Deep reductions in energy use and carbon emissions will not be possible within political economies that are driven by the capitalist imperatives of growth, commodification and individualization. As such, it has now become necessary to understand the relationship between capitalism and the emergence of high energy habits. Using the examples of home energy, transport and food, The Political Economy of Low Carbon Transformation articulates the relationship between the politics of economic expansion and the formation of high-energy habits at the level of family and household. The book elaborates a theory of habit and how it can contribute to this relationship. It critiques mainstream green economy and green energy prescriptions for low carbon transformation that take economic growth for granted and ignore habits formed in a material world designed and built for high energy use. The book explores the growing number of communities around the world that are engaged in collaborative efforts to reform their community and household habits in ways that are less environmentally intrusive. It assesses their potential to make an impact on national and urban low carbon political agendas. The book is aimed at a large and growing interdisciplinary audience interested in the relationship between political economy, consumption and sustainability.

In this innovative volume, the author addresses some important challenges related to the effective and equitable governance of marine protected areas (MPAs). These challenges are explored through a study of 20 MPA case studies from around the world. A novel governance analysis framework is employed to address some key questions: How can top-down and bottom-up approaches to MPA governance be combined? What does this mean, in reality, in different contexts? How can we develop and implement governance approaches that are both effective in achieving conservation objectives and equitable in fairly sharing associated costs and benefits? The author explores the many issues that these questions raise, as well as exploring options for addressing them. A key theme is that MPA governance needs to combine people, state and market approaches, rather than being based on one approach and its related ideals. Building on a critique of the governance analysis framework developed for common-pool resources, the author puts forward a more holistic and less prescriptive framework for deconstructing and analyzing the governance of MPAs. This inter-disciplinary analysis is aimed at supporting the development of MPA governance approaches that build social-ecological resilience through both institutional and biological diversity. It will also make a significant contribution to wider debates on natural resource governance, as it poses some critical questions for contemporary approaches to related research and offers an alternative theoretical and empirical approach.

The tradition of Chinese wooden architecture dates back to ancient times. The construction solutions developed in this country over the centuries enchant with their refined character, while the historical wooden structures delight future generations with their dignity and aesthetic excellence. China`s wooden architecture, deeply rooted in its spiritual and religious traditions, is undoubtedly the pinnacle of this type of building in Asian culture. At the same time, it is a testimony to the national identity and reflects the specificity of the country`s material heritage. The accelerated social and economic changes in China and the constantly advancing globalization of the world have contributed to this country's assimilation of Western concepts related to the protection of cultural heritage. The issue of authenticity in the preservation of wooden built heritage proved particularly problematic. This book brings closer the theoretical understanding and practical application of the idea of authenticity from Chinese perspective. To do this, the issue of living heritage and the reception and understanding of traditional Chinese wooden architecture and its preservation as a direct materialization of Chinese religious and philosophical traditions is discussed. The above topics are treated within the cyclic concept of time, i.e. in terms of progress and repetition, with preservation being understood as a religious practice. Finally, trends in the preservation of wooden heritage in present-day China are mentioned, including new attempts to interpret the tradition and the reinvention of the tradition of wooden building. The book aims to contribute to the understanding of the protection of wooden architectural heritage in China from a new perspective, and will be of particular interest to academics and professionals interested in or involved in the preservation of built wooden heritage. '(...) a highly valuable contribution to the field of wooden architecture protection and preservation', Xiaoming Zhu (Tongji University, Shanghai, China) This book '(...) successfully explains the inheritance characteristics of Chinese wooden architectures from the perspective of cultural philosophy for a wide audience (...)', Yasufumi Uekita, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Shades of Green examines the impact of political, economic, religious, and scientific institutions on environmental activism around the world. The book highlights the diversity of national, regional and international environmental activism, showing that the term "environmentalism" covers an entire range of perceptions, values and interests. It demonstrates that each instance of environmental activism is shaped by historically unique circumstances, highlighting within each chapter the ideological, social, and political origins of efforts to protect the environment. Discussing issues unique to different parts of the world, Shades of Green shows that environmentalism around the globe has been strengthened, weakened, or suppressed by a variety of local, national, and international concerns, politics, and social realities.

Conservation and development share an intertwined history dating back to at least the 1700s. But what are the prospects for reconciling the two, and how far have we come with this project? This book explores these questions through a detailed consideration of the past, present and future of the relationship between conservation and development. Bringing to bear conceptual resources from political ecology, social-ecological systems thinking and science and technology studies, Conservation and Development sets this relationship against the background of the political and economic processes implicated in environmental degradation and poverty alike. Whilst recognising that the need for reconciling conservation and development processes remains as compelling as ever, it demonstrates why trade-offs are more frequently encountered in practice than synergies. It also flags alternative visions for conservation and development obscured or ignored by current framings and priorities. Bringing together policy and theory, Conservation and Development is an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students and a useful reference for researchers in related fields. Each chapter contains a reading guide with discussion questions. The text is enlivened by a number of new case studies from around the world. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the history, current state, and projections for future shifts in the relationship between conservation and development.

Today, there is growing interest in conservation and anthropologists have an important role to play in helping conservation succeed for the sake of humanity and for the sake of other species. Equally important, however, is the fact that we, as the species that causes extinctions, have a moral responsibility to those whose evolutionary unfolding and very future we threaten. This volume is an examination of the relationship between conservation and the social sciences, particularly anthropology. It calls for increased collaboration between anthropologists, conservationists and environmental scientists, and advocates for a shift towards an environmentally focused perspective that embraces not only cultural values and human rights, but also the intrinsic value and rights to life of nonhuman species. This book demonstrates that cultural and biological diversity are intimately interlinked, and equally threatened by the industrialism that endangers the planet's life-giving processes. The consideration of ecological data, as well as an expansion of ethics that embraces more than one species, is essential to a well-rounded understanding of the connections between human behavior and environmental wellbeing. This book gives students and researchers in anthropology, conservation, environmental ethics and across the social sciences an invaluable insight into how innovative and intensive new interdisciplinary approaches, questions, ethics and subject pools can close the gap between culture and conservation.

Somewhere deep inside, you know what your gift, purpose, and mission are. Boyd Varty, a lion tracker and life coach, reveals how the wisdom from the ancient art of tracking can teach you how to recognize these essential ingredients in a meaningful life.

Know how to navigate, don’t worry about the destination, and stay alert. These are just a few of the strategies that contribute to both successful lion tracking and a life of fulfillment. When we join Boyd Varty and his two friends tracking lions, we are immersed in the South African bush, and, although we learn some of the skills required for actual tracking, the takeaways are the strategies that can be applied to our everyday lives. Trackers learn how to use all of their senses to read the environment and enter into a state of “greater aliveness.” When we learn to find and follow our inner tracks, we learn to see what is deeply important to us.

In the same way the trip in the classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a vehicle to examine how to live out our values, the story of this one-day adventure—with danger and suspense along the way—uses the ancient art of tracking to convey profound lessons on how to live a purposeful, meaningful life of greater harmony.

This book contributes to the theoretical and practitioner literature in environmental governance and sustainability of natural resources by linking case studies of the roles of narratives to the three key practices in local environmental governance: socio-political legitimacy in participation; collaboratively creating stakeholder-ness, and cultivating social and ecological capabilities. It provides numerous theoretical insights on legitimacy, adaptability, narratives, process-oriented collaborative planning, and among others, using in-depth case studies from historical and contemporary environmental issues including conservation, wildlife management, nuclear and tsunami disasters, and thus community risk, recovery, and resiliency. The authors are all practitioner-oriented scientists and scholars who are involved as local stakeholders in these practices. The chapters highlight their action and participatory-action research that adds deeper insights and analyses to successes, failures, and struggles in how narratives contribute to these three dimensions of effective environmental governance. It also shows how stakeholders' kinds of expertise, in a historical context, help to bridge expert and citizen legitimacy, as well as spatial and jurisdictional governance structures across scales of socio-political governance Of particular interest, both within Japan and beyond, the book shares with readers how to design and manage practical governance methods with narratives. The detailed design methods include co-imagination of historical and current SESs, designing processes for collaborative productions of knowledge and perceptions, legitimacy and stakeholder-ness, contextualization of contested experiences among actors, and the creation of evaluation standards of what is effective and effective local environmental governance. The case studies and their findings reflect particular local contexts in Japan, but our experiences of multiple natural disasters, high economic growth and development, pollutions, the nuclear power plant accident, and rapidly aging society provide shared contexts of realities and provisional insights to other societies, especially to Asian societies.

Explores the complex relationship humans have with the environment. It is one of both responsibility-including the sustainable or unsustainable management of natural resources-and emotion, like the elation gleaned from a beautiful landscape or the devastation experienced from a natural disaster. Human-induced damage to the environment has widespread consequences for Earth and its inhabitants that have already included sea level rise, increased wildlife extinctions, heatwaves, droughts, intensified air pollution, and water shortages. This book provides comprehensive coverage of the complex interactions between people and the environment. It presents three clear, honest, and down-to-earth essays that cover the devastating impact humans have on the environment; the equally devastating impact the environment has on humans at times; and the positive impact that increasing awareness of our effect on the planet is having on the movement to create a more sustainable future. In addition, in-depth entries on 60 key environmental geography terms, such as deforestation, ecotourism, and environmental justice, provide a deeper dive into the topic; 15 real-world case studies on topics like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the Great Green Wall of Africa illustrate geography in action; and 10 brief spotlights from around the world draw the reader in with relevant facts. Documents human modification of the Eearth on topics such asthrough deforestation, land use change, agricultural soil degradation, water pollution, waste generation, and the ultimate impact: climate change. Describes policies at national and global scales that have exacerbated environmental degradation (such as subsidies to fossil fuels) or acted to reduce such harm (such as pollution control regulations). Explains how richer and poorer nations are affected by and able to mitigate environmental degradation. Describes the interrelationships among people and the environment at various geographic scales: (individuals, communities, national policies, global initiatives); and alsoas well as the influence of public policies and community organizations such as (non-profit groups). Suggests how individuals can make better decisions and have a positive impact on future environmental conditions.

Human behavior causes environmental problems which, in turn, affect people and whole societies. The author elaborates the role of the public in the discourse about environmental protection. As the public consists of socio-economic, legal and political actors, the behavior of those actors is of significance. With a thorough analysis of the International Social Survey Programme, this book illustrates the rocky road from the perception of environmental threats to the reaction toward them. Combining a constructivist and rational choice perspective, the author points out that there are distinctive differences between individual countries in the perception, evaluation as well as in the reaction toward environmental issues. Neither is there a uniform path from perception to reaction, nor exists a one-size-fits-all-solution.

In Reclaiming Nature, leading environmental thinkers from across the globe explore the relationship between the natural world and human activities. The authors draw inspiration and lessons from diverse experiences, from community-based fishery and forestry management to innovative strategies for combating global warming. They advance a compelling new vision of environmentalism, founded on the link between the struggle to reclaim nature and the struggle for social justice.

Lake of Heaven is the story of a traditional mountain village in Japan that is destroyed in the process of constructing a dam. It tells of the lives of the displaced villagers as they struggle to retain their traditional culture including their stories, dances, music, mythology, and dreams in the face of displacement, environmental destruction, and rapid modernization. Although fictional, the work is rooted in the events of actual villages in the mountains of Kyushu and Ishimure's imaginative reconstructions of their people's tales. Lake of Heaven considerably stretches the familiar Western conceptions of the novel form. Its interweaving of local stories, dreams, and myths lends it a deep sense of the Noh Drama. Gary Snyder writes that Lake of Heaven is "a remarkable text of mythopoetic quality with a Noh flavor that presents much of the ancient lore of Japan and the lore of the spirit world." The story becomes a parable for the larger world, "in which all of our old cultures and all of our old villages are becoming buried, sunken, and lost under the rising waters of the dams of industrialization and globalization."

Madagascar is one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet, the result of 160 million years of isolation from the African mainland. More than 80% of its species are not found anywhere else on Earth. However, this highly diverse flora and fauna is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and the island has been classified as one of the world's highest conservation priorities. Drawing on insights from geography, anthropology, sustainable development, political science and ecology, this book provides a comprehensive assessment of the status of conservation and environmental management in Madagascar. It describes how conservation organisations have been experimenting with new forms of protected areas, community-based resource management, ecotourism, and payments for ecosystem services. But the country must also deal with pressing human needs. The problems of poverty, development, environmental justice, natural resource use and biodiversity conservation are shown to be interlinked in complex ways. Authors address key questions, such as who are the winners and losers in attempts to conserve biodiversity? And what are the implications of new forms of conservation for rural livelihoods and environmental justice?

First published in 1999, the groundbreaking Exile and Pride is essential to the history and future of disability politics. Eli Clare's revelatory writing about his experiences as a white disabled genderqueer activist/writer established him as one of the leading writers on the intersections of queerness and disability and permanently changed the landscape of disability politics and queer liberation. With a poet's devotion to truth and an activist's demand for justice, Clare deftly unspools the multiple histories from which our ever-evolving sense of self unfolds. His essays weave together memoir, history, and political thinking to explore meanings and experiences of home: home as place, community, bodies, identity, and activism. Here readers will find an intersectional framework for understanding how we actually live with the daily hydraulics of oppression, power, and resistance. At the root of Clare's exploration of environmental destruction and capitalism, sexuality and institutional violence, gender and the body politic, is a call for social justice movements that are truly accessible to everyone. With heart and hammer, Exile and Pride pries open a window onto a world where our whole selves, in all their complexity, can be realized, loved, and embraced.

This book investigates the consequences of redundant state and federal environmental regulations in the United States. Drawing on the most exhaustive statistical analysis of US federal wetland permits ever constructed, the book uncovers the disjointed world of wetland regulation. The author starts by examining the socioeconomic and environmental factors driving individuals to apply for environmental regulatory permits and the regional inconsistencies encountered in federal environmental regulatory program performance. The book goes on to demonstrate that states have more power in federal relationships than scholars often believe and that individual state policies are important even in a time of strong federal governance. Evidence shows that such intergovernmental redundancy serves to increase overall regulatory program effectiveness. This book breaks new ground in the subjects of federalism and environmental regulation by rejecting the traditional approach of picking winners and losers in favour of a nuanced demonstration of how redundancy and collaboration between different levels of governance can make for more effective governmental programs. The book is also innovative in its use of the perspectives of regulated citizens not as a point of judgment, but as a means of introducing a constructive new way of thinking about political and administrative boundaries within a federalist system of governance. The book provides relevant context to wider political debates about excessive and duplicative regulatory oversight and will be of interest to Environmental Policy students and administrators.

Following the much acclaimed success of the first volume of Key Topics in Conservation Biology, this entirely new second volume addresses an innovative array of key topics in contemporary conservation biology. Written by an internationally renowned team of authors, Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 adds to the still topical foundations laid in the first volume (published in 2007) by exploring a further 25 cutting-edge issues in modern biodiversity conservation, including controversial subjects such as setting conservation priorities, balancing the focus on species and ecosystems, and financial mechanisms to value biodiversity and pay for its conservation. Other chapters, setting the framework for conservation, address the sociology and philosophy of peoples relation with Nature and its impact on health, and such challenging practical issues as wildlife trade and conflict between people and carnivores. As a new development, this second volume of Key Topics includes chapters on major ecosystems, such as forests, islands and both fresh and marine waters, along with case studies of the conservation of major taxa: plants, butterflies, birds and mammals. A further selection of topics consider how to safeguard the future through monitoring, reserve planning, corridors and connectivity, together with approaches to reintroduction and re-wilding, along with managing wildlife disease. A final chapter, by the editors, synthesises thinking on the relationship between biodiversity conservation and human development. Each topic is explored by a team of top international experts, assembled to bring their own cross-cutting knowledge to a penetrating synthesis of the issues from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The interdisciplinary nature of biodiversity conservation is reflected throughout the book. Each essay examines the fundamental principles of the topic, the methodologies involved and, crucially, the human dimension. In this way, Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2, like its sister volume, Key Topics in Conservation Biology, embraces issues from cutting-edge ecological science to policy, environmental economics, governance, ethics, and the practical issues of implementation. Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 will, like its sister volume, be a valuable resource in universities and colleges, government departments, and conservation agencies. It is aimed particularly at senior undergraduate and graduate students in conservation biology and wildlife management and wider ecological and environmental subjects, and those taking Masters degrees in any field relevant to conservation and the environment. Conservation practitioners, policy-makers, and the wider general public eager to understand more about important environmental issues will also find this book invaluable.

This book is primarily written for students of borderline sciences for whom knowledge of the fundamentals of soil science is absolutely essential. These students are, very frequently, confronted with books which are far too foreign in outlook and background, and cannot afford the beginner a picture of the soil that he can view in the light of his own familiarity with objects of everyday life. The intelligent layman who has an interest or stake in the soil will find this book free from technicalities, even an elementary knowledge of chemistry is not assumed. Improvement of soil is the basis of all agriculture and it is hoped that this book besides its text book appeal will help in the awakening of that mass interest in the soil which ultimately must lead to a more intelligent use of nature's most abundant gift to mankind. CONTENTS * FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF CHEMISTRY * CHEMISTRY OF THE SOIL * SALTS IN THE SOIL * PHYSICS OF THE SOIL FRAMEWORK * MOISTURE IN SOILS * SOIL MECHANICS * SOIL FERTILITY

The Amazon region is the focus of intense conflict between conservationists concerned with deforestation and advocates of agro-industrial development. This book focuses on the contributions of environmental organizations to the preservation of Brazilian Amazonia. It reveals how environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and others have fought fiercely to stop deforestation in the region. It documents how the history of frontier expansion and environmental struggle in the region is linked to Brazil's position in an evolving capitalist world-economy. It is shown how Brazil's effort to become a developed country has led successive Brazilian governments to devise development projects for Amazonia. The author analyses how globalization has led to the expansion of international commodity chains in the region, particularly for mineral ores, soybeans and beef. He shows how environmental organizations have politicized these commodity chains as weapons of conservation, through boycotting certain products, while other pro-development groups within Brazil claim that such organizations threaten Brazil's sovereignty over its own resources.

* Placing an economic value on biodiversity is seen by many as the best and perhaps only successful way of preserving it while also protecting livelihoods* This is the most comprehensive examination of valuation ever conducted, focusing on one of the world's top eight biodiversity "hotspots," with principles widely applicable across the world* Original comparisons of the different "values" of biodiversity, trade-offs, incentives for conservation, case studies of coffee growing and wildlife conservation and practical policy optionsEconomic valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is possibly the most powerful tool for halting the loss of biodiversity while maintaining incomes and livelihoods. Yet rarely have such approaches been applied to tropical forest "hotspots," which house the vast majority of the planet's plant and animal species. This groundbreaking work is the most comprehensive and detailed examination of the economics of environmental valuation and biodiversity conservation to date. Focusing on the Western Ghats of India, one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world, this volume looks at a cross-section of local communities living within or near sanctuaries and reserve forests such as coffee growers, indigenous people and farmers-pastoralists to assess the use and non-use values that people derive from tropical forests. It also looks at the extent of their dependence on forests for various goods and services, and examines their perceptions and attitudes towards biodiversity conservation and wildlife protection. The book concludes with an assessment of the institutional alternatives and policies for promoting biodiversity conservation through economic valuationmethods.

Environmental law and governance are the cornerstones of global efforts to conserve the environment, protect resources and ensure fair and equitable outcomes for all of the planet's inhabitants. This book presents a series of thought-provoking chapters which consider the place of governance and law in the defence against imminent and ongoing threats to ecological, social and cultural integrity. Written by an international team of both established and early-career scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds, the chapters cover the most pressing and contemporary issues in environmental law and governance. These include access and benefit-sharing; the right to food and water; climate change coping and adaptation; human rights; the rights of indigenous communities; public and environmental health; and many more. The book has a general focus on environmental governance and law in the European Union and offers points of comparison with Canada and North and South America.

This book deals with the development of temperate coastal sand dunes and the way these have been influenced by human activity. The different states in which the habitat exists both for the beach/foredune and inland dune are reviewed against the pressures exerted upon them. Options for management are considered and the likely consequences of taking a particular course of action highlighted. These options include traditional approaches to the conservation and management of wildlife and landscapes as well as habitat restoration. The way the value of the areas changes under different management regimes is considered mainly from an environmental perspective. Consideration is given to new approaches to management and restoration including adopting a more dynamic approach. Audience This book will be of interest to academics, students and professionals concerned with policy formulation and /or actively managing coastal areas.

In Search of Biohappiness deals with methods of converting agro-biodiversity hotspots into happy spots. This involves concurrent attention to conservation, and sustainable and equitable use. Bioresources constitute the feedstock for the biotechnology industry. The aim of the book is to promote an era of biohappiness based on the conversion of bioresources into jobs and income in an environmentally sustainable manner.The scope of Biohappiness extends to include all aspects of conservation such as in situ, ex situ and community conservation, and also covers conservation issues relating to mangroves and other coastal bioresources, whose importance has grown with the emerging possibility of significant sea-level increase from global warming. Concrete examples of how local tribal families have taken to the establishment of gene, seed, grain and water banks in villages - thus linking conservation, cultivation, consumption and commerce in a mutually-reinforcing manner - are provided in this book.Since the first edition, biohappiness is now universally considered to be the major objective of research and development in the field of biodiversity. This edition brings the position up-to-date, and furthers the cause of biohappiness through the inclusion of a new section on its latest developments.

An exploration of the production and reception of nature and spirituality in America's national park system America's national parks are some of the most powerful, beautiful, and inspiring spots on the earth. They are often considered "spiritual" places in which one can connect to oneself and to nature. But it takes a lot of work to make nature appear natural. To maintain the apparently pristine landscapes of our parks, the National Park Service must engage in traffic management, landscape design, crowd-diffusing techniques, viewpoint construction, behavioral management, and more-and to preserve the "spiritual" experience of the park, they have to keep this labor invisible. Spirituality and the State analyzes the way that the state manages spirituality in the parks through subtle, sophisticated, unspoken, and powerful techniques. Following the demands of a secular ethos, park officials have developed strategies that slide under the church/state barrier to facilitate deep connections between visitors and the space, connections that visitors often express as spiritual. Through indirect communication, the design of trails, roads, and vista points, and the management of land, bodies and sense perception, the state invests visitors in a certain way of experiencing reality that is perceived as natural, individual, and authentic. This construction of experience naturalizes the exercise of authority and the historical, social, and political interests that lie behind it. In this way a personal, individual, nature spirituality becomes a public religion of a particularly liberal stripe. Drawing on surveys and interviews with visitors and rangers as well as analyses of park spaces, Spirituality and the State investigates the production and reception of nature and spirituality in America's national park system.

Agendas and Sustainability considers the processes used for devising global environment and development agendas and provides practical suggestions for their future development and influence. A collaboration of the latest research from the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Earth Council, the book presents similarities and differences in problem definition, objectives, principles, priorities and actions across eleven of the major agendas put forward for environment and development after Rio. Points of divergence and areas of common ground are investigated for over 30 environment and development-related topics, such as biodiversity, consumption patterns, trade, urbanization, population, education, deforestation and water resources.

Rethinking Intercultural Approaches to Indigenous Environmental Education and Research arose from a physical and philosophical journey that critically considered the relationship between Western, Indigenous, and other culturally rooted ecological knowledge systems and philosophies. This book shares two related studies that explored the life histories, cultural, and ecological identities and pedagogical experiences of Indigenous, non-Indigenous, and recently arrived educators and learners from across Canada. A variety of socio-ecological concepts including bricolage, metissage, Two-Eyed Seeing, and the Third Space are employed to (re-) frame discussions of historical and contemporary understandings of interpretive and Indigenous research methodologies, Metis cultures and identities, Canadian ecological identity, intercultural science and environmental education, "wicked problems", contemporary disputes over land and natural resource management, and related activism.