The two journal articles discussed and compared in this paper are "Modeling Ecological Constraints on Tropical Forest Management: Spatial Interdependence, Irreversibility and Uncertainty" by Albers in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, volume 30, January 1996 on pages 73 through 94, and an article in the June 1996 issue of the Journal of Applied Behavior Science, volume 32, pages 143 to 159, titled "The Perils of Precision: Managing Local Tensions to Achieve Global Goals" and written by Westley and Vredenburg. The article by Albers examines traditional forest management models in jungle and tropical rain forests and compares with the spatial-intertemporal model. The enhanced economic possibilities created by using a spatial-intertemporal model which considers ecological factors are discussed. The model includes static and dynamic economic information to develop more effective patterns of income-producing land uses. In Westley and Vredenburg's article, they discuss a zoo management case study conducted at one zoo and their experience. The evolution of the zoo from a place of entertainment and amusement park for visitors to a modern scientific institution concerned with conservation and education is reviewed. They look at how zoos have changed. Today, zoos are rated according to the quality of their exhibits and their contribution to conservation. The authors write about how one North American zoo handles these two competing definitions of the zoo's mission.
Albers concludes that use of a spatial-intertemporal model would result in more effectively managed tropical forests. In addition, this model would identify optimal patterns of income-generating land uses and spatial planning for forest recovery. Alternative models for tropical forest management are essential. Although rain forests cover less than 6 percent of all land surface, scientists estimate that up to 75 percent of all known species of pla...