Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009
Although nature conservation may appear to be ‘wasteful’ to many people, it can only be truly described as such if one's sole purpose is mere survival for a short period of years. Longer time-horizons or other purposes require at least some level of nature conservation. The exact amount, in terms of land set aside mainly for this purpose, is difficult to determine precisely, but some general indications are given. Taking the world as a whole, it is concluded that something in the order of 20 per cent of each country should be devoted mainly to nature conservation (with countries having less than this amount contributing to the maintenance of reserves in countries with more than 20 per cent), if nature conservation is to be placed on an equal footing with alternative intensive forms of land-use.