Amazon Sweet Sea
Amazon Sweet Sea

Author: Nigel J. H. Smith

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-07-22

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0292785801

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Far into the Atlantic Ocean, the outflow from the Amazon River creates a "sweet sea" of fresh water. At the river's mouth, a vast delta of river channels and marshes, floodplain and upland forests, open and scrub savannas, floating meadows, and mangrove swamps hosts an astonishingly diverse assemblage of plant and animal life. So rich is this biological treasure house that early European explorers deemed it inexhaustible. In this highly readable book, Nigel Smith explores how human use of the Amazon estuary's natural resources has been affected by technological change, rapid urban growth, and accelerated market integration. Avoiding alarmist rhetoric, he shows how human intervention in the estuary has actually diversified agriculture and helped save floodplain forests from wanton destruction. His findings underscore the importance of understanding the history of land use and the ecological knowledge of local people when formulating development and conservation policies. The book will be of interest to everyone concerned with the fate of tropical forests, conserving biodiversity, and developing natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Amazon Sweet Sea
Amazon Sweet Sea

Author: Nigel J. H. Smith

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-07-22

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0292785801

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Far into the Atlantic Ocean, the outflow from the Amazon River creates a "sweet sea" of fresh water. At the river's mouth, a vast delta of river channels and marshes, floodplain and upland forests, open and scrub savannas, floating meadows, and mangrove swamps hosts an astonishingly diverse assemblage of plant and animal life. So rich is this biological treasure house that early European explorers deemed it inexhaustible. In this highly readable book, Nigel Smith explores how human use of the Amazon estuary's natural resources has been affected by technological change, rapid urban growth, and accelerated market integration. Avoiding alarmist rhetoric, he shows how human intervention in the estuary has actually diversified agriculture and helped save floodplain forests from wanton destruction. His findings underscore the importance of understanding the history of land use and the ecological knowledge of local people when formulating development and conservation policies. The book will be of interest to everyone concerned with the fate of tropical forests, conserving biodiversity, and developing natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Sacred Soil
Sacred Soil

Author: Robert Tindall

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Published: 2017-07-18

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1623171180

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A fascinating description of how utilizing the biochar embedded in terra preta, the recently rediscovered sacred soil of the pre-Columbian peoples of the Amazon rainforest, can cut our dependency on petrochemicals, restore the health of our soils, remove carbon from our overheating atmosphere, and restore the planet to pre-industrial levels of atmospheric carbon by 2050. The authors show that the rediscovery of terra preta is an opportunity to move beyond the West’s tradition of plunder and genocide of the native civilizations of the Americas by offering an invitation to embrace the deeper mystery of the indigenous methods of inquiry and to participate in an animate cosmos that gave rise to such a powerful soil technology. Sacred Soil, in recognizing the need for biocultural regeneration, takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the phenomenon of biochar soils, utilizing mythopoeic, historical, anthropological, and scientific perspectives to embrace the deep past, the vexed present, and the prospectus for our future. Coming at this crucial juncture in human history, the potential resting in biochar is also an open doorway into the indigenous ways of knowing that enabled the pre-Columbian Amazonian high civilizations to support a population of millions while leaving their lands more fertile than when they arose.

Conquistadors
Conquistadors

Author: Michael Wood

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2015-05-14

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 1448141508

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The Spanish conquest of the Americas in the 16th century was one of the most important and cataclysmic events in history. Spanish expeditions endured incredible hardships in order to open up the lands of the 'New World', and few stories in history can match these for drama and endurance. In Conquistadors, Michael Wood follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest of the Spanish adventurers travelling from the forests of Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, the deserts of North Mexico, the snowpeaks of the Andes and the heights of Machu Picchu. He experiences the epic journeys of Cortes, Pizarro, Orellana and Cabeza de Vaca, and explores the turbulent and terrifying events surrounding the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires. Wood brings these stories to vivid life, highlighting both the heroic accomplishments and the complex moral legacy of the European invasion. Conquistadors is Michael Wood at his best - thoughtful, provocative and gripping history.

Brazil Today [2 volumes]
Brazil Today [2 volumes]

Author: John J. Crocitti

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-12-12

Total Pages: 816

ISBN-13: 0313346739

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For students, business people, government officials, artists, and tourists—in short, anyone traveling to or wishing to know more about contemporary Brazil—this is an essential resource. The two-volume Brazil Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic is an introductory work intended for those in search of basic information about Brazilian institutions, businesses, social issues, and culture. At the same time, it is a work that reflects the nation's geographic, demographic, economic, and cultural diversity. The wide-reaching encyclopedia offers an entry for each Brazilian state with information about the land, climate, economy, and culture. It also offers extensive coverage of the country's political parties and leaders, its governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the environmental issues and social problems that shape Brazilian politics today. In addition, the work pays considerable attention to the economy and business through entries on industry, agriculture, commerce, banking, and economic policies. Finally, there are entries that illuminate various aspects of Brazil's culture, including the nation's social movements, religion, education, music, cuisine, and literature, as well as personalities from sports and entertainment.

Another Boom for Amazonia?
Another Boom for Amazonia?

Author: Jr. Penn

Publisher: Universal-Publishers

Published: 2010-05

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1599427184

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This study examines the socioeconomic and environmental implications of the new camu camu industry in Peru. Camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) is a small tree native to wetlands of the Amazon basin. It is especially abundant in Peruvian Amazonia. The high vitamin-C content of the fruit has generated interest in exporting camu camu products from Amazonia to more-developed countries. The government of Peru has been actively promoting this new extractive industry, as well as the planting of camu camu in rural areas. Non-governmental development organizations and private industry are now actively involved with camu camu projects and enterprises. In Peru, enthusiasm for this native species is high, because camu camu is expected to provide a much-needed and sustainable economic boost for the region. However, many questions about the environmental implications and socioeconomic impacts of the camu camu export industry need to be answered in order to understand its ecological and economic viability, and its effects on business and in rural communities. Winner of 2010 "Dissertation Excellence Award" Findings indicate that camu camu has provided significantly more income to rural residents than is provided by the traditional boom and bust economies of Amazonia. Households who adopted camu camu as a new crop in their floodplain agroforestry systems farmed significantly more floodplain land than non-adopters, and were especially adept at experimenting with new innovations. Lack of agricultural credit is a major constraint to adopting camu camu as a new crop in Peru. Geographic isolation and the location of processing facilities in relation to fruit harvests present major obstacles to the economic viability of the new industry. Camu camu was found to be cultivated with a higher diversity of annual crops than is typical in floodplain fields of the region. Extraction of camu camu fruits from the wild does not appear to have a negative environmental impact, at least in the initial years of the industry. This non-timber forest product in the process of domestication can support a viable industry in the Peruvian Amazon, if agricultural extension methods and marketing channels are improved.

The Incredible Voyage
The Incredible Voyage

Author: Tristan Jones

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-11-01

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1493076302

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In a salty, slashing style, Tristan Jones unfolds his extraordinary saga—a six-year voyage during which he covered a distance equal to twice the circumference of the world—revealing both a rich sense of history and an insuppressible Welsh wit. With a singleness of purpose as ferocious as any hazard he encountered, Tristan Jones would not give up—even after dodging snipers on the Red Sea, capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope, starving in the Amazon, struggling for 3,000 miles against the mightiest sea current in the world, and hauling his boat over the rugged Andes three miles above sea level to find at last the legendary Island of the Sun. And beyond lay the most awesome challenge of all: the tortuous trek through 6,000 miles of uncharted rivers to find his way back to the ocean.

Research in Biodiversity
Research in Biodiversity

Author: Igor Pavlinov

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2011-10-12

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9533077948

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The book covers several topics of biodiversity researches and uses, containing 17 chapters grouped into 5 sections. It begins with an interesting chapter considering the ways in which the very biodiversity could be thought about. Noteworthy is the chapter expounding pretty original "creativity theory of ecosystem". There are several chapters concerning models describing relation between ecological niches and diversity maintenance, the factors underlying avian species imperilment, and diversity turnover rate of a local beetle group. Of special importance is the chapter outlining a theoretical model for morphological disparity in its most widened treatment. Several chapters consider regional aspects of biodiversity in Europe, Asia, Central and South America, among them an approach for monitoring conservation of the regional tropical phytodiversity in India is of special importance. Of interest is also a chapter considering the history of the very idea of biodiversity emergence in ecological researches.

Our Forest, Your Ecosystem, Their Timber
Our Forest, Your Ecosystem, Their Timber

Author: Nicholas K. Menzies

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2007-05-15

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0231510233

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Community-based forest management (CBFM) is a model of forest management in which a community takes part in decision making and implementation, and monitoring of activities affecting the natural resources around them. CBFM provides a framework for a community members to secure access to the products and services that flow from the landscape in which they live and has become an essential component of any comprehensive approach to forest management. In this volume, Nicholas K. Menzies looks at communities in China, Zanzibar, Brazil, and India where, despite differences in landscape, climate, politics, and culture, common challenges and themes arise in making a transition from forest management by government agencies to CBFM. The stories of these four distinct places highlight the difficulties communities face when trying to manage their forests and negotiate partnerships with others interested in forest management, such as the commercial forest sector or conservation and environmental organizations. These issues are then considered against a growing body of research concerning what constitutes successful CBFM. Drawing on published and unpublished case studies, project reports, and his own rich experience, Menzies analyzes how CBFM fits into the broader picture of the management of natural resources, highlighting the conditions that bring about effective practices and the most just and equitable stewardship of resources. A critical companion for students, researchers, and practitioners, Our Forest, Your Ecosystem, Their Timber provides a singular resource on the emergence and evolution of CBFM.