The year 2013 marked the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Land Act in South Africa which legalised the violent dispossession and alienation of the African majority from the land. It is common cause that the alienation of land for conservation purposes, introduced to Africa under colonial rule, has continued more or less uninterrupted until today. However, while nature conservation practices inevitably raise challenging questions relating to land and land use, there has thus far been little concentrated effort to bring together scholars working on the land question, particularly around issues of land tenure, with those whose work focuses on questions of nature construction and the social impacts of conservation in an African context. Compiled from research presented at a ground-breaking interdisciplinary conference held at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, in 2012, the chapters in this book made their first appearance in a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary African Studies (JCAS) in July 2013. The book brings critical interdisciplinary analyses of the complex interrelations between contemporary (neoliberal) conservation practices in post-colonial Africa, into conversation with the well-trodden territory of land use and contested land issues on the continent. Anchored by an intellectual curiosity about the extent to which past practices continue into the present and with what consequences, the book provides fresh insights into the complex relationship between land and conservation in contemporary Africa.

The context in which environmental policy decision-making occurs has changed, resulting from widening environmental problems, increased demands from groups and citizens, continuing pressure on the continent's resources and normative shifts. The complexity of current issues is related to an even broader contextual shift: the globalization of environmental issues exacerbated by trade liberalization, especially on a regional level and the potential contradictions between trade and the environmental international agenda that this implies. This volume studies the new dimensions of resource conflict between Canada and the United States, accounting for the emergence of new bilateral environmental issues and detailing how trade liberalization has fostered both disputes and policy convergence. It also examines the recent shifts in America towards a unilateral foreign policy and how this affects active Canadian diplomacy Ideal as a resource tool for students and academics, this book will be a key resource in the areas of global governance, US-Canadian foreign policy and environmental policy.

Irrigation Development in Africa: Lessons of Experience is a veritable encyclopedia of information on African irrigation. It describes a significant subset of the African irrigation experience, from traditional flood recession systems to large projects like Gezira and Bura.

Mediating Nature provides a history of the present nature of mass mediation. It examines the ways in which a number of discourses, technologies and institutions have historically shaped the current ways of imagining nature in the mass media. Where much of the existing research treats mass mediation as a matter of media technologies, texts, or institutions, this text adopts a somewhat different approach: it considers mass mediation as a historical process by means of which the members of audiences and indeed the public more generally came to be incorporated as observers in, and of mass culture. This approach allows the book to investigate the roles that a wide range of genres relating to nature played in constructing senses of nature but also of mass culture itself. The genres include landscape paintings and gardens, modern zoos, photography, early cinema, nature essays, disaster and 'animal attack' films, as well as wildlife documentaries on television. The investigation develops what Lindahl Elliot describes as a 'social semeiotic' approach that combines the semeiotic theory of Charles Peirce with a historical sociology of cultural formations. Topical and timely, this fascinating book will be of great interest to students and researchers in the fields of media, sociology, cultural geography and environmental studies.

Discover wilderness as nature intended - the pristine places on our beautiful planet that still remain untouched by human hands. Explore the rugged mountains, clear waters and dense forests of the great outdoors, from the Himalayas to the Rockies, from icy fjord and to desert plateau and everything between. Including information on the best trails and trips to take around the globe, and inspirational quotes from explorers, conservationists and writers, this bitesize book will help wanderers of all walking speeds reconnect with the wonderful world outside their windows. SAMPLE FACT: Blaze: When wanderlusting in the wilderness, and lost, look to the trees to help you find a path. A blaze is a coloured marker, usually painted or nailed to a tree. It helps guide hikers when a trail becomes difficult to follow or makes an abrupt turn.

Desertification affects 70 per cent of all arable lands on the planet in more than 100 countries. Inextricably linked to poverty, it is estimated that the livelihood of 250 million people are directly affected while another billion living in rural drylands are threatened by this phenomenon. This volume examines the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) signed in 1994. It studies the linkages between land degradation and poverty, the role of civil society and good governance in implementing the UNCCD and the various approaches to fighting desertification. Furthermore, this volume assesses the National Action Programmes, development planning and new avenues for strengthening implementation. Synthesising the main strengths and weaknesses of the UNCCD as a tool for environmental and developmental governance, this candid and informative volume highlights the main challenges facing the UNCCD in the future.

Cities and towns across the United States are making concerted efforts to restore nature and increase green space as a means of community renewal and downtown revitalization. For local government the goals are twofold: to provide an enhanced cityscape that brings residents back to the downtown to live, work and play; and to bring in tourists and further private investment. The result is revitalized areas that provide an enhanced quality of life for residents and visitors alike. This work brings together essays from more than 50 experts throughout the United States, providing a wide-ranging view of the cities-and-nature efforts that exist throughout the country. Creation, protection, preservation and restoration projects are fully covered. Divided into three sections?cities and nature, best practices, and the future?these case studies come from cities across the nation. Differing geographically, politically and culturally, these cities offer a variety of ideas and inspirations while sharing a commitment to an urban environment enhanced by natural beauty. Regional and national resource directories are also included.

The scientific mission of Home Economics is to make the case for a sustainable, responsible requirement-orientated everyday culture of solidarity of the genders and generations. These innate value concepts for research and teaching serve to define its disciplinary competence and lay the foundation for meaningful inter- and trans-disciplinary research and teaching. The « Personal and Social Systems Theory of Household Activities is conceived as a self-contained scientific theory and methodology for university home economics research and education. As an applied science of great varieties of practice-oriented professions it offers the essential common foundation.

This volume brings together a number of prominent economic studies all of which deal with key water quality issues. The studies focus on the economic aspects of water quality including identifying the polluters' actions and incentives, designing and comparing control mechanisms, analyzing the costs and benefits of water quality programmes, and finally managing transboundary water quality. They all make recommendations for improving water quality through changing incentives, programmes and/or policies.

Australia and Canada have been at the forefront of efforts to operationalize integrated oceans and coastal management. Throughout the 1990s both countries devoted considerable effort to developing strategies to give effect to international ocean management obligations.

This key book focuses on principles of marine environmental conservation and management, maritime regulation and enforcement, and regional maritime planning and implementation. With contributions from respected scholars, this informative book collectively assesses the obligations, compliance, implementation and trends in international ocean law, particularly in giving effect to an Oceans Policy, regional maritime planning, international oceans governance, and maritime security. This book will be of interest to all academics involved with maritime studies and international law.

The book aims to give, via a collection of representative papers from the journal Environmental Politics, an overview of both the evolution and the diverse themes found in contemporary green political thought, especially as found in the industrialized nations. Accordingly, it charts the key research papers from the leading European journal of environmental politics since the early 1990s, a period in which environmental politics developed from a marginal status in society and the academy through to its current place as a mainstream intellectual consideration; in doing so the book will both trace a development of ideas and give an overview of the diverse vital considerations in the field today. Subdivided into sections on political theory, social movements, political economy and policy questions, and assisted by a contextualizing introduction, the collection deals with a set of themes that include the following:
- The character of green political theory and its relationships with other political traditions and theories,
- the origins and dynamics of contemporary environmental politics in collective responses to particular issues,
- the differences, similarities and practical tensions between the environmental politics of the North and that of the South,
- the relationship of environmental politics to market economics and ecological modernization
- the environmental aspects of distributive justice concerns at the local, national and global institutional levels
- the roles, value and valuing of nature in green theory and institutional practice.
As a compilation, the book operates in a unique way. It serves on one side as a compilation volume of key papers thatprovides a snapshot of a whole variety of issues in the field, and is thus suitable for teaching purposes, especially at postgraduate level. In addition, each section is chronologically arranged, and so an evolution of related ideas is manifest in the selection, thus making the book an ideal "one stop" purchase for those seeking to understand the development of the field of environmental politics since the start of the 1990s, especially as it has been practiced in developed nations outside the American continent.

As external forces increase the demand for land conversion, communities are increasingly open to policies that encourage conservation of farm and forest lands. This interest in conservation notwithstanding, the consequences of land-use policy and the drivers of land conversions are often unclear. One of the first books to deal exclusively with the economics of rural-urban sprawl, Economics and Contemporary Land Use Policy explores the causes and consequences of rapidly accelerating land conversions in urban-fringe areas, as well as implications for effective policy responses.

This book emphasizes the critical role of both spatial and economic-ecological interactions in contemporary land use, and the importance of a practical, policy-oriented perspective. Chapters illustrate an interaction of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical approaches to land-use policy and highlight advances in policy-oriented economics associated with the conservation and development of urban-fringe land. Issues addressed include (1) the appropriate role of economics in land-use policy, (2) forecasting and management of land conversion, (3) interactions among land use, property values, and local taxes, and (4) relationships among rural amenities, rural character, and urban-fringe land-use policy.

Economics and Contemporary Land Use Policy is a timely and relevant contribution to the land-use policy debate and will prove an essential reference for policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels. It will also be of interest to students, academics, and anyone with an interest in the practical application of economics to land-use issues.

"The convergence of land use and policy represents a criticalarea of ongoing research, yet one that is fraught with special challenges.... The reemergence of the economics of land use as a compelling field of inquiry reflects the many dimensions in which land contributes to social well-being and the many policy arenas in which land plays an important role. Once viewed only as an input in the production of food and fiber, land now stands as a key element in the definition of households' quality of life." -- Nancy E. Bockstael, University of Maryland, from the foreword

As external forces increase the demand for land conversion, communities are increasingly open to policies that encourage conservation of farm and forest lands. This interest in conservation notwithstanding, the consequences of land-use policy and the drivers of land conversions are often unclear. One of the first books to deal exclusively with the economics of rural-urban sprawl, Economics and Contemporary Land Use Policy explores the causes and consequences of rapidly accelerating land conversions in urban-fringe areas, as well as implications for effective policy responses.

This book emphasizes the critical role of both spatial and economic-ecological interactions in contemporary land use, and the importance of a practical, policy-oriented perspective. Chapters illustrate an interaction of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical approaches to land-use policy and highlight advances in policy-oriented economics associated with the conservation and development of urban-fringe land. Issues addressed include (1) the appropriate role of economics in land-use policy, (2) forecasting and management of land conversion, (3) interactions among land use, property values, and local taxes, and (4) relationships among rural amenities, rural character, and urban-fringe land-use policy.

Economics and Contemporary Land Use Policy is a timely and relevant contribution to the land-use policy debate and will prove an essential reference for policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels. It will also be of interest to students, academics, and anyone with an interest in the practical application of economics to land-use issues.

"The convergence of land use and policy represents a criticalarea of ongoing research, yet one that is fraught with special challenges.... The reemergence of the economics of land use as a compelling field of inquiry reflects the many dimensions in which land contributes to social well-being and the many policy arenas in which land plays an important role. Once viewed only as an input in the production of food and fiber, land now stands as a key element in the definition of households' quality of life." -- Nancy E. Bockstael, University of Maryland, from the foreword

Includes a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales and an introduction by Jane Goodall Richard St. Barbe Baker was an inspirational visionary and pioneering environmentalist who is credited with saving and planting billions of trees. He saved lives, too, through his ceaseless global campaign to raise the alarm about deforestation and desertification and by finding effective, culturally sensitive ways for people to contribute to a more peaceful and greener world. He was also an Edwardian eccentric whose obsession with trees caused him to neglect his family; the devout son of an evangelical preacher who became a New Age hero; an unapologetic colonial officer fired for defending indigenous Africans; a forester who rarely had a steady income; a failed entrepreneur and inventor; a proud soldier and peace activist; a brilliant writer, speaker, and raconteur who made wild claims about the effectiveness of his conservation efforts. His encounters with historical figures like FDR, Nehru, and George Bernard Shaw are eye-popping, as were his accomplishments.

This is a 'Whole Earth Catalog' for the 21st century: an impressive and wide-ranging analysis of what's wrong with our societies, organizations, ideologies, worldviews and cultures - and how to put them right. The book covers the finance system, agriculture, design, ecology, economy, sustainability, organizations and society at large. In it, Daniel Wahl explores ways in which we can reframe and understand the crises that we currently face and explores how we can live our way into the future. Moving from patterns of thinking and believing to our practice of education, design and community living, he systematically shows how we can stop chasing the mirage of certainty and control in a complex and unpredictable world. The book asks how can we collaborate in the creation of diverse regenerative cultures adapted to the unique biocultural conditions of place? How can we create conditions conducive to life? "This book is a valuable contribution to the important discussion of the worldview and value system we need to redesign our businesses, economies, and technologies - in fact, our entire culture - so as to make them regenerative rather than destructive." Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life, coauthor of The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. "This is an excellent addition to the literature on ecological design and it will certainly form a keystone in the foundations of the new MA in Ecological Design Thinking at Schumacher College, Devon. It not only contains a wealth of ideas on what Dr Wahl has termed 'Designing Regenerative Cultures' but what is probably more important, it provides some stimulating new ways of looking at persistent problems in our contemporary culture and hence opens up new ways of thinking and acting in the future." Seaton Baxter OBE, Professor in Ecological Design Thinking, Schumacher College, UK

As governments around the world grapple with the challenge of delivering environmental sustainability, attention has recently focused on the role that citizens should play in meeting the challenge. In advanced industrial countries such as ours, which operate in the political framework of liberal capitalism, what relevance can we place on 'environmental citizenship'?
This book looks at the obstacles and opportunities which exist within this context and examines the possibility of ethical investment, the social economy and considers whether there is space in the capitalist economy for environmental citizens to 'do the right thing?'
This book is a special issue of the leading journal Environmental Politics.

During the past century, tropical rain forests have been reduced to about half of their original area, with consequent loss of biodiversity.

Written by leading experts with years of practical and academic experience, this book focuses on the erosion of biodiversity in tropical rain forests, and the role of protected areas in stemming that loss. The book looks at a system of protected areas which could be the cornerstone of all conservation strategies aimed at limiting the inevitable reduction of the planet's biodiversity.

In Fly-Fishing, Christopher Schaberg ponders his lifetime pursuit of the widely mythologized art of fly-fishing. From the Michigan lakeshore where he learned to fish to casting flies in a New Orleans bayou, Schaberg sketches landscapes and fish habitats and shows how fly-fishing allows him to think about coexisting with other species. It offers Schaberg a much-needed source of humility, social isolation, connection with nature, and a reminder of environmental degradation. Rather than centering fishing on trophies, conquest, and travel, he advocates for a “small-fishing� that values catching the diminutive fish near one’s home. Introspective and personal, Fly-Fishing demonstrates how Schaberg’s obsession indelibly shapes how he understands and lives in the wider world.

Policy-makers are increasingly trying to assign economic values to areas such as ecologies, the atmosphere, even human lives. These new values, assigned to areas previously considered outside of economic systems, often act to qualify, alter or replace former non-pecuniary values. Valuing Development, Environment and Conservation looks to explore the complex interdependencies, contradictions and trade-offs that can take place between economic values and the social, environmental, political and ethical systems that inform non-monetary valuation processes. Using rich empirical material, the book explores the processes of valuation, their components, calculative technologies, and outcomes in different social, ecological and conservation domains. The book gives reasons for why economic calculation tends to dominate in practice, but also presents new insights on how the disobedient materiality of things and the ingenuity of human and non-human agencies can combine and frustrate the dominant economic models within calculative processes. This book highlights the tension between, on the one hand, a dominant model that emphasises technical and 'universalising' criteria, and on the other hand, valuation practice in specific local contexts which is more likely to negotiate criteria that are plural, incommensurable and political. This book is perfect for researchers and students within development studies, environment, geography, politics, sociology and anthropology who are looking for new insights into how processes of valuation take place in the 21st century, and with what consequential outcomes.

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.

Bringing together a mixture of theoretical discussion, political analyses and illustrative case studies, this volume provides the first comprehensive scholarly analysis of the tension between environmental protection and economic development in Turkey. Through its dual focus on democratization and modernization, this book also makes an important contribution to the literature on politics in contemporary Turkey. It identifies and analyses the forces underwriting the growth of environmental social movements, investigates the impacts these movements have on development and modernization, and above all, evaluates the role played by environmental movements in the democratization process of Turkey.

The perfect gift for nature lovers and weather watchers. A fascinating month-by-month collection of facts, figures and explanations related to UK weather alongside details of famous meteorologists and their influence. Discover historical facts, amazing statistics and anecdotes that will keep you informed and entertained all year round. You can delve as deeply as you like, or follow your own favourite subject throughout the year. discover little-known secrets about the weather learn fascinating facts and notable meterological anniversaries Written by weather expert, Storm Dunlop.

This book argues that environmental problems represent a deeper problem in the way the relationship between human beings and nature is conceptualised, a relationship which also grounds the implicit ethical and political concerns of International Relations and its understanding of environmental politics.
The twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of environmental issues as among the most important problems in the global political agenda.

This book argues that limitations in our ability to understand and address global ecological challenges are related to the dominance of a distinction between humans and nature. This distinction is taken to be the basis of thinking about politics in general and about international relations in particular. As an attempt to explore this constraint on human thought, The Environment and International Politics provides an empirical case study of one major environmental regime created to deal with ongoing problems in global fisheries at the international level: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III). This convention, which is generally seen as a success story, is analysed on the basis of its application to the South Pacific region, providing greater understanding of the fundamental dualism between human and nature that provides the groundwork for international environmental politics. Heidegger's philosophy is then discussed as providing a different view on the nature-human relationship - a view that could inform a different kind of political engagement.

With its novel approach and erudite scholarship, "The Environment and International Politics" will appeal to students and scholars of philosophy as well as thoseinterested in the interaction between the environmental and political spheres.

Although all living beings modify their environment, human beings have acquired the ability to do so on a superlative space-time scale. As a result of industrialization and the use of new technologies, the anthropogenic impact has been increasing in the last centuries, causing reductions in the sizes or the extinction of numerous wild populations. In this sense, from the field of conservation genetics, various efforts have been made in recent decades to provide new knowledge that contributes to the conservation of populations, species, and habitats. In this book, we summarize the concrete contributions of researchers to the conservation of the Neotropical mammals using Molecular Ecology techniques. The book is divided into three major sections. The first section provides an up-to-date review of the conservation status of Neotropical mammals, the applications of the molecular markers in its conservation, and the use of non-invasive and forensic genetic techniques. The second and third sections present, respectively, a series of case studies in various species or taxonomic groups of Neotropical mammals.