After centuries of relative isolation, the Karoo – South Africa’s parched heartland – is a latecomer to the tourist industry. What was once viewed as a harsh and desolate place of limited attraction is rapidly gaining popularity with visitors who now make the Karoo their destination, keen to partake of its legendary charm, its extraordinary flora and the resurgence of wildlife that once again populates its plains.

Wild Karoo documents Mitch Reardon’s 4,000-kilometre journey of discovery through the region. The book focuses on:

• local nature conservation in all its facets
• the game, large and small – some recently reintroduced – plus birds, reptiles and invertebrates
• the unique, arid-adapted flora
• the landscape and geology
• the history and lifestyle of the people who have made a home here
• plans to combine public and private protected land to create wildlife corridors between isolated parks, re-establishing old migration routes and so reversing some of the effects of human settlement

Beautifully written, and illustrated with evocative photographs, this book is a must read for anyone interested in travel, wildlife and the environment.

From the depths of the oceans to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, the human impact on the environment is significant and undeniable. These forms of global and local environmental change collectively appear to signal the arrival of a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. This is a geological era defined not by natural environmental fluctuations or meteorite impacts, but by collective actions of humanity.

Environmental Transformations offers a concise and accessible introduction to the human practices and systems that sustain the Anthropocene. It combines accounts of the carbon cycle, global heat balances, entropy, hydrology, forest ecology and pedology, with theories of demography, war, industrial capitalism, urban development, state theory and behavioural psychology. This book charts the particular role of geography and geographers in studying environmental change and its human drivers. It provides a review of critical theories that can help to uncover the socio-economic and political factors that influence environmental change. It also explores key issues in contemporary environmental studies, such as resource use, water scarcity, climate change, industrial pollution and deforestation. These issues are ‘mapped’ through a series of geographical case studies to illustrate the particular value of geographical notions of space, place and scale, in uncovering the complex nature of environmental change in different socio-economic, political and cultural contexts. Finally, the book considers the different ways in which nations, communities and individuals around the world are adapting to environmental change in the twenty-first century.

Particular attention is given throughout to the uneven geographical opportunities that different communities have to adapt to environmental change and to the questions of social justice this situation raises. This book encourages students to engage in the scientific uncertainties that surround the study of environmental change, while also discussing both pessimistic and more optimistic views on the ability of humanity to address the environmental challenges of our current era.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction – Geography in the Anthropocene Section 1: Environmental Transformations Chapter 2: Resources – Oil and Water Chapter 3: Air – Science and the Atmosphere Chapter 4: Soil – The Political Ecology of Soil Degradation Chapter 5: Forests – Jungle Capitalism and the Corporate Environment Chapter 6: Cities – Sprawl and the Urban Planet Section 2: Living in the Anthropocene Chapter 7: Governing the Environment Chapter 8: Greening the Brain: Understanding and Changing Human Behaviour Chapter 9: Conclusions: Misanthropy, Adaptation and Safe Operating Spaces

In this fascinating and entertaining memoir, the legendary White Bushman, Peter Stark, writes about his experiences in the former German South West Africa: first as a farm manager and lion hunter, and later as nature conservationist.

Stark's fearless personality and phenomenal knowledge of the veld, combined with an intimate knowledge of the San people and their culture make for stories and experiences that most people can only dream of. Whether it's about lions chasing San trackers, elephants trampling a campsite or the spearing of 32 scorpions with a kebab-skewer - Stark's stories are bound to awe and entertain.

With Peter Stark's unique and genial narrative voice, The White Bushman presents an important cultural-historical perspective on the country that became Namibia. The photographs, taken either by Stark himself or his fellow game wardens, contribute greatly to enhancing the images conjured up by these captivating adventures and anecdotes.

In this extraordinary and hopeful book, leading environmentalist Tony Juniper CBE identifies the real problem at the heart of the climate and nature crises.

From soil loss to wildfires, degraded rivers, mass migration and conflict, the environmental crisis is already here - and it's set to get much worse. While billionaires build remote bunkers and make plans for colonies on Mars, climate collapse impacts the most vulnerable among us first and hardest. But what this radical and ground-breaking book proves is that inequality isn't just about who suffers the consequences, it is the main obstacle blocking action - and it has been for decades.

How can people lead good lives without ultimately hastening global collapse? The answer lies in fairness. We can't fight the climate and nature crises without addressing the ever-widening gaps between the rich and poor, the powerful and the weak. Drawing upon more than 40 years of experience in research, practical work, campaigning and advocacy, combined with interviews with globally renowned experts, in Just Earth Tony Juniper reveals the system shifts needed to achieve real, lasting change.

Taking its title from a chilling warning made by the United Nations that the world's soils could be lost within a lifetime, Sixty Harvests Left uncovers how the food industry is threatening the planet. Put simply, without soils there will be no food: game over. And time is running out.

From the United Kingdom to Italy, from Brazil to the Gambia to the USA, Philip Lymbery, the internationally acclaimed author of Farmageddon, goes behind the scenes of industrial farming and confronts 'Big Agriculture', where mega-farms, chemicals and animal cages are sweeping the countryside and jeopardising the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the nature that we treasure.

In his investigations, however, he also finds hope in the pioneers who are battling to bring landscapes back to life, who are rethinking farming methods, rediscovering traditional techniques and developing technologies to feed an ever-expanding global population.

Impassioned, balanced and persuasive, Sixty Harvests Left not only demonstrates why future harvests matter more than ever, but reveals how we can restore our planet for a nature-friendly future.

In 2005, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) provided the first global assessment of the world's ecosystems and ecosystem services. It concluded that recent trends in ecosystem change threatened human wellbeing due to declining ecosystem services. This bleak prophecy has galvanized conservation organizations, ecologists, and economists to work toward rigorous valuations of ecosystem services at a spatial scale and with a resolution that can inform public policy.
The editors have assembled the world's leading scientists in the fields of conservation, policy analysis, and resource economics to provide the most intensive and best technical analyses of ecosystem services to date. A key idea that guides the science is that the modelling and valuation approaches being developed should use data that are readily available around the world. In addition, the book documents a toolbox of ecosystem service mapping, modeling, and valuation models that both The Nature Conservancy and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are beginning to apply around the world as they transform conservation from a biodiversity only to a people and ecosystem services agenda. The book addresses land, freshwater, and marine systems at a variety of spatial scales and includes discussion of how to treat both climate change and cultural values when examining tradeoffs among ecosystem services.

Although the problem of controlling the spread of exotic invasive plant and animal species in the United States has been recognized for quite some time, it has been lacking an adequate legislative mandate, public awareness, and sufficient funding to meet the challenge. This ACS Symposium Series title showcases the many diverse efforts being made to control invasive species at the federal, state, and local levels. It recognizes the global extent of the problem and compares the methods used in other countries with those of the U.S., and includes recommendations of how best to proceed from here.

A year-round escape for one million annual tourists, Catalina Island is gaining popularity as a world-class eco-destination. Eighty-eight percent of the island is under the watch of the Catalina Island Conservancy, which preserves, manages and restores the island's unique wild lands. Bison, foxes and bald eagles are its best-known inhabitants, but Catalina is home to more than sixty other animal and plant species that exist nowhere else on earth. And they are all within the boundaries of one of the world's most populous regions: Los Angeles County. Biologists Frank Hein and Carlos de la Rosa present a highly enjoyable tour through the fascinating origins, mysterious quirks and ecological victories of one of the West Coast's most remarkable places.

Presently in Yellowstone there are almost 200 active research permits that involve over 500 investigators, but only a small fraction of this scientific work is reported in the popular press. Furthermore, the results are mixed and frequently confusing to the general public. The intent of this book is to explain both the general issues associated with the region and how science is done to understand those issues, from wolf and grizzly bear research to thermal activity. It further describes how science informs policy in the Greater Yellowstone Region, how scientists from an array of disciplines do their work, and finally, how the nature of that work enables or limits future plans for managing the park and surrounding lands.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Professor Fikret Berkes provides a unique introduction to the social and interdisciplinary dimensions of biodiversity conservation. Examining a range of approaches, new ideas, controversies and debates, he demonstrates that biodiversity loss is not primarily a technical issue, but a social problem that operates in an economic, political and cultural context. Berkes concludes that conservation must be democratized in order to broaden its support base and build more inclusive constituencies for conservation. Key features include: focus on Indigenous peoples' rights, knowledge and practices discussion of commons governance, co-management and responsibility exploration of the history of conservation and the nature stewardship traditions a broad view of conservation that encompasses the well-being of humans as well as ecosystems Taking an interdisciplinary social science approach that includes conservation science concepts, this Advanced Introduction will benefit students of environmental studies, geography, ecology and conservation. It will also be a useful resource for conservation organizations.

World Oceans: A Reference Handbook offers an in-depth discussion of the world's oceans. It discusses the marine life that is dependent on the sea as well as the problems threatening the health of the ocean and its wildlife. World Oceans: A Reference Handbook opens with an overview of the history of human knowledge and understanding of the oceans and cryosphere, along with related scientific, technological, social, political, and other factors. The second chapter presents and discusses about a dozen major problems facing the Earth's oceans today, along with possible solutions. The third chapter provides interested individuals with an opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas on today's ocean issues, and remaining chapters provide additional resources, such as a bibliography, a chronology, and a glossary, to assist the reader in her or his further study of the issue. Where most books for young adults learning about world oceans take a purely expository treatment, this book provides readers with additional information as well as resources, allowing them to learn more and inform further study of the subject. Provides readers with the basic background they need about the oceans and cryosphere in order to understand current problems Includes additional readings, a comprehensive chronology, a glossary, and other additional features to aid students' understanding of current issues and to guide them in designing and conducting their own research on more detailed aspects of the topic Offers ideas for additional research from a list of important individuals and organizations Rounds out the author's expertise in perspectives essays that show readers a diversity of viewpoints

Fifty years after the Stockholm Conference first placed the environment on the international development agenda, this Handbook continues the debate. The Handbook discusses both the profound environmental and theoretical critique against development as modernization and economic growth, and how perspectives on nature have changed from an infinite resource to a fragile subject. Weighing up the successes and failures linked to environmental concerns in development and environment policy and practice, it recognizes the roots of international development as a Western project linked to the expansion of an environmentally destructive capitalism. Through active dialogue across geographical areas, disciplines and epistemologies, chapters critically assess current perspectives on the topic, including decolonialism, degrowth and post-development. Grounded in recent research on topics such as agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure, forest protection, supply chain management, climate negotiations and the renewable transition, the Handbook integrates a range of different viewpoints on international development and the environment to provide a fresh take on this contentious relationship. With an international scope, this expansive Handbook will be integral reading for students and scholars of development and the environment. It will also be a beneficial read for practitioners working in international organizations and development agencies.

Norfolk played a unique role in the development of conservation. This book narrates the story of the movement, from its origins five hundred years ago to the present day. Rare and beautiful Norfolk, as described by the artist John Sell Cotman in 1841, with its rich wildlife habitats, historic buildings, diverse landscapes and archaeological sites, has long been a focus of interest for both naturalists and antiquarians. It has also been at the forefront of the modern conservation movement. The Norfolk Archaeological Trust, still the only local trust of its kind, was founded in 1923; the Norfolk Naturalist Trust, (later the Norfolk Wildlife Trust), founded in 1926, was the first county wildlife trust; while Blickling Hall was the first property to be accepted by the National Trust under its Country House Scheme. By the 1970s traditional marsheswere seen as particularly under threat and it was proposals to drain part of the Broadland marshes that led to the introduction of conservation schemes which have transformed much of British agriculture. In this engaging book, the author traces the history of the conservation movement and the people who were involved, including the Norfolk botanist and founder of the Linnean Society, Sir James Smith. In particular, she shows the influence of changingsocial attitudes and priorities upon the movement and ideas of heritage. Susanna Wade Martins is an honorary fellow of the School of History at the University of East Anglia; her previous publications include Coke ofNorfolk: A Biography and The Countryside of East Anglia (with Tom Williamson).

The interconnectedness of global society is increasingly visible through crises such as the current global health pandemic, emerging climate change impacts and increasing erosion of biodiversity. This timely Handbook navigates the challenges of adaptive governance in these complex contexts, stressing the necessarily compounded nature of bio-physical and social systems to ensure more desirable governance outcomes. Highlighting the dynamics and diversity of governance systems across the globe, leading experts in the field examine the successes and failures of these systems. Synthesising theory with methodology and practical case studies, chapters explore adaptive governance in forest management, marine environments and open data ecosystems, looking closely at the role of adaptive governance in climate mitigation and disaster risk reduction. Answering the call for large-scale transformations that move societies away from unsustainable development trajectories, this prescriptive Handbook explores the existing adaptive governance measures that have driven reflexive, sustainable change. Reflecting on the past decade of research in the field, it concludes by outlining new areas of contention and inquiry for the next decade of adaptive governance research. Interdisciplinary in scope, this comprehensive Handbook will prove an invigorating read for students and scholars of environmental law, governance and regulation, and political science and public policy. Policymakers looking to innovate their adaptive governance approaches will also find this a beneficial companion.

While many people remain paralyzed by the scope of Earth's environmental crisis, the eco barons--a new, unheralded generation of men and women--have quietly dedicated their lives and fortunes to saving the planet from eco-logical destruction. From the former fashion magnate and founder of Esprit who's saved more rainforests than anyone else to the Hollywood pool cleaner who became the leading force behind a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the incredible stories of "Eco Barons" offer proof that a single person's determination and vision can effect monumental change.

Over the last eight years I have spent much time looking into some really important questions: why do we have a climate and how has it changed? what role has the human race played in these changes? what will be the consequences if we continue burning fossils fuels? can we produce enough renewable, carbon neutral energy for the future, allowing for an increase in world population and for economic growth? The challenge - if we are to limit the long term global temperature rise to just 1 C above the current level, then we need to take urgent action. By 2050 the world must be producing seven times the amount of renewables we use today . This means that over the next 35 years we will have to develop these sources of energy 12 times faster than we've done in the last 35 years. We have to act now - this is our wake-up call. Getting governments to adopt policies with long term benefits is always difficult when they involve major short term investment but getting international agreement on limiting global warming is crucial. National targets must be agreed as well as an effective means of monitoring and enforcing them. Agreement must be based on the long term interests of the world not just on what is best "now, for me". Seven countries, China, USA, India, Russia, Japan, Canada and South Korea plus the EU account for three quarters of current greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiations must begin by getting these parties to agree on targets for themselves. They must then meet these targets and get everyone else to follow suit.

A David and Goliath conservation story set on Lake Michigan.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.