Within a generation, the wilderness of Zululand, with its spectacular array of mammals, birds and plants, came near to extinction. This is the saga of that decline and of the heroic and successful attempt, through establishing game reserves and enforcing environmental protection policies, to save one of Africa's surviving environmental gems. Enough elephant tusks to fill a thousand ox wagons - that's how much ivory alone was shipped out of Durban bay between the 1820s and the 1880s. It amounted to at least a million kilograms, or a thousand tons, of ivory and represented the slaughter of 20 000 elephant. Piles of elephant tusks were then a common sight at the dockside in Port Natal. But that was not all - rhino horn; buck horn; buffalo, hippo and wildebeest hide; lion, leopard and wildcat skin; as well as live wild animals, all were exported, much coming from the last surviving great African kingdom in southern Africa, Zululand. The three pillars of the Zululand and Maputaland wilderness were the wild game, the avifauna, particularly game birds, and the indigenous forests. This title charts both the onslaught on them and the efforts made to preserve them from the destruction that seemed imminent and inevitable. But the title also tells the story of the local African population and their attitudes; it looks at the white and African hunters who pursued the game; and it traces the foundation in the 1890s of the first Zululand game reserves and their struggle for survival against all the odds. Had not the pioneers of Zululand conservation embarked on this early conservation movement, the Zululand wilderness with its tremendous diversity of fauna and flora would have disappeared completely - and with it one of Africa's brightest jewels.

The international perspective for this book is the unprecedented level of concern over deforestation, recognized by the meeting of world leaders at the 1992 Earth Summit, in Rio do Janeiro, and culminating in the appoint ment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), under the auspices of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The wide range of issues covered by the authors in this volume reflects the breadth of the interna tional debate, from national policies and activist campaigning, through eco nomic and social objectives, to the sustainable management of forest and soil resources. Since the conservation campaigns of the 1980s, the focus of international concern has widened from tropical rain forests to all forest formations, in all regions, with increased recognition of global values and common responsibil ities. However, while forest cover in some temperate countries is increasing, irrational deforestation, at historically unprecedented levels of damage to biodiversity and to other environmental values, remains most acute in tropi cal countries, where the need to use the natural resources for sustainable development is greatest, and the capability weakest. While accepting the urgency of the situation, and the need for greater coherence of action at a global level, the 1997 report of the IPF to the UN Commission emphasized the powers and responsibilities of national governments, and the importance of National Forest Programmes, but with the fuller participation of local communities, and with enhanced access to international assistance."

This book presents current research in the political ecology of indigenous revival and its role in nature conservation in critical areas in the Americas. An important contribution to evolving studies on conservation of sacred natural sites (SNS), the book elucidates the complexity of development scenarios within cultural landscapes related to the appropriation of religion, environmental change in indigenous territories, and new conservation management approaches. Indigeneity and the Sacred explores how these struggles for land, rights, and political power are embedded within physical landscapes, and how indigenous identity is reconstituted as globalizing forces simultaneously threaten and promote the notion of indigeneity.

An essential guide to assist those surveying for water voles, whether as a professional ecological consultant, a researcher or simply an interested amateur. This book provides detailed descriptions of all the habitats used by water voles, including ideal habitats as well as less typical places, with annotated photos to help the surveyor home in on just the right areas to look. It also contains a comprehensive photographic reference guide to assist in the correct identification of water vole field signs, and explains how to distinguish them from those of similar species. Tips on where and how to search for field signs are also provided, along with guidance on how best to record survey data.

In New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, 83 Mexican gray wolves may be some of the most monitored wildlife on the planet. Collared, microchipped, and transported by helicopter, the wolves are protected and confined in an attempt to appease ranchers and conservationists alike. Once a symbol of the wild, these wolves have come to illustrate the demise of wilderness in this Human Age, where man's efforts shape life in even the most remote corners of the earth. And yet, the howl of an unregistered wolf, half of a rogue pair, splits the night. If you know where to look, you'll find that much remains untamed, and even today, wildness can remain a touchstone for our relationship with the rest of nature. In Satellites in the High Country, journalist and adventurer Jason Mark travels beyond the bright lights and certainties of our cities to seek wildness wherever it survives. In California's Point Reyes National Seashore, a battle over oyster farming and designated wilderness pits former allies against one another, as locals wonder whether wilderness should be untouched, farmed, or something in between. In Washington's Cascade Mountains, a modern-day wild woman and her students learn to tan hides and start fires without matches, attempting to connect with a primal past out of reach for the rest of society. And in Colorado's High Country, dark skies and clear air reveal a breathtaking expanse of stars, flawed only by the arc of a satellite passing - beauty interrupted by the traffic of a million conversations. These expeditions to the edges of civilization's grid show us that, although our notions of pristine nature may be shattering, the mystery of the wild still exists, and in fact, it is more crucial than ever. But wildness is wily as a coyote: you have to be willing to track it to understand the least thing about it. Satellites in the High Country is an epic journey on the trail of the wild, a poetic and incisive exploration of its meaning and enduring power in our Human Age.

Microclimate for Cultural Heritage: Measurement, Risk Assessment, Conservation, Restoration, and Maintenance of Indoor and Outdoor Monuments, Third Edition, presents the latest on microclimates, environmental issues and the conservation of cultural heritage. It is a useful treatise on microphysics, acting as a practical handbook for conservators and specialists in physics, chemistry, architecture, engineering, geology and biology who focus on environmental issues and the conservation of works of art. It fills a gap between the application of atmospheric sciences, like the thermodynamic processes of clouds and dynamics of planetary boundary layer, and their application to a monument surface or a room within a museum. Sections covers applied theory, environmental issues and conservation, practical utilization, along with suggestions, examples, common issues and errors.

A compilation of concepts, biological relationships and procedures used to organize forested landscapes for combinations of goods, services and effects. Includes such management processes as investments for biological diversity, timber production, wilderness effects, recreational opportunities, esthetic values and habitats for endangered animals and plants.

This volume sets out to provide an overview of recent research on all aspects of amphibian ecology and behaviour and to illustrate its application to practical conservation measures for this major group of animals. Its broad scope makes it of relevance to students of general biology, ecology and conservation, but also to professionals in industries and agencies involved with environmental issues and nature conservation.

This book brings together the latest information on tropical ungulates in different Latin American countries. These animals are not only important from the point of view of their role in different ecosystems, but also have cultural value for people. The book also discusses topics such as habitat transformation and hunting as these species are an important source of food in many places. Addressing ungulate natural communities in diverse ecosystems and countries, the book provides information on specific aspects of each of the most representative species, and highlights topics to help readers better understand these species and develop effective management and conservation strategies. The information presented also reveals the need for more knowledge and will hopefully provide the incentive for continued studies on this important group of animals. This publication serves as a reference for academic research on ungulate ecology, behavior and dynamics, as well as the basis for conservation strategies.

In the early 1920s, in many a sawmill town across the South, the last quitting-time whistle signaled the cutting of the last log of a company's timber holdings and the end of an era in southern lumbering. It marked the end as well of the great primeval forest that covered most of the South when Europeans first invaded it. Much of the first forest, despite the labors of pioneer loggers, remained intact after the Civil War. But after the restrictions of the Southern Homestead Act were removed in 1876, lumbermen and speculators rushed in to acquire millions of acres of virgin woodland for minimal outlays. The frantic harvest of the South's first forest began; it was not to end until thousands of square miles lay denuded and desolate, their fragile soils -- like those of the abandoned cotton lands -- exposed to rapid destruction by the elements. With the end of the sawmill era and the collapse of the southern farm economy, the emigration routes from the South to the industrial cities of the North and Midwest were thronged with people forced from the land. Yet in the first quarter of this century, even as the destruction of forest and land continued, a day of renewal was dawning. The rise of the conservation movement, the beginnings of the national forests, the development of scientific forestry and establishment of forest schools, the advance of chemical research into the use of wood pulp -- all converged even as the 1930s brought to the South the sweeping reclamation programs of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority; in their wake came a new generation of wood-using industries concerned not so much with the immediate exploitation of timber as with the maintenance of a renewable resource. In The Greening of the South, this dramatic story is told by one of the participants in the renewal of the forest. Thomas D. Clark, author of many books about southern history, is also an active timber producer on lands in both Kentucky and South Carolina

This guide provides descriptions of when the bat species resident in Britain and Ireland use natural and human-made rock habitats, how they use them, and the environments each species occupies therein. For the first time it brings together findings from historical scientific investigations, useful photographic accounts and open-access biological records, along with a rich seam of new data – all in a practical and user-friendly structure. The book encompasses: ~ Descriptions of the features that a climber, caver or professional ecologist might encounter on and in rock habitats where bats roost. ~ Recording criteria for both the physical and environmental attributes of different features and situations. ~ Identification of suitability thresholds against which the recorded information can be compared to assess the likelihood that a specific feature might be exploited by a particular bat species. ~ Suggestions for how to avoid mistakes and difficulties when performing a survey. The intention is that using this book will help generate standardised biological records which can feed into the fully accessible online database at www.batrockhabitatkey.co.uk. These data will be analysed to search for patterns that can increase the confidence in the suitability thresholds and help build roost features that deliver the environment each species really needs. As well as offering many new insights, this book allows the reader to participate in cutting-edge research.

A foundational resource for readers investigating religiously motivated environmentalism, this book provides both a global overview of the subject and a detailed discussion of key figures, concepts, organizations, events, and documents. Beginning in the late 1960s, a growing number of activists, scholars, and scientists asserted that traditional religions had been major contributors to the environmental crisis. In response, theologians, religious organizations, and religiously motivated activists became increasingly involved in environmental issues. At the same time, emerging nature-based belief systems emphasized values and lifestyles based in environmentalism. More recently, religiously motivated environmentalism has become a powerful force in shaping environmental policy and human action globally and has joined with secular environmentalism to address related issues. This book explores the background and current state of religious environmentalism. The book begins with an overview essay examining the history and context of religious environmentalism and its significance today. A chronology then profiles the most important events related to religious environmentalism. A section of more than 50 alphabetically arranged reference entries follows, with each entry providing objective information about people, places, events, movements, works, and other topics. The entries include cross-references and suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a selected, annotated bibliography of major works. An introductory essay provides an overview of the origins and present-day significance of religious environmental activism A chronology features important events related to religion and the environment More than 50 alphabetically arranged reference entries provide objective, essential information about people, works, theories, movements, events, and other topics related to religious environmentalism Entries cite works for further reading and an annotated bibliography directs users to additional resources

Whether you have a lifelong love of nature or you cannot identify whether something is an elder or an alder, a daisy or a dandelion, or a heron or a herring gull, The Wonders of the Wild Places is the book for you. From the mountains to the sea, woodland to farmland, heaths and riversides we have many habitats in the United Kingdom, and The Wonders of the Wild Places provides information about some of the many species which inhabit these habitats. It is packed with interesting facts about nature designed to encourage you to go out and about and enjoy the wonders of the wild places. If you have ever wondered how birds migrate or which invertebrate has the largest brain, The Wonders of the Wild Places provides the answers - and many more. It covers many subjects from folklore to language, social history to the latest science. The Wonders of the Wild Places also explains the current threats to the natural world and provides details of what is being done to protect nature and also has suggestions of how individuals can help nature, from cleaning up your nearest beach to building a bug hotel. After reading The Wonders of the Wild Places you will never see the natural world in the same way again.

The conservation of crop genetic resources is one of the important elements in efforts to sustainably increase agricultural production in low-income countries, and to guarantee long-term food security, especially for the low-income population groups in these countries. Horticultural crops, as high-value crops, have an important role to play in revitalizing rural economies and can add significantly to national economies. Moreover, horticulture provides more than twice the number of jobs compared to traditional cereal crop production, and the shifting of conventional agriculture towards high-value horticulture has increased employment opportunities in developing countries. To exploit this potential, researchers need a vast array of horticultural genetic resources and information on new traits. Horticultural crops, which are only a part of PGRFA (Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture), are characterized by a wide and varied range of species. In fact, there are five major horticultural crop groups: fruit and nut crops, vegetables, food legumes, roots and tubers, and lastly the ornamental and medicinal group. In this context, the present book provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of conservation and utilization of horticultural genetic resources, addressing contemporary approaches to conservation in connection with different technologies, including biotechnological approaches as practised in India and in some cases, globally. It includes a brief chapter on the unique nature of horticultural genetic resources, providing a rationale for viewing them as being distinct from field crop genetic resources. Subsequent chapters share insights on protocols for the conservation of selected horticultural crops ex situ, and focus on the increased need to complement these efforts with in situ conservation approaches. Geospatial tools are also briefly described, emphasizing their utility with regard to mapping and managing resources. The book also explores the wild gene pool in horticulture crops; discusses legal aspects related to horticultural genetic resources and biotechnological aspects; and describes the key aspects of sustainable management and replenishment. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for all horticulturists, graduate students, researchers, policymakers, conservationists, and NGOs engaged in horticulture in particular and biodiversity in general.

The plant species that humans rely upon have an extended family of wild counterparts that are an important source of genetic diversity used to breed productive crops. These wild and weedy cousins are valuable as a resource for adapting our food, forage, industrial and other crops to climate change. Many wild plant species are also directly used, especially for revegetation, and as medicinal and ornamental plants. North America is rich in these wild plant genetic resources. This book is a valuable reference that describes the important crop wild relatives and wild utilized species found in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The book highlights efforts taken by these countries to conserve and use wild resources and provides essential information on best practices for collecting and conserving them. Numerous maps using up-to-date information and methods illustrate the distribution of important species, and supplement detailed description on the potential value these resources have to agriculture, as well as their conservation statuses and needs. There is broad recognition of the urgent need to conserve plant diversity; however, a small fraction of wild species is distinguished by their potential to support agricultural production. Many of these species are common, even weedy, and are easily overshadowed by rare or endangered plants. Nevertheless, because of their genetic proximity to agriculturally important crops or direct use, they deserve to be recognized, celebrated, conserved, and made available to support food and agricultural security. This comprehensive two-volume reference will be valuable for students and scientists interested in economic botany, and for practitioners at all levels tasked with conserving plant biodiversity. The chapters 'Public Education and Outreach Opportunities for Crop Wild Relatives in North America' and 'Genetic Resources of Crop Wild Relatives - A Canadian Perspective' are open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.

This book will highlight advanced techniques that were recently used for studying microorganisms in extreme environments. Recent technological leaps in the study of microorganisms in the environment now make it possible to comprehensively study microbes in the environment. Extreme environments could benefit from the application of these techniques, but many challenges such as low biomass, low activity and slow growth has prevented their wide adoption. This book will review recent application of state-of-the-art techniques in extreme environments, helping researcher and graduate students get a better knowledge of the tools available.

"The history of water development . . . offers a particularly fine post for observing the astonishing and implausible workings of historical change and, in response, for cultivating an appropriate level of humility and modesty in our anticipations of our own unknowable future."
Tracing the origins and growth of the Denver Water Department, this study of water and its unique role and history in the West, as well as in the nation, raises questions about the complex relationship among cities, suburbs, and rural areas, allowing us to consider this precious resource and its past, present, and future with both optimism and realism.
Patricia Nelson Limerick is the faculty director and board chair of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, where she is also a professor of history and environmental studies. She currently serves as the vice president for the teaching division of the American Historical Association. Her most widely read book, "The Legacy of Conquest," is in its twenty-fifth year of publication.
Jason L. Hanson is a member of the research faculty at the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where his work focuses on natural resource use and the environment. He lives in Denver.

Domestic and wild large mammalian herbivores occur on every continent except Antarctica. Through their browsing and grazing, they affect the structure and distribution not only of vegetation, but also of associated fauna. Consequently, the interactions between management practices and herbivore populations influence the biodiversity, structure and dynamics of ecosystems across vast expanses around the globe: signs of human activity that will be detectable for epochs to come. As a follow-up work to The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing, published in 2008, this new volume presents cutting-edge research on the behaviour, distribution, movement, and direct and indirect impacts of domestic and wild herbivores on terrestrial ecosystems. The respective chapters highlight strategic and applied research on cross-cutting issues in palaeontology and ecology, and provide concrete recommendations on the management of large herbivores to integrate production and conservation in terrestrial systems. Given its scope, the book will appeal to students, researchers and anyone interested in understanding these fascinating wild animals and how they shape the natural world.

This book presents the outcomes of the 2017 national workshop and international conference organized by CEENR of ISEC, Bengaluru and Assam University Silchar. Addressing the threats to biodiversity and sustainable development resulting from the impacts of human induced pressures on ecosystems and global-warming-driven climate change is a major challenge. It requires increased knowledge and an enhanced information base in order to devise local policies to improve the adaptive capacity of vulnerable socio-ecological systems in developing countries. In this context, the book presents research that has the potential to benefit the environment and empower communities. It appeals to researchers investigating diverse aspects of socio-ecological-biological systems to create strategies for resource use, conservation and management to ensure sustainability.

In this book the authors have applied research knowledge to the solution of practical problems facing wildlife conservation in freshwater habitats. Subjects covered include: evaluation of the conservation interest of sites; practical protection and management of freshwater habitats; species conservation.

A unique and personal insight into the ecology and evolution of pollinators, their relationships with flowers, and their conservation in a rapidly changing world. The pollination of flowers by insects, birds and other animals is a fundamentally important ecological function that supports both the natural world and human society. Without pollinators to facilitate the sexual reproduction of plants, the world would be a biologically poorer place in which to live, there would be an impact on food security, and human health would suffer. Written by one of the world's leading pollination ecologists, this book provides an introduction to what pollinators are, how their interactions with flowers have evolved, and the fundamental ecology of these relationships. It explores the pollination of wild and agricultural plants in a variety of habitats and contexts, including urban, rural and agricultural environments. The author also provides practical advice on how individuals and organisations can study, and support, pollinators. As well as covering the natural history of pollinators and flowers, the author discusses their cultural importance, and the ways in which pollinator conservation has been portrayed from a political perspective. The book draws on field work experiences in South America, Africa, Australia, the Canary Islands and the UK. For over 30 years the author has spent his career researching how plants and pollinators evolve relationships, how these interactions function ecologically, their importance for society, and how we can conserve them in a rapidly changing world. This book offers a unique and personal insight into the science of pollinators and pollination, aimed at anyone who is interested in understanding these fascinating and crucial ecological interactions.

This book explores the opportunities and challenges associated with the legal protection of World Heritage sites in the Pacific Islands. It argues that the small Pacific representation on the World Heritage List is in part due to a lack of strong legal frameworks for heritage conservation, putting such sites under threat. Providing a comprehensive analysis of the nomination, listing and protection of the Solomon Island World Heritage Site, it examines the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in the Pacific context. It explores how the international community's broadening interpretation of the notion of 'outstanding universal value' has increased the potential for Pacific heritage to be classified as 'World Heritage'. This book also analyses the protection regime established by the Convention, and the World Heritage Committee's approach to heritage conservation, identifying challenges associated with the protection of Pacific Island heritage.

- provides the first comprehensive overview of the history, theory and current practices of rewilding - edited by founding members of IUCN Rewilding Task Force (RTF) who have practiced and written about rewilding for many years - presents interdisciplinary chapters which address case studies from across the globe - will be appropriate for students, researchers, academics and practitioners

Elephants are in dire straits - again. They were virtually extirpated from much of Africa by European hunters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but their numbers resurged for a while in the heyday of late-colonial conservation efforts in the twentieth. Now, according to one estimate, an elephant is being killed every 15 minutes. This is at the same time that the reasons for being especially compassionate and protective towards elephants are now so well-known that they have become almost a cliche: their high intelligence, rich emotional lives including a capacity for mourning, caring matriarchal societal structures, that strangely charismatic grace. Saving elephants is one of the iconic conservation struggles of our time. As a society we must aspire to understand how and why people develop compassion - or fail to do so - and what stories we tell ourselves about animals that reveal the relationship between ourselves and animals. This book is the first study to probe the primary features, and possible effects, of some major literary genres as they pertain to elephants south of the Zambezi over three centuries: indigenous forms, early European travelogues, hunting accounts, novels, game ranger memoirs, scientists' accounts, and poems. It examines what these literatures imply about the various and diverse attitudes towards elephants, about who shows compassion towards them, in what ways and why. It is the story of a developing contestation between death and compassion, between those who kill and those who love and protect.

At a time when wildlife policy management becomes increasingly complex and when effective administration is of paramount importance, William R. Mangun has designed a study analyzing the public policymaking process and wildlife conservation issues today. As editor, he has brought together an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners to give a conceptual framework and in-depth evaluation of practical issues in wildlife management. The book stresses the importance of the human dimension and calls for knowledgeable public involvement. Charting new ground, the text should help resource managers and behavioral scientists, students, and professionals in public administration, political science, and wildlife protection find new ways to overcome current problems. The book begins with an overview of the enormous changes in wildlife management over the past 50 years, and then provides a theoretical framework for understanding wildlife policy. Strategies and operations, intergovernmental policies and programs, issues in resource allocation and sustainable development, and organizational problems describe contemporary political, economic, social, and ethical conflicts and administrative pitfalls. Case studies range from problems like the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the plight of sea turtles, and endangered species plans to matters demonstrating local, state, national, and transnational priorities. The book demonstrates that a lack of understanding of the policy process will lead to compromised effectiveness, diminished professional pride, and relative powerlessness in overcoming the growing problems confronting those concerned with wildlife protection and conservation today.