What happens when global concerns about conserving forests and wildlife run up against the reality that people rely on those resources to make a living? Schelhas and Pfeffer examine how rural communities in Costa Rica and Honduras think about forests and conservation-and they find that global discourses about the environment have reached the farthest corners of the earth, though local people reinterpret them to meet their needs. Saving Forests, Protecting People? brings these processes sharply into focus, which is essential if we are to find realistic solutions to the problems of conservation.

David Kaimowitz, Ford Foundation

Schelhas and Pfeffer have written an engaging and unique book that fills an important niche in our understanding of the intersection of global and local values in tropical forest conservation.

Steven R. Brechin, Syracuse University

The authors offer a realistic, penetrating analysis of the values and motivations that shape local response to government policies....Highly recommended.

Choice Reviews

Shines a welcome light on the changing attitudes of poor rural peoples toward newly created parks near their homes. It is a 'must read' for anyone concerned about preserving biodiversity in the tropics.

Thomas K. Rudel, Rutgers University

The book is divided into five chapters....This organization makes the book useful to a wide audience, including forest and protected area policy makers, the interested public, researchers, faculty and students alike. Additionally, because it contextualizes parks and protected areas both locally and globally, it would be an ideal analysis for use as an environment anthropology, or as a supplement in a forestry or other natural resource management and policy course.

Agric Hum Values