We have poisoned the air and water on which our lives depend. Poor countries exhaust their land in the struggle to survive while rich countries demand more and more. The Earthscan Action Handbook spells out why things have gone so terribly wrong and what each of us can do to clean up the mess. Each chapter deals with one of the major problems people and the planet now face: meeting the human needs of health, education and social justice as well as the environmental needs of our dying lakes and forests, polluted seas, threatened habitats and endangered species. Packed with suggestions for positive action, this book also gives details of who to contact, what to read and where to go if you want to do more. Whether you care about buying safe food or feeding the world, The Earthscan Action Handbook is indispensable. Originally published in 1990

'THIS IS ESSENTIAL READING for all those who want to see that what they do, in rising to the challenge of Rio, draws properly on the experience of others and therefore makes their contribution all the more effective.' from the Foreword by JOHN GUMMER MP former secretary of State for the Environment 'An essential guide to how global agreements are being implemented at a local level. Sometimes people question whether global agreements impact on their lives. This book answers with a firm 'YES'.' FELIX DODDS UNED-UK Coordinator Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development called for the participation and cooperation of loca1 authorities in support of its economic, social and environmental goals. This collection of in-depth case studies emphasizes the diversity and inventiveness of local initiatives since the Rio 'Earth Summit' within different national settings. From the Earth Summit to Local Agenda 21offers a realistic counterpoint to the official monitoring and assessment procedures of national governments and international bodies. It highlights the problems of assessment and policy evaluation and clearly sets out the policy stages necessary for more effective realization of Local Agenda 21 objectives. WILLIAM M LAFFERTY is professor of political science at the University of Oslo, Norway, and director of the Program for Research and Documentation for a Sustainable Society (ProSus) within the Research Council of Norway. KATARINA ECKERBERG is associate professor in international relations at the Department of Political Science, Umea University, Sweden. Originally published in 1998

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.

Environmentalism involves hundreds of international environmental groups, thousands of national groups, and tens of thousands of local ones. It also includes hundreds of international agreements, hundreds of national environmental agencies, and countless environmental sections in other organizations from those in multinational corporations to ones in regional and international organizations. Such environmental concepts as sustainable development, the precautionary principle, corporate social responsibility, and eco-labeling percolate from all of these sources. Every year, new ideas, refinements, policies, institutions, markets, and problems continue to enter into environmental debates and discourses, making it nearly impossible to keep abreast of the changes constantly taking place. The A to Z of Environmentalism is a paperback edition of the Historical Dictionary of Environmentalism. It strategically skips across issues, concepts, time, organizations, and cultures, not with any pretense of producing a definitive dictionary but rather with the aim of producing an inclusive, wide-ranging, and global history of environmentalism. This goal is accomplished through a chronology, an introductory essay, and over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries.

Faiths in Green addresses the complex and fraught relationship between religious identity and environmental concern in the United States, particularly how that relationship has changed over time. Examining the effects of religious upbringing, belonging, and disaffiliation on environmental concern across multiple religious groups over several decades, the author shows where, when, how, and why religious groups and their memberships have responded constructively to environmental change over time. The author also visits the effects of gender, social class, race, and politics on both religion and environmental concern in the U.S. Faiths in Green offers an in-depth and accessible guide to understanding the at-times incongruous relationship between religious beliefs and motivations, as well as ways to follow cultural shifts that both drive and are driven by religious persons and institutions. In examining how religious and cultural factors are linked to environmental concern over time, Faiths in Green demonstrates the importance of morality and worldviews in confronting global hazards of unprecedented scale.

A spirited memoir by artist Aviva Rahmani, offering a relatable narrative to discuss trigger point theory and the importance of eco-art activism. Divining Chaos is an intimate personal memoir of unparalleled transparency into the moments in Rahmani's life that shaped her as an artist and activist. Detailing the history that led her to two seminal projects-Ghost Nets, restoring a coastal town dump to flourishing wetlands, and The Blued Trees Symphony, which applied her premises to challenge natural gas pipelines with a novel legal theory about land use-Rahmani shares the decisions that shaped her life's work and thinking. Her discussions about trigger point theory argue for how to predict, confront, and determine outcomes to the ecological challenges we face today.

As natural resources have become scarcer, issues of environmental policy have become more vital and subject to debate in global as well as local arenas. Through the use of case studies especially developed for this book, the authors analyze the wide range of institutional contexts in which natural resource and environmental policy issues arise and the processes by which they are resolved. The first chapter provides a theoretical framework of key resource and environmental economics concepts-an overview that gradually broadens as the student is exposed to alternative methods of analysis, including market-oriented analysis, institutional analysis, and modeling. The case studies all begin with discussions of the pertinent biological, physical, social, and institutional issues before economic analysis is applied and policy conclusions are drawn. Suggested readings and study questions follow each chapter. This book is designed for use in upper-level college courses in natural resource and environmental economics and graduate courses in resource management. It can be used either as a primary text in conjunction with theoretical readings or as a supplemental source of case study readings. The cases will also be valuable for natural resource, environmental, and community development economists.

In 1986, the Three Mile Island Public Health Fund commissioned a national team of researchers to prepare an alternative emergency plan for the region around the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. This nontechnical book, addressed to emergency workers, the public and policymakers, presents the results of their research in the form of a bold plan that is applicable to any nuclear plant emergency. It builds on the principles that local knowledge is valuable, not unsophisticated, that communities are adaptive, not inflexible, and that information must be made available and accessible to the people who most need it.

This book examines the U.S. system of intergovernmental relations pertaining to ocean resources. The exploitation of the oceans with regard to fisheries, marine mammals, hydrocarbons and economic minerals, waste disposal, and coastal zone management is analyzed in the context of the Reagan administration's New Federalism. The contributors document the relationships that exist between the various levels of government - federal, state, and local - involved in regulating ocean resources and explore the problems associated with the use of specific resources. The analyses suggest no single pattern of government guidelines during the Reagan years, and they explain existing federal systems in relation to improve the management and conservation of ocean resources.

Written by and for scholars, planners, and policymakers, Natural Resource Management: The Human Dimension focuses on issues such as the publics role in the decision-making processes of ecosystem management that affect how we use (or abuse) resources. It exposes the reader to a wide variety of applications of Human Dimensions Research, as well as to significant issues involved. One of the greatest needs in natural resource management is for a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between humans and the natural environment. Human Dimensions Research, an interdisciplinary field involving a broad variety of social science approaches, seeks to fill this need by providing multidimensional assessments of peoples’ behavior, attitudes, and expectations toward natural resources and their uses. Written by and for scholars, planners, and policymakers, Natural Resource Management: The Human Dimension focuses on issues such as the publics role in the decision-making processes of ecosystem management that affect how we use (or abuse) resources. It exposes the reader to a wide variety of applications of Human Dimensions Research, as well as to significant issues involved. At a time when we are either loving our forests and parks to death or paving them over, a better understanding of the problems is critical if we are to create workable policies that will preserve and protect our natural resources

International environmental agreements provide a practical basis for countries to address environmental issues on a global scale. This book explores the workings and outcomes of these agreements, and analyses key questions of why some problems are dealt with successfully and others ignored.

By examining fundamental policies and issues in environmental protection this text gives an easily comprehensible introduction to international environmental agreements, and discusses problems in three areas: air, water and on land. It traces the history of agreements in broad thematic areas related to long-distance air pollution, ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases, ocean management, biological diversity, agricultural plant diversity and forest stewardship. Drawing on experts in their respective fields, this book provides an insightful evaluation of the successes and failures, and analysis of the reasons for this. Concluding with an insightful examination of research to show how performance of agreements can be improved in the future, this volume is a vital contribution to our understanding of the politics associated with establishing international environmental consensus.

International Environmental Agreements will be of interest to scholars, students and researchers in global environmental politics, international relations and political science.

Steinar Andresen is Senior Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway, and formerly professor at the Dept. of Political Science, University of Oslo.

Elin Lerum Boasson is Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway.

Geir Honneland is Research Director at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and adjunct professor at the University of Tromso.

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.

This book examines the role of private firms in the American water and wastewater industry. As more water infrastructure shifts from public- to private-sector control, vendors, consultants, and facilities are taking on more importance. Lewis D. Solomon presents an historical overview of water supply and treatment needs and the role of the government, including how water policy has been crafted. He argues that water scarcity is becoming a problem due to groundwater depletion, contamination, and patterns of consumption. He examines the impact of climate change on water availability and quality considering voluntary conservation programs and mandatory restrictions for water use. Solomon points to how for-profit firms can use technology to increase water supply. He describes what privatization would look like in practice and reviews evidence from two case studies. Solomon proposes privatization as a viable response to America's water crisis that can address both scarcity and capital problems. "America's Water and Wastewater Crisis" presents a careful examination of how the water industry has operated in the United States in the past and how it may work as we move into the future. This book is invaluable to environmental specialists, businessmen, and government officials.

This work examines the relevance of traditional Islamic thought and practices for a lasting solution to the current environmental crisis. Quadir describes how Seyyed Hossein Nasr challenges Muslims to reclaim their traditional intellectual and Sufi heritage as powerful means toward a most thoughtful approach to the crisis. In so doing, Nasr urges us to take a critical look at the consequences of the worldviews generated by modern science and technology and offers bold solutions for a more caring relationship between man and nature. The book argues that only a revival of the traditional worldview which perceives all entities of nature as signs of God can effectively respond to the crisis our planet faces.

The health of our nation is reflected in the health of our rivers. These flowing streams supply our drinking water and they sustain the biological wealth of the continent. Central to our past and vital to our future, rivers are the lifelines, yet they are constantly under siege. In Lifelines, Tim Palmer addresses the fate of our waterways. While proposals for destructive federal dams are no longer common, and some of the worst pollution has been brought under control, myriad other concerns have appeared-many of them more complex than threats of the past. Now we face increased diversion of flows, loss of riparian habitat, and pollution from toxic waste, feedlots, farms, and clearcuts. Palmer examines the alarming condition of rivers in today's world and reports on what people are doing to solve the challenging problems. In many stories of hope, he chronicles the success of citizens and government agencies working for better stewardship and pioneering new ways of caring for our waters and land. Finally, he considers what the future will hold for these critical lifelines. According to Palmer, caring for rivers as centerpieces of local ecosystems marks a hopeful starting point toward better care for the planet.

The Galapagos archipelago in the Pacific Ocean is a place of extraordinary biodiversity, home to species found nowhere else on Earth and synonymous with the discoveries of Charles Darwin. But it is also a place of competing interests: those of the rare animals and plants, the scientists who are trying to conserve them, the settlers from Ecuador seeking a way to support themselves, and the tourists who travel across the world to encounter the astonishing environment. Galapagos is the result of a five-year artists' residency programme set up by the Galapagos Conservation Trust, working with the Charles Darwin Foundation, as a unique way of highlighting some of the complex issues that relate to the islands. Twelve international artists were invited to engage with the Galapagos on their own terms, to mix with the local and the scientific communities, to find inspiration for original new work and eventually to share it with a wide audience. The artworks and essays in this book prompt comparisons with other places in the world that are beset by multiple demands. Artists: Jyll Bradley, Paulo Catrica, Filipa Cesar, Marcus Coates, Dorothy Cross (accompanied by Fiona Shaw), Alexis Deacon, Jeremy Deller, Tania Kovats, Kaffe Matthews, Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) and Alison Turnbull.

In a timely contribution to the international discussion of the post-Kyoto climate regime this study hypothesizes that Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the land use and forestry sector are an efficient instrument for climate change mitigation that contributes to rural development and poverty alleviation at the same time. To this end, the study analyzes socio-economic aspects of a forestry project established under the CDM rules considering an East African case study exemplarily. An agricultural household survey in Tanzania delivered the empirical data for the structural equation model at the center of the analysis. Looking at different farm assets it is shown that the benefits of land use-related climate projects go way beyond pure mitigation. They also have a positive impact on a very broad asset base on which poor farm households depend. Hence, the current CDM only allowing for afforestation and reforestation projects is far too restricted to deliver on its twin objective.

Although upwards of 50,000 environmental assessments (EAs) are prepared annually-compared to some 500 environmental impact statements (EISs)-the focus of U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations is on defining requirements for preparing EISs. Written by Charles Eccleston and J. Peyton Doub, who have established themselves among the top environmental experts in the world, Preparing NEPA Environmental Assessments: A User's Guide to Best Professional Practices fills the need for an authoritative and comprehensive guide on how to prepare EAs. Bridging the regulatory gap, this book identifies relevant EIS regulatory requirements that can be logically interpreted to also apply to EAs. It compiles and synthesizes information scattered throughout NEPA's regulations, executive orders, and guidance documents, and incorporates case law to provide additional clarification. The authors also draw on the professional experiences and best professional practices (BPP) of NEPA practitioners. From the fundamentals to more advanced topics, the book presents a consistent methodology to help beginners, students, and professionals manage, analyze, and write legally sufficient EAs. It addresses dilemmas that have traditionally plagued preparation of EAs, provides BPPs, tools, and approaches for resolving problems, and introduces methods for streamlining the EA process. Building on Eccleston's previous guide to EAs, Effective Environmental Assessments: How to Manage and Prepare NEPA Assessments (2001), this book reflects the rapid changes in government policy over the past ten years. An indispensable source of practical information, it provides readers with step-by-step direction and best practices for preparing defensible EAs.

This book addresses an important problem in ecology: how are communities assembled from species pools? This pressing question underlies a broad array of practical problems in ecology and environmental science, including restoration of damaged landscapes, management of protected areas, and protection of threatened species. This book presents a simple logical structure for ecological assembly and addresses key areas including species pools, traits, environmental filters, and functional groups. It demonstrates the use of two predictive models (CATS and Traitspace) and consists of many wide-ranging examples including plants in deserts, wetlands, and forests, and communities of fish, amphibians, birds, mammals, and fungi. Global in scope, this volume ranges from the arid lands of North Africa, to forests in the Himalayas, to Amazonian floodplains. There is a strong focus on applications, particularly the twin challenges of conserving biodiversity and understanding community responses to climate change.

Rattle's new book challenges key assumptions concerning the role of Internet and communication technologies (ICTs) in globalization processes. The author argues that while globalization is predicated upon a strong, extensive, and interconnected global ICT network of products, processes, and services, the real environmental and health benefits remain far from certain. ICTs have been promoted as the next economic wave with the potential to generate jobs, wealth, and prosperity to surpass that of the industrial era. It is assumed the environmental impacts will be negligible or even beneficial in this shift towards a service economy. Rattle investigates these current and expected trends in ICTs and their potential contribution to sustainable development. His book is an indispensable overview for researchers and instructors in globalization, Internet communication technologies, and environmental anthropology or sociology, as well as a resource for policy makers in environmental protection, sustainable development, sustainable consumption, and the social role of science and technology.

International environmental agreements provide a practical basis for countries to address environmental issues on a global scale. This book explores the workings and outcomes of these agreements, and analyses key questions of why some problems are dealt with successfully and others ignored. By examining fundamental policies and issues in environmental protection this text gives an easily comprehensible introduction to international environmental agreements, and discusses problems in three areas: air, water and on land. It traces the history of agreements in broad thematic areas related to long-distance air pollution, ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases, ocean management, biological diversity, agricultural plant diversity and forest stewardship. Drawing on experts in their respective fields, this book provides an insightful evaluation of the successes and failures, and analysis of the reasons for this. Concluding with an insightful examination of research to show how performance of agreements can be improved in the future, this volume is a vital contribution to our understanding of the politics associated with establishing international environmental consensus. International Environmental Agreements will be of interest to scholars, students and researchers in global environmental politics, international relations and political science. Steinar Andresen is Senior Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway, and formerly professor at the Dept. of Political Science, University of Oslo. Elin Lerum Boasson is Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway. Geir Honneland is Research Director at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and adjunct professor at the University of Tromso.

Globally, local and indigenous approaches to conserving biodiversity, crop improvement, and managing precious natural resources are under threat. Many communities have to deal with 'biopiracy, ' for example. As well, existing laws are usually unsuitable for protecting indigenous and traditional knowledge and for recognizing collective rights, such as in cases of participatory plant breeding, where farmers, researchers and others join forces to improve existing crop varieties or develop new ones, based on shared knowledge and resources.

This book addresses these issues. It outlines the national and international policy processes that are currently underway to protect local genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and the challenges these initiatives have faced. In particular these themes are addressed within the context of the Convention of Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The authors broaden the policy and legal debates beyond the sphere of policy experts to include the knowledge-holders themselves. These are the 'custodians of biodiversity': farmers, herders and fishers in local communities. Their experience in sharing access and benefits to genetic resources is shown to be crucial for the development of effective national and international agreements. The book presents and analyzes this experience, including case studies from China, Cuba, Honduras, Jordan, Nepal, Peru and Syria.

Copublished with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Sixteen of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China. A serious water pollution incident occurs once every two-to-three days. China's breakneck growth causes great concern about its global environmental impacts, as others look to China as a source for possible future solutions to climate change. But how are Chinese people really coming to grips with environmental problems? This book provides access to otherwise unknown stories of environmental activism and forms the first real-life account of China and its environmental tensions.
"China and the Environment" provides a unique report on the experiences of participatory politics that have emerged in response to environmental problems, rather than focusing only on macro-level ecological issues and their elite responses. Featuring previously untranslated short interviews, extracts from reports and other translated primary documents, the authors argue that going green in China isn't just about carbon targets and energy policy; China's grassroots green defenders are helping to change the country for the better.

Forests are restless. When a tree dies or a new one sprouts, the forest that includes it shifts. When new trees sprout in the same direction, the whole forest begins to migrate, sometimes at astonishing rates. Today, however, an array of obstacles-humans felling trees by the billions, invasive pests transported through global trade-threaten to overwhelm these vital movements. Worst of all, the climate is changing faster than ever before and forests are struggling to keep up. A deft blend of science reporting and travel writing, The Journeys of Trees explores the evolving movements of forests by focusing on five trees: giant sequoia, ash, black spruce, Florida torreya and Monterey pine. Zach St George visits these trees in forests across continents, finding sequoias losing their needles in California, fossil records showing the paths of ancient forests in Alaska, domesticated pines in New Zealand and new sprouts of blight-resistant American chestnuts in New Hampshire. Everywhere he goes, St George meets lively people on conservation's front lines, from an ecologist studying droughts to an evolutionary evangelist with plans to save a dying species. He treks through the woods with activists, biologists and foresters, each with their own role to play in the fight for the uncertain future of our environment. An eye-opening investigation into forest migration past and present, The Journeys of Trees examines how we can all help our trees, and our planet, survive and thrive.

To prepare today's students to meet growing global environmental challenges, colleges and universities must make environmental literacy a core learning goal for all students, in all disciplines. But what should an environmentally literate citizen know? What teaching and learning strategies are most effective in helping students think critically about human-environment interactions and sustainability, and integrate what they have learned in diverse settings? Educators from the natural and social sciences and the humanities discuss the critical content, skills, and affective qualities essential to environmental literacy. This volume is an invaluable resource for developing integrated, campus-wide programs to prepare students to think critically about, and to work to create, a sustainable society.