Publisher's description: Drafting a Conservation Blueprint lays out for the first time in book form a step-by-step planning process for conserving the biological diversity of entire regions. In an engaging and accessible style, the author explains how to develop a regional conservation plan and offers experience-based guidance that brings together relevant information from the fields of ecology, conservation biology, planning, and policy. Individual chapters outline and discuss the main steps of the planning process, including: an overview of the planning framework, selecting conservation targets and setting goals, assessing existing conservation areas and filling information gaps, assessing population viability and ecological integrity, selecting and designing a portfolio of conservation areas, assessing threats and setting priorities. A concluding section offers advice on turning conservation plans into action, along with specific examples from around the world. The book brings together a wide range of information about conservation planning that is grounded in both a strong scientific foundation and in the realities of implementation.