Search results for ""island press""
Island Press Unnatural Companions: Rethinking Our Love of Pets in an Age of Wildlife Extinction
We love our pets. Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, and other species have become an essential part of more families than ever before. Pet owners are drawn to their animal companions through an innate desire to connect with other species. But there is a dark side to our domestic connection with animal life: the pet industry is contributing to a global conservation crisis for wildlife, often without the knowledge of pet owners. In Unnatural Companions, journalist Peter Christie issues a call to action for pet owners. If we hope to reverse the alarming trend of wildlife decline, pet owners must acknowledge the pets-versus-conservation dilemma and concede that our well-fed and sheltered cats too often prey on garden wildlife and seemingly harmless reptiles released into the wild might be the next destructive invasive species. We want our pets to eat nutritionally healthy food, but how does the designer food we feed them impact the environment? Christie's book is a cautionary tale to responsible pet owners about why we must change the ways we love and care for our pets. It concludes with the positive message that the small changes we make at home can foster better practices within the pet industry that will ultimately benefit our pets’ wild brethren.
£25.00
Island Press Food Town, USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That Are Changing the Way We Eat
Look at any list of America's top foodie cities and you probably won't find Boise, Idaho or Sitka, Alaska. Yet they are the new face of the food movement. Healthy, sustainable fare is changing communities across this country, revitalizing towns that have been ravaged by disappearing industries and decades of inequity. What sparked this revolution? To find out, Mark Winne travelled to seven cities not usually considered revolutionary. He broke bread with brew masters and city council members, farmers and philanthropists, toured start-up incubators and homeless shelters. What he discovered was remarkable, even inspiring. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, once a company steel town, investment in the arts has created a robust new market for local restaurateurs. In Alexandria, Louisiana, "one-stop shopping" food banks help clients apply for health insurance along with SNAP benefits. In Jacksonville, Florida, aeroponics are bringing fresh produce to a food desert. Over the course of his travels, Winne experienced the power of individuals to transform food and the power of food to transform communities. The cities of Food Town, USA remind us that innovation is ripening all across the country, especially in the most unlikely places.
£22.99
Island Press Vaquita: Science, Politics, and Crime in the Sea of Cortez
In 2006, vaquita, a diminutive porpoise making its home in the Upper Gulf of California, inherited the dubious title of world’s most endangered marine mammal. Nicknamed “panda of the sea” for its small size and beguiling facial markings, vaquita have been in decline for decades, dying by the hundreds in gillnets intended for the commercially valuable fish, totoaba. When international crime cartels discovered a lucrative trade in the swim bladders of totoaba, illegal gillnetting went rampant, and now the lives of the few remaining vaquita hang in the balance. Author Brooke Bessesen takes us on a journey to Mexico’s Upper Gulf region to uncover the story. She interviewed townspeople, fishermen, politicians, scientists, and activists, teasing apart a complex story filled with villains and heroes, a story whose outcome is unclear. When diplomatic and political efforts to save the little porpoise failed, Bessesen traveled with a team of veterinary experts in a binational effort to capture the remaining ten vaquita and breed them in captivity—the only hope for their survival. In this fast-paced, soul-searing tale, she learned that there are no easy answers when extinction is profitable. Whether the rescue attempt succeeds or fails, the world must ask itself hard questions. When vaquita and the totoaba are gone, the black market will turn to the next vulnerable species. What will we do then?
£28.00
Island Press Parks and Recreation System Planning: A New Approach for Creating Sustainable, Resilient Communities
Parks and recreation systems have evolved in remarkable ways over the past two decades. No longer just playgrounds and ballfields, parks and open spaces have become recognised as essential green infrastructure with the potential to contribute to community resiliency and sustainability. To capitalise on this potential, the parks and recreation system planning process must evolve as well. In Parks and Recreation System Planning, David Barth provides a new, step-by-step approach to creating parks systems that generate greater economic, social, and environmental benefits. Barth first advocates that parks and recreation systems should no longer be regarded as isolated facilities, but as elements of an integrated public realm. Each space should be designed to generate multiple community benefits. Next, he presents a new approach for parks and recreation planning that is integrated into community-wide issues. Chapters outline each step, evaluating existing systems, implementing a carefully crafted plan, and more, necessary for creating a successful, adaptable system. Throughout the book, he describes initiatives that are creating more resilient, sustainable, and engaging parks and recreation facilities, drawing from his experience consulting in more than 100 communities across the U.S. Parks and Recreation System Planning meets the critical need to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive approach for planning parks and recreation systems across the country. This is essential reading for every parks and recreation professional, design professional, and public official who wants their community to thrive.
£30.00
Island Press Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity
How can we design places that fulfill urgent needs of the community, achieve environmental justice, and inspire long-term stewardship? By bringing community members to the table, we open up the possibility of exchanging ideas meaningfully and transforming places powerfully. Collaboration like this is hands-on democracy in action. It's up close. It's personal. For decades, participatory design practices have helped enliven neighborhoods and promote cultural understanding. Yet, many designers still rely on the same techniques that were developed in the 1950s and 60s. These approaches offer predictability, but hold waning promise for addressing current and future design challenges. Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity is written to reinvigorate democratic design, providing inspiration, techniques, and case stories for a wide range of contexts. Edited by six leading practitioners and academics in the field of participatory design, with nearly 50 contributors from around the world, Design as Democracy shows how to design with communities in empowering and effective ways. The flow of the book's nine chapters reflects the general progression of community design process, while also encouraging readers to search for ways that best serve their distinct needs and the culture and geography of diverse places. Each chapter presents a series of techniques around a theme, from approaching the initial stages of a project, to getting to know a community, to provoking political change through strategic thinking. Readers may approach the book as they would a cookbook, with recipes open to improvisation, adaptation, and being created anew. Design as Democracy offers fresh insights for creating meaningful dialogue between designers and communities and for transforming places with justice and democracy in mind.
£39.00
Island Press Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities
The future of our cities is not what it used to be. The modern-city model that took hold globally in the twentieth century has outlived its usefulness. It cannot solve the problems it helped to create—especially global warming. Fortunately, a new model for urban development is emerging in cities to aggressively tackle the realities of climate change. It transforms the way cities design and use physical space, generate economic wealth, consume and dispose of resources, exploit and sustain the natural ecosystems, and prepare for the future. In Life After Carbon, urban sustainability consultants Pete Plastrik and John Cleveland assemble this global pattern of urban reinvention from the stories of 25 "innovation lab" cities across the globe—from Copenhagen to Melbourne. A city innovation lab is the entire city—the complex, messy, real urban world where innovations must work. It is a city in which government, business, and community leaders take to heart the challenge of climate change and converge on the radical changes that are necessary. They free downtowns from cars, turn buildings into renewable-energy power plants, re-nature entire neighborhoods, incubate growing numbers of clean-energy and smart-tech companies, convert waste to energy, and much more. Plastrik and Cleveland show that four transformational ideas are driving urban climate innovation around the world, in practice, not just in theory: carbon-free advantage, efficient abundance, nature's benefits, and adaptive futures. And these ideas are thriving in markets, professions, consumer trends, community movements, and "higher" levels of government that enable cities. Life After Carbon presents the new ideas that are replacing the pillars of the modern-city model, converting climate disaster into urban opportunity, and shaping the next transformation of cities worldwide. It will inspire anyone who cares about the future of our cities, and help them to map a sustainable path forward.
£26.00
Island Press People, Forests, and Change: Lessons from the Pacific Northwest
We owe much of our economic prosperity to the vast forested landscapes that cover the earth. The timber we use to build our homes, the water we drink, and the oxygen in the air we breathe come from the complex forested ecosystem that many of us take for granted. As urban boundaries expand and rural landscapes are developed, forests are under more pressure than ever. It is time to forgo the thinking that forests can be managed outside of human influence, and shift instead to management strategies that consider humans to be part of the forest ecosystem. Only then can we realistically plan for coexisting and sustainable forests and human communities in the future. In People, Forests, and Change: Lessons from the Pacific Northwest, editors Deanna H. Olson and Beatrice Van Horne have assembled an expert panel of social and forest scientists to consider the nature of forests in flux and how to best balance the needs of forests and the rural communities closely tied to them.The book considers the temperate moist-coniferous forests of the US Pacific Northwest, but many of the concepts apply broadly to challenges in forest management in other regions and countries. In the US northwest, forest ecosystem management has been underway for two decades, and key lessons are emerging. The text is divided into four parts that set the stage for forests and rural forest economies, describe dynamic forest systems at work, consider new science in forest ecology and management, and ponder the future for these coniferous forests under different scenarios. People, Forests, and Change brings together ideas grounded in science for policy makers, forest and natural resource managers, students, and conservationists who wish to understand how to manage forests conscientiously to assure their long-term viability and that of human communities who depend on them.
£34.00
Island Press Our Renewable Future: Laying the Path for 100% Clean Energy
The next few decades will see a profound energy transformation throughout the world. By the end of the century, we will shift from fossil fuel dependence to reply primarily on renewable sources like solar, wind biomass, and geothermal power. Driven by the need to avert catastrophic climate change and by the depletion of easily-accessible oil, coal, and natural gas, this transformation will entail a major shift in how we live. What might a 100% renewable future look like? Which technologies will play a critical role in our energy future? What challenges will we face in this transition? And how we can make sure our new system is just and equitable? In Our Renewable Future, expert Richard Heinberg and scientist David Frindley explore the challenges and opportunities presented by the shift to renewable energy. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of our current energy system, the author's survey issues of energy supply and demand in key components of society, including electricity generation, transportation, housing and manufacturing. In their detailed review of each sector, the authors examine the most crucial challenges we face, from intermittency in fuel sources to energy storage and grid redesign. The book concludes with a discussion of energy and equity and a summary of key lessons and steps forward at the individual, community, and national level. The transition to clean energy will not be a simple matter of replacing coal with wind power of oil with solar; it will require society to adapt our energy usage as dramatically as we adapt our energy sources. Our Renewable Future is a clear eyed and urgent guide to this transformation that will be a crucial resource for policymakers and energy activists. The Authors - Richard Heiberg is a Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute and is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost educators about the need to transition away from fossil fuels. He has authored twelve books, including The party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies and After burn: Society Beyond Fossil Fuels, and scores of essays and articles that have appeared in such journals as Nature, The American Prospect, The pacific standard, Public Policy Research, Quarterly Review, The Ecologist, Resurgence, The Futurist, European Business Review, Earth Island Journal and The Sun. David Fridley has been staff scientists at the Energy Analysis Program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California since 1995. He is also Dubiety Group Leader of Lawrence Berkeley's China Energy Group, which collaborates with China on end-user energy efficiency, government energy management programmes and energy policy research. Fridley has written and spoken extensively on the energy and ecological limits of biofuels and serves as Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Fellow at Post Carbon Institute.
£20.06
Island Press What Makes a Great City
What makes a great city? Not a good city or a functional city but a great city. A city that people admire, learn from, and replicate. City planner and architect Alexander Garvin set out to answer this question by observing cities, largely in North America and Europe, with special attention to Paris, London, New York, and Vienna. For Garvin, greatness is not just about the most beautiful, convenient, or well-managed city; it isn't even about any "city." It is about what people who shape cities can do to make a City great. A great city is not an Exquisite, completed artefact. It is a dynamic, constantly changing place that residents and their leaders can reshape, to satisfy their demands. While this book does discuss the history, demographic composition, politics, economy, topography, history playout, architecture, and planning of great cities, it is not about these aspects alone. Most importantly, it is about the interplay between people and public realm and how they have interacted throughout history to create great Cities. To open the book, Garvin explains that a great public realm attracts and retains the people who make a city great.He describes exactly what the term public realm means, its most important characteristics, as well as providing examples of when and how these characteristics work, or don't. An entire chapter is devoted to a discussion of how particular components of the public realm (squares in London, parks in Minneapolis, and streets in Madrid) shape people's daily lives. He concludes with a look at how twenty-first century initiatives in Paris, Houston, Atlanta-Brooklyn, and Toronto are making an already fine public realm even better, initiatives that demonstrate what other cities can do to improve. What Makes o Great City will help readers understand that any city can be changed for the better-and inspire entrepreneurs, public officials, and city residents to do it themselves.
£74.00
Island Press Start-Up City: Inspiring Private and Public Entrepreneurship, Getting Projects Done, and Having Fun
There has been a revolution in urban transportation over the past five years, set off by start-ups across the US and internationally. Sleek, legible mobility platforms are connecting people to cars, trains, buses, and bikes as never before, opening up a range of new transport options while improving existing ones. While many large city governments, such as Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., have begun to embrace creative forms and processes of government, most still operate under the weight of an unwieldy, risk-averse bureaucracy. With the advent of self-driving vehicles and other technological shifts upon us, Gabe Klein asks how we can close the gap between the energized, aggressive world of start-ups and the complex bureaucracies struggling to change beyond a geologic time scale. From his experience as a food-truck entrepreneur to a ZipCar executive and a city transportation commissioner, Klein's career has focused on bridging the public-private divide, finding and celebrating shared goals, and forging better cities with more nimble, consumer-oriented bureaucracies. In Start-Up City, Klein, with David Vega-Barachowitz, demonstrates how to affect big, directional change in cities, and how to do it fast. Klein's objective is to inspire what he calls "public entrepreneurship," a start-up-pace energy within the public sector, brought about by leveraging the immense resources at its disposal. Klein offers guidance for cutting through the morass and a roadmap for getting real, meaningful projects done quickly and having fun while doing it. This book is for anyone who wants to change the way we live in cities without waiting for the glacial pace of change in government.
£21.99
Island Press People Cities: The Life and Legacy of Jan Gehl
"A good city is like a good-party," you stay for longer than you plan," says Danish architect Jan Gehl. He believes that good architecture is not about form, but about the interaction between-form and life. Over-the last 50 years, Gehl has changed the way that we think about architecture and city planning, moving from the Modernist separation of uses to a human-scale approach inviting people to use their cities. At a time when growing numbers are populating cities, planning urban spaces to be humane, safe, and open to 'all' is ever-more critical. With the help of Jan Gehl, we can all become advocates for human scale design. Jan's research, theories, and strategies have been helping cities to reclaim their public space and recover from the great post-WWII car invasion. His work has influenced public space improvements in over 50 global cities, including New York, London, Moscow, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, and the authors' hometown of Perth. While much has been written by Jan Gehl about his approach and by others about his influence, this book tells the inside story of how he learned to Study urban spaces and implement his people-centred approach.People Cities discusses the work, theory, life, and influence of Jan Gehl from the perspective of those who have worked with him across the globe. Authors Matan and Newman celebrate Jan's role in changing the urban planning paradigm from an abstract, ideological modernism to a people-focused movement. It is organised around the creation of that movement, using key periods in Jan's working life as a structure. People Cities will inspire anyone who wants to create vibrant, human-scale cities and understand the ideas and work of an architect who has most influenced how we should and can design cities for people.
£31.00
Island Press America's Urban Future: Lessons from North of the Border
The headlines about cities celebrate their resurgence, with empty nesters and Millennials alike investing in our urban areas, moving away from car dependence, and demanding walkable, transit-oriented neighbourhoods. But, in reality, these changes are taking place in a scattered and piecemeal fashion. While areas of a handful of cities are booming, most US metros continue to follow old patterns of central city decline and suburban sprawl. As demographic shifts change housing markets and climate change ushers in new ways of looking at settlement patterns, pressure for change in urban policy is growing. More and more policy makers are raising questions about the soundness of policies that squander our investment in urban housing, built environment, and infrastructure while continuing to support expansion of sprawling, auto-dependent development. Changing these policies is the central challenge facing US cities and metro regions, and those who manage them or plan their future. In America's Urban Future, urban experts Tomalty and Mallach examine US policy in the light of the Canadian experience and use that experience as a starting point to generate specific policy recommendations. Their recommendations are designed to help the US further its urban revival, build more walkable, energy-efficient communities, and in particular, help land use adapt better to the needs of the ageing population. Tomalty and Mallach show how Canada, a country similar to the US in many respects, has fostered healthier urban centres and more energy- and resource-efficient suburban growth. They call for a rethinking of US public policies across those areas and look closely at what may be achievable at federal, state, and local levels in light of both the constraints and the opportunities inherent in today's political systems and economic realities.
£30.23
Island Press Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation
Newly available in paperback, Dan Fagin's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution is environmental reporting at its best. The true story of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and has been hailed by The New York Times as "a new classic of science reporting." Now available in paperback with a new afterword by acclaimed author Dan Fagin, the book masterfully blends hard-hitting investigative journalism, scientific discovery, and unforgettable characters. Rooted in a centuries-old scientific quest, Toms River is an epic of dumpers at midnight and deceptions in broad daylight, of corporate avarice and government neglect, and of a few brave individuals who refused to keep silent until the truth was exposed.
£23.99
Island Press Smart Power Anniversary Edition: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities
This pivotal work offers a clear and accessible vision of how we can transform the electric power industry to adapt to twenty-first century challenges. Few industries are as stuck in the past as utilities are. In the face of climate change and the need for energy security, a system that took more than a century to evolve must now be extensively retooled in the span of a few decades, although many of the technologies and institutions needed are still being designed or tested. It is like rebuilding an entire aeroplane fleet, along with the runways and air traffic control system, while the planes are all up in the air filled with passengers. In this accessible and insightful book, Peter Fox-Penner considers how utilities interact with customers and how the Smart Grid could revolutionise their relationship. He considers the costs of, and tradeoffs between, large-scale power sources such as coal plants and small-scale power sources close to customers. Finally, he looks at how utilities can respond to all of these challenges and remain viable, while financing hundreds of billions of dollars of investment without much of an increase in sales. This Anniversary Edition includes up-to-date assessments of the industry by such leading energy experts as Daniel Estes and Jim Rogers, as well as a new afterword from the author.
£25.87
Island Press Satellites in the High Country: Searching for the Wild in the Age of Man
In New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, 83 Mexican gray wolves may be some of the most monitored wildlife on the planet. Collared, microchipped, and transported by helicopter, the wolves are protected and confined in an attempt to appease ranchers and conservationists alike. Once a symbol of the wild, these wolves have come to illustrate the demise of wilderness in this Human Age, where man's efforts shape life in even the most remote corners of the earth. And yet, the howl of an unregistered wolf, half of a rogue pair, splits the night. If you know where to look, you'll find that much remains untamed, and even today, wildness can remain a touchstone for our relationship with the rest of nature. In Satellites in the High Country, journalist and adventurer Jason Mark travels beyond the bright lights and certainties of our cities to seek wildness wherever it survives. In California's Point Reyes National Seashore, a battle over oyster farming and designated wilderness pits former allies against one another, as locals wonder whether wilderness should be untouched, farmed, or something in between. In Washington's Cascade Mountains, a modern-day wild woman and her students learn to tan hides and start fires without matches, attempting to connect with a primal past out of reach for the rest of society. And in Colorado's High Country, dark skies and clear air reveal a breathtaking expanse of stars, flawed only by the arc of a satellite passing - beauty interrupted by the traffic of a million conversations. These expeditions to the edges of civilization's grid show us that, although our notions of pristine nature may be shattering, the mystery of the wild still exists, and in fact, it is more crucial than ever. But wildness is wily as a coyote: you have to be willing to track it to understand the least thing about it. Satellites in the High Country is an epic journey on the trail of the wild, a poetic and incisive exploration of its meaning and enduring power in our Human Age.
£23.70
Island Press Parking Management for Smart Growth
Written by an expert in parking management, Parking Management for Smart Growth shows how to manage on- and off-street parking supplies to achieve Smart Growth. In the last 50 years, parking management has grown from a minor aspect of local policy and regulation to a central position in the provision of transportation access. The higher densities, tight land supplies, mixed land uses, environmental and social concerns, and alternative transportation modes of Smart Growth demand a different approach - actively managed parking. This book offers a set of tools and a method for strategic parking management so that communities can better use parking resources and avoid overbuilding parking. It explores new opportunities for making the most from every parking space in a sharing economy and taking advantage of new digital parking tools to increase user interaction and satisfaction. Examples are provided of successful approaches for parking management, from London to Pasadena. At its essence, the book provides a path forward for strategic parking management in a new era of tighter parking supplies.
£37.00
Island Press Unnatural Selection: How We Are Changing Life, Gene by Gene
In a narrative style, Emily Monosson explains how humans are driving rapid contemporary evolution through the use of toxic chemicals and what we can do about it. Gonorrhoea. Bed bugs. Weeds. Salamanders. Polar Bears. People. All are evolving, some surprisingly rapidly, in response to our chemical age. In Unnatural Selection, Emily Monosson shows how our drugs, pesticides, and In a narrative style, Emily Monosson explains how humans are driving rapid contemporary evolution through the use of toxic chemicals and what we can do about it. Gonorrhoea. Bed bugs. Weeds. Salamanders. Polar Bears. People. All are evolving, some surprisingly rapidly, in response to our chemical age. In Unnatural Selection, Emily Monosson shows how our drugs, pesticides, and pollution are exerting intense selection pressure on all manner of species. And we humans might not like the result. Monosson reveals that the very code of life is more fluid than once imagined. When our powerful chemicals put the pressure on to evolve or die, beneficial traits can sweep rapidly through a population. Species with explosive population growth, the insects, bacteria and weeds, tend to thrive, while bigger, slower-to- reproduce creatures, like ourselves, are more likely to succumb. Unnatural Selection is eye-opening and more than a little disquieting. But it also suggests how we might lesson our impact: manage pests without creating super bugs; protect individuals from disease without inviting epidemics; and benefit from technology without threatening the health of our children.
£23.70
Island Press Parking Reform Made Easy
Today, there are more than three parking spaces for every car in the United States. No one likes searching for a space, but in many areas, there is an oversupply, wasting valuable land, damaging the environment, and deterring development. Richard Willson argues that the problem stems from outdated minimum parking requirements. In this practical guide, he shows practitioners how to assess the parking requirements that make sense for each community, reform zoning codes, and create more vibrant cities. Local planners and policymakers, traffic engineers, developers, and community members are actively seeking this information as they institute principles of Smart Growth. But making effective changes requires more than relying on national averages or copying information from neighbouring communities. Instead, Willson shows how professionals can confidently create requirements based on local parking demand data and land use policy priorities. After putting parking and parking requirements in context, the book offers an accessible tool kit to get started and repair outdated requirements. It looks in depth at parking requirements for multifamily developments including income-restricted housing, workplaces, and mixed-use, transit-oriented development. Case studies for each type of parking illustrate what works, what doesn't, and how to overcome challenges. Willson also explores the process of codifying regulations and how to work with stakeholders to avoid political conflicts. With "Parking Reforms Made Easy", practitioners will learn, step-by-step, how to improve requirements. The result will be higher density, healthier, more energy-efficient, and liveable communities.
£31.00
Island Press Creating Green Roadways: Integrating Cultural, Natural, and Visual Resources into Transportation
In "Creating Green Roads", James and Matthew Sipes demonstrate that roads don't have to be the enemy of sustainability: they can be designed to minimally impact the environment while improving quality of life. The authors examine traditional, utilitarian methods of transportation planning that have resulted in a host of negative impacts: from urban sprawl and congestion to loss of community identity and excess air and water pollution. They offer a better approach - one that blends form and function. Through case studies and photos from around the country, "Creating Green Roads" provides an examination of all aspects of green roads, from transportation policy to the basics of road design, public involvement, road ecology, and the economics of sustainable roads. This comprehensive guide offers a practical strategy for rethinking how we design, plan, and maintain our transportation infrastructure.
£37.00
Island Press River Notes: A Natural and Human History of the Colorado
Plugged by no fewer than twenty-five dams, the Colorado is the world's most regulated river, providing most of the water supply of Las Vegas, Tucson, and San Diego, and much of the power and water of Los Angeles and Phoenix. If the river ceased flowing, it would soon be necessary to abandon many of the largest cities in the West. The Colorado is indeed a river of life, which makes it all the more tragic that when it approaches the sea, it has been reduced to a toxic trickle, its delta dry and deserted. In a blend of history, science, and personal observation, acclaimed author Wade Davis tells the story of America's Nile, from its legendary history to the human intervention that has left it transformed and near exhaustion. The story of the Colorado River is the human quest for progress and its inevitable if unintended effects - and an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and foster the rebirth of America's most iconic waterway. A beautifully told story of historical adventure and natural beauty, "River Notes" is a fascinating journey down the river and through mankind's complicated and destructive relationship with one of its greatest natural resources.
£22.25
Island Press The Death and Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival
Monterey began as a natural paradise, but became the poster child for industrial devastation in John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row", and is now one of the most celebrated shorelines in the world. It is a remarkable story of life, death, and revival - told here for the first time in all its stunning colour and bleak greys. The "Death and Life of Monterey Bay" begins in the eighteenth century when Spanish and French explorers encountered a rocky shoreline brimming with life - raucous sea birds, abundant sea otters, barking sea lions, halibut the size of wagon wheels, waters thick with whales. A century and a half later, many of the sea creatures had disappeared, replaced by sardine canneries that sickened residents with their stench but kept the money flowing. When the fish ran out and the climate turned, the factories emptied and the community crumbled. But today, both Monterey's economy and wildlife are resplendent. How did it happen? The answer is deceptively simple: through the extraordinary acts of ordinary people. The "Death and Life of Monterey Bay" is the biography of a place, but also of the residents who reclaimed it. Monterey is thriving because of an eccentric mayor who wasn't afraid to use pistols, axes, or the force of law to protect her coasts. It is because of fishermen who love their livelihood, scientists who are fascinated by the sea's mysteries, and philanthropists and community leaders willing to invest in a world-class aquarium. The shores of Monterey Bay revived because of human passion - passion that enlivens every page of this hopeful book.
£16.43
Island Press Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living
How can each of us live Cooler, Smarter? While the routine decisions that shape our days - what to have for dinner, where to shop, how to get to work - may seem small, collectively they have a big effect on global warming. But which changes in our lifestyles might make the biggest difference to the climate? This science-based guide shows you the most effective ways to cut your own global warming emissions by twenty percent or more, and explains why your individual contribution is so vital to addressing this global problem. "Cooler, Smarter" is based on an in-depth, two-year study by the experts at The Union of Concerned Scientists. While other green guides suggest an array of tips, "Cooler, Smarter" offers proven strategies to cut carbon, with chapters on transportation, home energy use, diet, personal consumption, as well as how best to influence your workplace, your community, and elected officials. The book explains how to make the biggest impact and when not to sweat the small stuff. It also turns many eco-myths on their head, like the importance of locally produced food or the superiority of all hybrid cars. The advice in "Cooler, Smarter" can help save you money and live healthier. But its central purpose is to empower you, through low carbon-living, to confront one of society's greatest threats.
£25.16
Island Press Climate and Conservation: Landscape and Seascape Science, Planning, and Action
"Climate and Conservation" presents case studies from around the world of leading-edge projects focused on climate change adaptation - regional-scale endeavours where scientists, managers, and practitioners are working to protect biodiversity by protecting landscapes and seascapes in response to threats posed by climate change. The book begins with an introductory section that frames the issues and takes a systematic look at planning for climate change adaptation. The 19 chapters that follow examine particular case studies in every part of the world, including landscapes and seascapes from equatorial, temperate, montane, polar, and marine and freshwater regions. Projects profiled range from grasslands to boreal forests to coral reefs to Alpine freshwater environments. Chapter authors have extensive experience in their respective regions and are actively engaged in working on climate-related issues. The result is a collection of geographical case studies that allows for effective cross-comparison while at the same time recognising the uniqueness of each situation and locale. "Climate and Conservation" offers readers tangible, place-based examples of projects designed to protect large landscapes as a means of conserving biodiversity in the face of the looming threat of global climate change. It informs readers of how a diverse set of conservation actors have been responding to climate change at a scale that matches the problem, and is an essential contribution for anyone involved with large-scale biodiversity conservation.
£39.00
Island Press The Nature of a House: Building a World that Works
Is it possible for a group of the world's most respected environmental scientists to truly practice what they preach? Can their expertise in climate change help them in transforming an old house and its nine acres into their new office building and campus - a building that is as energy efficient as possible, uses local materials, and generates all of the energy it consumes? In this candid, charming, and informative book, the director of the renowned Woods Hole Research Center tells a story that will interest anyone who has ever thought about doing a "green" rehab, has tried to build green, or just wonders what's actually possible. The Woods Hole Research Center is an international leader in identifying the causes and consequences of environmental change. When the WHRC needed a new administration building, its scientists and staff decided that the building should utilize "state-of-the-shelf" green building techniques and materials. However, the new office had to conform with the laws and building codes of the time, and with materials that were then available - no matter how frustrating these requirements were to the resident scientists and contractors. The author, George M. Woodwell, founder of the WHRC, was intimately involved in the design and construction of the Gilman Ordway Campus, which was completed in 2003 in collaboration with McDonough + Partners. He details the challenges they faced, some of which are familiar to everyone who tries to "build green": the vagaries of building codes, the whims of inspectors, the obstreperousness of subcontractors, the search for appropriate materials, and the surprises involved in turning an old house into a modern office building. Woodwell puts the building in a larger context, not only within the work of the Center and the tradition of Woods Hole, but in the global need to minimize our carbon emissions and overall environmental impact. Building a world that works requires rethinking how we design, reuse, and live in the built environment while preserving the functional integrity of the landscape.
£35.31
Island Press Forests for the People: The Story of America's Eastern National Forests
At the turn of the twentieth century, widespread clearcutting resulted in ecological ruin and devastating fires in America's Eastern forests. A coalition of citizens, organisations, and business and political leaders fought against this pattern, and in 1911, they achieved a landmark victory with the Weeks Act, which protected millions of acres of Eastern forests. "Forests of the People" tells the fascinating story of this vital legislation. While these protected forests survive today, many of the critical issues facing American forests in the twentieth century persist, and new threats have arisen - including oil shale drilling, invasive species, and development around national parks. In "Forests for the People", Christopher Johnson and David Govatski draw upon the lessons and victories of the past to examine the vital issues facing American forests today and illuminate paths to better forest management.
£35.31
Island Press The Carnivore Way: Coexisting with and Conserving North America's Predators
What would it be like to live in a world with no predators roaming our landscapes? Would their elimination, which humans have sought with ever greater urgency in recent times, bring about a pastoral, peaceful human civilization? Or in fact is their existence critical to our own, and do we need to be doing more to assure their health and the health of the landscapes they need to thrive? In The Carnivore Way, Cristina Eisenberg argues compellingly for the necessity of top predators in. large, undisturbed landscapes, and how a continental-Iong corridor - a "carnivore way" - provides the room they need to roam and connected landscapes that allow them to disperse. Eisenberg follows the footsteps of six large carnivores - wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, jaguars, wolverines, and cougars - on a 7,500-mile wildlife corridor from Alaska to Mexico along the Rocky Mountains. Backed by robust science, she shows how their well-being is a critical factor in sustaining healthy landscapes and how it is possible for humans and large carnivores to coexist peacefully and even to thrive. University students in natural resource science programs, resource managers, conservation organisations, and anyone curious about carnivore ecology and management in a changing world will find a thoughtful guide to large carnivore conservation that dispels long-held myths about their ecology and contributions to healthy, resilient landscapes.
£24.43
Island Press Local Climate Action Planning
This is the first book designed to help planners, municipal staff and officials, citizens and others working at local levels to develop Climate Action Plans (CAPs). CAPs are strategic plans that establish policies and programmes for mitigating a community's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They typically focus on transportation, energy use, and solid waste. CAPs are usually based on GHG emissions inventories, which identify the sources of emissions from the community and quantify amounts. CAPs may also address adaptation - how the community will respond to the local impacts of climate change, such as increased flooding, extended drought, or sea level rise. With examples drawn from actual plans, "Local Climate Action Planning" guides preparers of CAPs through the entire plan development process, identifying the key considerations and choices that must be made in order to assure that a plan is both workable and effective.
£28.05
Island Press Intelligent Tinkering: Bridging the Gap between Science and Practice
Robert J. Cabin explores the relationship between science and practice in ecological restoration. Despite the often distinct cultures and methodologies of scientists and practitioners, Cabin shows how each has a vital role in effective restoration and offers suggestions for improving working relationships. One approach he advocates is what he calls 'intelligent tinkering,' where practitioners employ the same kind of careful but informal trial-and-error strategy followed by such groups as indigenous peoples and hobbyist mechanics. Cabin illustrates the power of intelligent tinkering using examples from his own work and other restoration projects. The gap between science and practice is a widespread problem across all fields of applied science. "Intelligent Tinkering" offers an insightful look at the underlying causes of the problem, along with invaluable suggestions for addressing it.
£52.00
Island Press Urban Ecological Design: A Process for Regenerative Places
This trailblazing book outlines a tested interdisciplinary "process model" for urban design. Its goal is not to explain how to design a specific city precinct or public space, but to describe useful steps to approach the transformation of urban spaces. "Urban Ecological Design" illustrates the different stages in which the process is organized, using theories, techniques, images, and case studies. The authors believe that environmental concerns demand that ecological and sustainability issues are addressed in urban design. It is, after all, the urban designer who helps to orchestrate human relationships with other living organisms in the built environment. The overall objective of the book is to reinforce the role of the urban designer as an honest broker and promoter of design processes and as an active agent of social creativity in the production of the public realm.
£34.00
Island Press Straight Up: America's Fiercest Climate Blogger Takes on the Status Quo Media, Politicians, and Clean Energy Solutions
In 2009, Rolling Stone named Joe Romm to its list of '100 People Who Are Changing America.' Romm is a climate expert, physicist, energy consultant, and former official in the Department of Energy. But it’s his influential blog, one of the 'Top Fifteen Green Websites' according to Time magazine, that’s caught national attention. Climate change is far more urgent than people understand, Romm says, and traditional media, scientists, and politicians are missing the story.
£39.15
Island Press Foundations of Environmental Physics: Understanding Energy Use and Human Impacts
"Foundations of Environmental Physics" is designed to focus students on the current energy and environmental problems facing society, and to give them the critical thinking and computational skills needed to sort out potential solutions. From its pedagogical approach, students learn that a simple calculation based on first principles can often reveal the plausibility (or implausibility) of a proposed solution or new technology. Throughout its chapters, the text asks students to apply key concepts to current data (which they are required to locate using the internet and other sources) to get a clearer picture of the most pressing issues in environmental science. The text begins by exploring how changes in world population impact all aspects of the environment, particularly with respect to energy use. It then discusses what the first and second laws of thermodynamics tell us about renewable and nonrenewable energy; how current energy use is changing the global climate; and, how alternative technologies can be evaluated through scientific risk assessment. In approaching real-world problems, students come to understand the physical principles that underlie scientific findings. This informative and engaging textbook offers what prospective scientists, managers, and policymakers need most: the knowledge to understand environmental threats and the skills to find solutions.
£70.11
Island Press Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning
Tim Beatley has long been a leading advocate for the "greening" of cities. But too often, he notes, urban greening efforts focus on everything except nature, emphasising such elements as public transport, renewable energy production, and energy efficient building systems. While these are important aspects of re-imagining urban living, they are not enough, says Beatley. We must remember that human beings have an innate need to connect with the natural world (the biophilia hypothesis). And any vision of a sustainable urban future must place its focus squarely on nature, on the presence, conservation, and celebration of the actual green features and natural life forms. A biophilic city is more than simply a biodiverse city, says Beatley. It is a place that learns from nature and emulates natural systems, incorporates natural forms and images into its buildings and cityscapes, and designs and plans in conjunction with nature. A biophilic city cherishes the natural features that already exist but also works to restore and repair what has been lost or degraded. In Biophilic Cities Beatley not only outlines the essential elements of a biophilic city, but provides examples and stories about cities that have successfully integrated biophilic elements - from the building to the regional level - around the world. From urban ecological networks and connected systems of urban green space, to green rooftops and green walls and sidewalk gardens, Beatley reviews the emerging practice of biophilic urban design and planning, and tells many compelling stories of individuals and groups working hard to transform cities from grey and lifeless to green and biodiverse.
£27.00
Island Press Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests: Ecology and Conservation
Though seasonally dry tropical forests are equally as important to global biodiversity as tropical rainforests, and are one of the most representative and highly endangered ecosystems in Latin America, knowledge about them remains limited because of the relative paucity of attention paid to them by scientists and researchers and a lack of published information on the subject. "Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests" seeks to address this shortcoming by bringing together a range of experts in diverse fields including biology, ecology, biogeography, and biogeochemistry, to review, synthesize, and explain the current state of our collective knowledge on the ecology and conservation of seasonally dry tropical forests. The book offers a synthetic and cross-disciplinary review of recent work with an expansive scope, including sections on distribution, diversity, ecosystem function, and human impacts. Throughout, contributors emphasise conservation issues, particularly emerging threats and promising solutions, with key chapters on climate change, fragmentation, restoration, ecosystem services, and sustainable use. Seasonally dry tropical forests are extremely rich in biodiversity, and are seriously threatened. They represent scientific terrain that is poorly explored, and there is an urgent need for increased understanding of the system's basic ecology. "Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests" represents an important step in bringing together the most current scientific information about this vital ecosystem and disseminating it to the scientific and conservation communities.
£44.00
Island Press Bird Migration and Global Change
Changes in seasonal movements and population dynamics of migratory birds in response to ongoing changes resulting from global climate changes are a topic of great interest to conservation scientists and birdwatchers around the world. Because of their dependence on specific habitats and resources in different geographic regions at different phases of their annual cycle, migratory species are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In "Bird Migration and Global Change", eminent ecologist George Cox brings his extensive experience as a scientist and bird enthusiast to bear in evaluating the capacity of migratory birds to adapt to the challenges of a changing climate. Cox reviews, synthesizes, and interprets recent and emerging science on the subject, beginning with a discussion of climate change and its effect on habitat, and followed by eleven chapters that examine responses of bird types across all regions of the globe. The final four chapters address the evolutionary capacity of birds, and considers how best to shape conservation strategies to protect migratory species in coming decades. The rate of climate change is faster now than at any other moment in recent geological history. How best to manage migratory birds to deal with this challenge is a major conservation issue, and "Bird Migration and Global Change" is a unique and timely contribution to the literature.
£39.00
Island Press State of the Wild 2010-2011: A Global Portrait
This title come with a special section on 'Wildlife Conservation in a Time of War'. "State of the Wild" is a biennial series that brings together international conservation experts and writers to discuss emerging issues in the conservation of wildlife and wild places. Each volume in the series combines evocative writings with a fascinating tour of conservation news highlights and vital statistics from around the world. One-third of each volume focuses on a topic of particular concern to conservationists. This 2010-2011 edition considers how destabilization and war affect wildlife and wild places. Only recently has the international community begun to appreciate the cost of conflict - simmering tension, war, and reconstruction - on the natural world. This special section examines the role that conservation plays in the context of human conflict considering issues such as, Can the work of saving wildlife and wild places help ameliorate tensions? Can conservation deepen political understanding? Can conservation help in post-conflict situations? The book's twenty essays are intermixed with poetry and beautiful photos that capture our connection to the wild. "State of the Wild's" accessible approach educates a wide range of audiences while at the same time presenting leading-edge scientific overviews of hot topics in conservation. Uniquely structured with magazine like features up front, conservation news in the middle, and essays from eminent authors and experienced scientists throughout, this landmark series is an essential addition to any environmental bookshelf.
£35.31
Island Press The Climate Solutions Consensus: What We Know and What To Do About It
This book is the first major consensus statement on the solutions to climate change by the nation's leading scientists. Drawing on recommendations developed by more than 1,200 experts, it presents some 35 practical, results-oriented approaches for minimizing climate change and its impacts. "The Climate Solutions Consensus" clearly spells out options for technological, societal, and policy actions. And it deals head-on with controversial topics, including nuclear energy, ocean fertilization, and atmospheric geo-engineering.
£33.00
Island Press Safe Passages: Highways, Wildlife, and Habitat Connectivity
"Safe Passages" brings together the latest information on the emerging science of road ecology as it relates to mitigating interactions between roads and wildlife. This practical handbook of tools and examples is designed to assist individuals and organizations reduce road-wildlife impacts. Detailed case studies span a range of scales, from site-specific wildlife crossing structures, to statewide planning for habitat connectivity, to national legislation. Contributors explore the cooperative efforts that are emerging as a result of diverse organizations - including transportation agencies, land and wildlife management agencies, and nongovernmental organizations - finding common ground to tackle important road ecology issues and problems.
£32.41
Island Press Taking Back Eden: Eight Environmental Cases that Changed the World
"Taking Back Eden" is the gripping tale of an idea - that ordinary people have the right to go to court to defend their environment - told through the stories of lawsuits brought in eight countries around the world. Starting in the United States in the 1960's, this idea is now traveling the planet, with impacts not just on imperiled environments but on systems of justice and democracy. It has brought people back into the question of governing the quality of their lives. Author Oliver Houck describes the sites under contention in their place and time, the people who rose up, their lawyers, strategies, obstacles, setbacks and victories. Written for general readers, students, and lawyers alike, "Taking Back Eden" tells the stories of a lone fisherman intent on protecting the Hudson River, a Philippine lawyer boarding illegal logging ships from the air, the Cree Indian Nation battling for its hunting grounds, and a civil rights attorney who set out to save the Taj Mahal. The cases turn on Shinto and Hindu religions, dictatorships in Greece and Chile, regime changes in Russia, and on a remarkable set of judges who saw a crisis and stepped up to meet it in similar ways. Spontaneously, without communication among each other, their protagonists created a new brand of law and hope for a more sustainable world.
£22.25
Island Press Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water
Peter Gleick knows water. A world-renowned freshwater expert, Gleick is a MacArthur Foundation 'genius', and according to the BBC, an environmental visionary. And he drinks from the tap. Why don't the rest of us? "Bottled and Sold" shows how water went from being a free natural resource to one of the most successful commercial products of the last one hundred years - and why we are poorer for it. It's a big story and water is big business. Every second of every day in the United States, a thousand people buy a plastic bottle of commercially produced water, and every second of every day a thousand more throw one of those bottles away. That adds up to more than thirty billion bottles a year and tens of billions of dollars. Have we simply been hoodwinked by corporate executives or are there legitimate reasons to buy all those bottles? With a scientist's eye and a natural storyteller's wit, Gleick investigates whether claims about the relative safety, convenience, and taste of bottled vs. tap hold water. And he exposes the true reasons we've turned to the bottle, from fear-mongering by business interests and our own vanity to the breakdown of public systems and global inequities. Jewel-encrusted 'designer' H2O may be laughable, but the debate over commodifying water is deadly serious. It comes down to society's choices about the human right to water, the role of government and free markets, the importance of being 'green', and fundamental values. Gleick gets to the heart of the bottled water craze, exploring what it means for our most basic necessity to become a luxury.
£23.99
Island Press Foundations of Ecological Resilience
This title presents the evolution of resilience theory in seminal papers and commentary. Ecological resilience provides a theoretical foundation for understanding how complex systems adapt to and recover from localized disturbances like hurricanes, fires, pest outbreaks, and floods, as well as large-scale perturbations such as climate change. Ecologists have developed resilience theory over the past three decades in an effort to explain surprising and nonlinear dynamics of complex adaptive systems. Resilience theory is especially important to environmental scientists for its role in underpinning adaptive management approaches to ecosystem and resource management. "Foundations of Ecological Resilience" is a collection of the most important articles on the subject of ecological resilience - those writings that have defined and developed basic concepts in the field and help explain its importance and meaning for scientists and researchers. The book's three sections cover articles that have shaped or defined the concepts and theories of resilience, including key papers that broke new conceptual ground and contributed novel ideas to the field; examples that demonstrate ecological resilience in a range of ecosystems; and, articles that present practical methods for understanding and managing nonlinear ecosystem dynamics. "Foundations of Ecological Resilience" is an important contribution to our collective understanding of resilience and an invaluable resource for students and scholars in ecology, wildlife ecology, conservation biology, sustainability, environmental science, public policy, and related fields.
£56.00
Island Press Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals
This is a practical, inspiring book on achieving conservation goals through effective communication. Whether you are managing wetlands, protecting endangered species, or restoring ecosystems, you need to be able to communicate effectively in order to solve conservation and resource management problems. "Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals" can help you do just that - it is a practical and inspiring book that provides user-friendly guidance on achieving conservation goals through effective communication. Following introductory chapters that draw on research from communication, psychology, sociology, and education to highlight elements critical for effective communication, the book describes how to gather background information and target audiences, explains how public relations can influence attitudes and behaviours, and outlines how to design and conduct a communications campaign. In addition, it provides step-by-step guidance for using print, broadcast, and electronic mass media; demonstrates methods for developing public talks, interpretive brochures, exhibits, and trails; and, explores long-term conservation education strategies for students and adults. This second edition of a widely praised book, originally published in 1999, includes new material on working with stakeholders, volunteers, and other groups to multiply conservation success. It also expands on the use of electronic media with examples of conservation Web pages, blogs, e-newsletters, and other new media. The book's citations have been updated to include a host of Web sites and other electronic sources useful for planning and implementing communication programmes. "Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals" is a valuable addition to the conservationist's toolbox that will help scientists, managers, concerned citizens, and students communicate more effectively.
£59.00
Island Press Wildlife and Society: The Science of Human Dimensions
This is a comprehensive approach to the human dimensions of fish and wildlife management.As human populations around the world continue to expand, reconciling nature conservation with human needs and aspirations is imperative. The emergence in recent decades of the academic field of human dimensions of fish and wildlife management is a proactive response to this complex problem."Wildlife and Society" brings together leading researchers in the range of specialties that are relevant to the study of human dimensions of fish and wildlife work around the globe to provide theoretical and historical context as well as a demonstration of tools, methodologies, and idea-sharing for practical implementation and integration of practices.The chapters document the progress on key issues and offer a multifaceted presentation of this truly interdisciplinary field. The book: presents an overview of the changing culture of fish and wildlife management; considers social factors creating change in fish and wildlife conservation; explores how to build the social component into the philosophy of wildlife management; discusses legal and institutional factors; and, examines social perspectives on contemporary fish and wildlife management issues."Wildlife and Society" is uniquely comprehensive in its approach to presenting the past, present, and future of human dimensions of fish and wildlife research and application. It offers perspectives from a wide variety of academic disciplines as well as presenting the views of practitioners from the United States, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. It is an important new reference for anyone concerned with fish and wildlife management or environmental conservation and protection.
£37.00
Island Press Communicating Global Change Science to Society: An Assessment and Case Studies
The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) was established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 1969, to bring together natural and social scientists to identify emerging or potential environmental issues and to address jointly the nature and solution of global environmental problems.National governments and research scientists may be equally concerned with issues of global environmental change, but their interests - and their timelines - are not the same. Governments are often focused on short-term effects and local impacts of global phenomena. Scientists, on the other hand, are loath to engage in speculation about the specific consequences of large-scale environmental trends.How then can we translate scientific understanding of these trends into public policy?"Communicating Global Change Science to Society" examines the growing number of instances in which governments and scientists have engaged in research projects in which the goal is to inform policy decisions. It assesses these experiences and suggests their implications for future collaborations.The book begins with a discussion of interactions between science and policy, particularly as they relate to the broad significance of environmental change. It then addresses concerns that emerge from this discussion, including how scientific research results are communicated in democratic societies, the uses (and misuses) of scientific findings, and what the natural and social sciences could learn from each other.
£43.00
Island Press Conservation of Rare or Little-Known Species: Biological, Social, and Economic Considerations
Some ecosystem management plans established by state and federal agencies have begun to shift their focus away from single-species conservation to a broader goal of protecting a wide range of flora and fauna, including species whose numbers are scarce or about which there is little scientific understanding. To date, these efforts have proved extremely costly and complex to implement. Are there alternative approaches to protecting rare or little-known species that can be more effective and less burdensome than current efforts?"Conservation of Rare or Little-Known Species" represents the first comprehensive scientific evaluation of approaches and management options for protecting rare or little-known terrestrial species. The book brings together leading ecologists, biologists, botanists, economists, and sociologists to classify approaches, summarize their theoretical and conceptual foundations, evaluate their efficacy, and review how each has been used.Contributors consider combinations of species and systems approaches for overall effectiveness in meeting conservation and ecosystem sustainability goals. They discuss the biological, legal, sociological, political, administrative, and economic dimensions by which conservation strategies can be gauged, in an effort to help managers determine which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to meet their needs. Contributors also discuss practical considerations of implementing various strategies."Conservation of Rare or Little-Known Species" gives land managers access to a diverse literature and provides them with the basic information they need to select approaches that best suit their conservation objectives and ecological context. It is an important new work for anyone involved with developing land management or conservation plans.
£44.01
Island Press The Conservation Professional's Guide to Working with People
Written in an entertaining, easy-to-read style, this book offers a practical, how-to guide for working effectively with colleagues, funders, supervisors, and the public. Drawing on strategies and techniques from social psychology, negotiation, conflict resolution and management, The Conservation Professional's Guide to Working with People also provides examples from history and real-life to demonstrate how these these skills are applied.
£20.06
Island Press The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment
In humanity's more than 100,000 year history, we have evolved from vulnerable creatures clawing sustenance from Earth to a sophisticated global society manipulating every inch of it. In short, we have become the dominant animal. Why, then, are we creating a world that threatens our own species? What can we do to change the current trajectory toward more climate change, increased famine, and epidemic disease? Renowned scientists Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich believe that intelligently addressing those questions depends on a clear understanding of how we evolved and how and why were changing the planet in ways that darken our descendants' future. "The Dominant Animal" arms readers with that knowledge, tracing the interplay between environmental change and genetic and cultural evolution since the dawn of humanity. In lucid and engaging prose, they describe how Homo sapiens adapted to their surroundings, eventually developing the vibrant cultures, vast scientific knowledge, and technological wizardry we know today. This classroom edition includes: updated and expanded set of suggested readings; glossary, key terms and concepts; selected, Annotated Bibliography that includes recent important works; and, Comprehensive Web site with ancillary materials such as: classroom relevant articles, study questions, discussion questions, instructor's guide, and author PowerPoint slides.
£31.68
Island Press Old Fields: Dynamics and Restoration of Abandoned Farmland
Land abandonment is increasing as human influence on the globe intensifies and various ecological, social, and economic factors conspire to force the cessation of agriculture and other forms of land management. The "old fields" that result from abandonment have been the subject of much study, yet few attempts have been made to examine the larger questions raised by old field dynamics."Old Fields" brings together leading experts from around the world to synthesize past and current work on old fields, providing an up-to-date perspective on the ecological dynamics of abandoned land. The book gives readers a broad understanding of why agricultural land is abandoned, the factors that determine the ecological recovery of old fields, and how this understanding contributes to theoretical and applied ecology.Twelve case studies from diverse geographical and climatic areas - including Australian rainforest, Brazilian Amazonia, New Jersey piedmont, and South African renosterveld - offer a global perspective on the causes and results of land abandonment. Concluding chapters consider the similarities and differences among the case studies, examine them in the context of ecological concepts, and discuss their relevance to the growing field of restoration ecology."Old Fields" is the first book to draw together studies on old fields from both a theoretical and practical perspective. It represents an important contribution to the development of theory on old field dynamics and the practice of ecological restoration on abandoned farmland, and the broader implications of old field dynamics to ecology and restoration.
£38.00
Island Press Understanding Environmental Administration and Law, 3rd Edition
"Understanding Environmental Administration and Law" provides an engaging introductory overview of environmental policy. Author Susan J. Buck explores the process through which policy is made, the political environment in which it is applied, and the statutory and case laws that are critical to working within the regulatory system. This revised and expanded third edition adds case studies that help bring the subject to life and includes new material on: the Bush administration and its approach to administering environmental laws; the continuing evolution of environmentalism and the changing role of environmental regulation in the United States; and the development and implementation of environmental agreements at the international level. "Understanding Environmental Administration and Law" provides a framework for understanding the law as a managerial tool.
£27.32