Thanks for that summary, AutumnLotus!

It's all pretty accurate, so far as I know. In the project here in Ghana that I currently manage, we are looking at issues like these.

On the one hand, one would like to preserve all "nature", everywhere. And it must be said that the Atewa Range hosts some pretty awesome and pristine nature.
On the other hand, however, all people (also local Ghanaians) like (and need!) development projects, jobs, income. It is difficult to obtain the same level of income and infrastructural development with ecotourism, as is likely with large-scale mining projects.

And it is important to note another factor that muddies this issue: One must not assume that if large-scale mining (or other industrial) projects do not get the go-ahead, that the area will remain pristine. That is because there is an inexorable creep of human activity into these areas. If there are no jobs provided by industrial activity, you will see continued slash-and-burn farming, illegal logging and hunting, etc. It seems strange, but the controlled environment and a good regime of taxation, etc., could actually improve the condition of most of the forests.

But it will always remain a controversial issue, with lots of local and international debate.

How do you conclude a species is endangered if we've just now discovered them? We don't know their average population size, their growth rate, etc. etc...

This article uses a lot of marketing words, "endangered species" being the first.

If you find a species for the first time, only in one patch of forest in West Africa, it doesn't occur anywhere else, the forest is being threatened by possible mining projects, then that species is endangered by definition.