|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
This book describes in fascinating detail the wildlife, wild places
and wild personalities that occupied Angola’s conservation
landscape through four decades of war and a decade of peace.
Intrigues, assassinations, corruption, greed and incompetence ?
during the colonial era, through the horrific war and most
especially throughout the crony-capitalist kleptocracy of President
Jose Eduardo dos Santos ? have resulted in the extinction of most
of its formerly abundant wildlife populations and the decay and
erosion of a once endless Eden. This is the first book to integrate
the political, economic and environmental threads that account for
the post-colonial tragedy of one of Africa’s most biologically
diverse countries. A corrupt government has robbed the country of
its vast oil and diamond wealth, of its environmental health, of
its morality and of its soul. It was not always so. The author was
appointed ecologist to Angola’s National Parks in 1971. But the
vast open spaces, peaceful stillness and tropical luxuriance that
he found during the four years they spent exploring and developing
the country’s wildlife reserves was not to last. The powder keg of
anger against centuries of colonial exploitation ? of slavery, of
forced labour and of an abusive system of penal settlement ? could
not be contained. Bloody nationalist uprisings led to the
abandonment of Angola by Portugal and the transition from random
guerrilla skirmishes with a colonial army into a brutal civil war
that cost over one million lives. Despite its scarred history, the
author believes the country can still rebuild its national parks
and save much of its wildlife and wilderness. But this can only
happen if the current ageing autocracy makes space for a new
generation of Angolan conservationists.
This open access multi-authored book presents a 'state of the
science' synthesis of knowledge on the biodiversity of Angola,
based on sources in peer-reviewed journals, in books and where
appropriate, unpublished official reports. The book identifies
Angola as one of the most biologically diverse countries in Africa,
but notes that its fauna, flora, habitats and the processes that
drive the dynamics of its ecosystems are still very poorly
researched and documented. This 'state of the science' synthesis is
for the use of all students of Angola's biodiversity, and for those
responsible for the planning, development and sustainable
management of the country's living resources. The volume brings
together the results of expeditions and research undertaken in
Angola since the late eighteenth century, with emphasis on work
conducted in the four decades since Angola's independence in 1975.
The individual chapters have been written by leaders in their
fields, and reviewed by peers familiar with the region.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
The Creator
John David Washington, Gemma Chan, …
DVD
R624
R299
Discovery Miles 2 990
|