Environment and Nature Books

What should books about indigenous peoples strive for - acceptance among academics or the native peoples themselves? If there is a way to strike a compromise, the authors of Plants and Animals in the Life of the Kuna, have found a way to bridge the gap.

This book focuses on Panama's indigenous Kuna people. The work, an environmental and artistic mosaic, is a collaboration among two Kuna biologists and a Panamanian colleague. Illustrations by Kuna artists Ologuagdi and Enrique Tejada provide a clear portal for curious outsiders.

The authors document a variety of factors that contribute to environmental degradation, including abuses of the market economy, population growth, and careless practices. Being native to a region does not imply omnipotence.

"The Kuna, like the indigenous peoples of North America who enthusiastically killed beaver so that Europeans could wear tall hats, have been drawn into a system vastly larger and more powerful than their own society," writes James Howe in the book's forward. "If they are to survive as a people into the next century, they must reconcile the subsistence and market economies as well as protect the borers of their small enclave."

Our Fragile Planet Polar Regions: Human Impacts
Dana Desonie, Ph.D.
Grade:6-12
Each book in the Our Fragile Planet series focuses on the causes and effects of climate change and human impact on the atmosphere, biosphere, climate, geosphere, the natural environment, hydrosphere, oceans, and polar regions. Each fact-filled book includes photographs, charts, and graphs along with a glossary, an index, and references for further reading. The information found in this series will engage children's curiosity and provide them with a sense of stewardship.

In Polar Regions students will read about the uniqueness of the Arctic and Antarctic, and life on land and in the polar seas. The book emphasizes global warming as caused by atmospheric pollutants. It discusses the ozone hole in the Antarctic and the future of the polar climate. As they consider measures to protect the region, readers will learn about chemical pollution in the Arctic and the effects of over-fishing and hunting in polar regions.

This thought-provoking book will make children and adults view our fragile planet in a new way. Written for students in grades 6 through 12, it could also be read by some students in grades 2 through 5. It would also be an excellent reference book for teachers. Teachers using differentiated instruction would find this book very useful.

www.edconnectionsllc.com

Deftly researched and eloquently written.... I'm extremely impressed with Dr. Hopkin's analysis of the situation in Latin America's parks, reserves and overall environment. A must buy for anyone remotely interested in conservation south of the U.S.- Mexico border.

On my first visit to Los Angeles I could not see the nearby desert for almost a week due to the smog. When it finally was visible I realised that a desert was not merely like those which were photographed so well in Lawrence of Arabia, but were much more complex and diverse than I had ever imagined.

I am using those remarks to preface my review of this book because the contents opened up my mind to a much more diverse view of some of the most fundamental institutions of economic development, particularly the big three of United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. During my studies in Development Economics at the University of Northumbria, I had come to accept the explanation of the phenomena of expanding deserts given in many books and periodicals as due to overuse and over-exploitation.

This book blows the whole concept out of the water with a well argued and substantiated critique of the traditional explanations and the role that the supra-national organisations in conjunction with national governments in perpetrating such fictions. Julian Morris has done the developing world in particular a service in highlighting an economics of politics approach which shows the powerful position these organisations abise in manipulating the press, public and academic opinion to reflect their ulterior motives of bureau creation and expansion at the cost of immense human misery and loss of life.

Morris not only exposes the myths that are perpetuated and the extent to which the rich and powerful of the international community use these for their own ends but he also shows how the so-called peasants, looking after their own interests not only rationally take actions which prevent desertification, such as it is, but also are the best private solutions for reclamation.

This fascinating account is as gripping as many novels. In many respects it is like a novel as so much of it is hard to believe given the degree of academic and media manipulation which has occurred. Morris displays great tenacity in his research and observations and his closely argued work demonstrates considerable concentration to prove his point. I am particularly fond off his expose of the issue of the Land Degradation in the United States which he attaches as an appendix to the main text.

This is a courageous piece of work which deserves greater exposure to the widest possible audience.

Russell Train is a life long Republican who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under presidents Nixon and Ford. He is a conservative with no record of radicalism who currently finds himself at odds with an administration that has declared war on the environment.

On a recent appearance with Bill Moyers on PBS, Stuart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior under John F. Kennedy, conceded that he was both sad and confounded by recent efforts to politicize the environment. He related that when he was in Congress as well as Interior Secretary that preserving the environment was an issue on which Democrats and Republicans agreed. There might have been partisan debate in other areas, but the need to preserve a healthy and scenic environment was an area where the parties closed ranks.

Under Bush a reckless policy of greed has been followed. By advocating Alaskan wild life oil drilling, cutting back on poisonous emissions, and abrogating the Kyoto accord, which was an integral part of the fight against global warming, the gauntlet has been hurled down by corporate special interest profiteers, led by big oil advocates Bush and Cheney.

Train points out that Richard Nixon did not favor a strong environmental policy due to a compelling belief in preserving the environment per se. As a weather vane politician he saw the wisdom in taking a position that would benefit and protect millions of Americans, and so he created the Environmental Protection Agency. He believed his pro-environment posture would enhance his presidential credentials and magnify his chances of securing reelection in 1972.

The current anti-environment brigade does more than oppose efforts to maintain clean air and water; an antagonistic approach has been adopted wherein environmentalists are attacked as dangerous radicals with an anti-business agenda who will cost millions of jobs if their agenda is advanced. These scare tactics have worked with many, and Train advocates the necessity of returning to more traditional ground.

Train is joined in his criticism of the Bush record by the likes of Paul O'Neill and Clyde Prestowitz, who have their own books available examining the Bush record. Their works demarcate a distinction between traditional conservatism as advanced by earlier Republican presidents and the radical neoconservative agenda advanced by Bush, Cheney and Ashcroft.

Book Review by Danya

This book I read was a pony pal I want a pony. It is about a girl who's visiting her grandma. Her name is Lulu. I like this book. I never read it all. She is visiting her grandma because her dad was out of town.

My seven month old daughter loves this book! It is one of her favorites, which is no surprise because it is just her size and has beautiful illustrations. We can highly recommend this book to all beginning readers.

This book provided an excellent introduction into the basic principles of prairie reconstruction. The book is concise, informative, well-written, and leaves the reader with a new appreciation of the prairie habitat. I purchased this book as an introduction to establishing prairie habitat on my own farmland, which is currently in the government "CRP" and "wetland restoration" programs. It enhanced my education and helped focus my efforts.

Along with Paul Schullery, who not long ago penned the insightful and important Searching for Yellowstone, and Richard West Sellars, author of the definitive history of science in the U.S. National Park System titled Preserving Nature in the National Parks, Jim Pritchard has established himself as one of the premier observers on the often perilous collision course between science and politics. While Pritchard's Preserving Yellowstone's Natural Conditions: Politics and the Perception of Nature is destined to become required reading for university environmental studies programs‹as well it should‹it is a lively and entertaining read for anyone who loves our national parks, but in particular the mother of parks, Yellowstone. He deserves praise for a fine piece of work.

Rihard Primack's Essentials of Conservation Biology was the the first textbook to present the fledgling field of conservation biology in a comprehennsive fashion. His Primer of Conservation Biology presents complex topics in a manner that makes this information accessible to a wider readership. The book covers a broad range of topics that includes an accounting of the origins and history of the field of conservation biology. The basic operating principles are offered with numerous examples of their application to real world problems. The author has chosen these examples from many different parts of the world so that all readers can relate to the practical approaches cited. This book serves as an excellent introductory text for readers that want a thorough introduction to conservation biology and access to the jargon of the field. I have recommended this book to students considering entering the field as well as to non-scientists that wish to become familiar with the basics of this new branch of science.