACK – professor at Boston University and senior editor of the Biological Conservation journal; Maria PATROESCU – professor at University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography and director of the Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies; Laurentiu ROZYLOWICZ – associated professor at University of Bucharest, specialised in tortoises and large carnivores conservation; Cristian IOJA – assistant professor at University of Bucharest, specialised in evaluating the quality of urban and rural environments.

The paper can be found at the AGIR bookshop: http://www.agir.ro/librarie.php, price 60 RON (about 14 Euro).