Deforestation of the tropical moist forests is taking place at an alarming pace; some experts believe that the entire ecobiome will be virtually destroyed within the next ten years. Although the ultimate ecological effects of tropical deforestation remain controversial, our present scientific understanding is adequate to justify efforts to slow the deforestation trend. The impacts that this trend will probably have on global climate remain unclear, while the effects that it will have on biodiversity will clearly be disastrous. This suggests that the research community should place a high priority on applying data on refugia (documented sites of high endemism and species-richness) to conservation planning, and on investigating the probable combined effects of climatic change and habitat fragmentation on world biodiversity.

Examination of the often contradictory estimates of the rate and extent of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia leads to a ‘best estimate’ of the cumulative area of forest cleared through 1988 as 345 × 103 km2 (including old clearings), or 8.2% of the 4 × 106 km2 forested portion of Brasil's 5 × 106 km2 ‘Legal Amazon’ region.

Deforestation in Amazonia is eliminating wild genepools of many crop-plants. Wild or spontaneous populations of at least 50 perennial crops are at risk, including the Rubber tree and Cacao, as well as several crops emerging from relative obscurity, such as Peach-palm (which is now being planted extensively for palmito production), Annatto (which produces a natural red dye), and Brazil-nut.

The issue of fuel-wood is often presented as problematical within the context of population pressures and poverty. However, the case of Java, noted for its extremely high human population density (830 people/km2) and its rural poverty, shows that agro-forestry-based fuel-wood production can sustainably meet the bulk of the annual demand of 90 million m3. Fuel-wood for household consumption is collected from gardens in or near the village of its use. Industrial users account for 10% of the demand and are supplied mainly by traders, the Javan Forest Service, and tree-crop estate managers.

Protests and legal challenges have marked the past seven years of geothermal energy development in Hawaii. Environmentalists seeking to block geothermal development in Hawaiian rain-forests have used legal and civil disobedience tactics to delay development. These are the types of actions which the Hawaii State Legislature sought to avoid when it passed the State's Geothermal Subzone Act in 1983.

The shallow Lake Hornborga in southern Sweden has been used by Man for more than 9,000 years, primarily for fishing and hunting but latterly also for cattle-grazing and hay-making. The water-level of the Lake has varied considerably during climatically different periods of time. Changes between dry and wet periods have caused different vegetation-types to predominate, but have probably also effectively counterbalanced a tendency to become overgrown. During the last two centuries the water-level of the Lake has been lowered intentionally five times. Originally, the aim was to counteract spring flooding, but later the reason was to obtain more arable land. The Lake is, however, most famed for its abundance and diversity of bird-life, which is dependent on the local hydrological regime, vegetation, and land-use.

The minimum total breeding seabird biomass in the Australian Antarctic Territory was estimated to be 9,971.1 t, dominated by Emperor Penguins, 3,863 t (38.7%) and Adélie Penguins, 5,825 t (58.4%). The 5° sector between 75°E and 80°E, in south-east Prydz Bay, held 35% of the total AAT seabird biomass. Prydz Bay has been shown to be an area of high productivity, and the concentration of seabird biomass in this area reflects the high biomass of prey species and the availability of nesting habitat in the Vestfold Hills, a large ice-free area adjacent to Prydz Bay. Activities associated With research stations are believed to be the only factors that have impacted on breeding seabird populations to date, but minerals activities, tourism and support facilities, and a Krill fishery, are future conservation issues that will have an impact on this major concentration of seabird biomass in East Antarctica.