During the 1960s and 1970s, rapidly growing environmental awareness and concern created unprecedented demand for ecological expertise and novel challenges for ecological advocacy groups such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This book reveals how, despite their vast scientific knowledge and their attempts to incorporate socially relevant themes, IUCN experts inevitably struggled to make global schemes for nature conservation a central concern for UNESCO, UNEP and other intergovernmental organizations.
This book presents valuable and recent lessons learned regarding the links between natural resources management, from a Socio-Ecological perspective, and the biodiversity conservation in Mexico. It address the political and social aspects, as well as the biological and ecological factors, involved in natural resources management and their impacts on biodiversity conservation. It is a useful resource for researchers and professionals around the globe, but especially those in Latin American countries, which are grappling with the same Bio-Cultural heritage conservation issues.
Brings together disparate conversations about wildlife conservation and renewable energy, suggesting ways these two critical fields can work hand in hand. Renewable energy is often termed simply "green energy," but its effects on wildlife and other forms of biodiversity can be quite complex. While capturing renewable resources like wind, solar, and energy from biomass can require more land than fossil fuel production, potentially displacing wildlife habitat, renewable energy infrastructure can also create habitat and promote species health when thoughtfully implemented. The authors of Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation argue that in order to achieve a balanced plan for addressing these two crucially important sustainability issues, our actions at the nexus of these fields must be directed by current scientific information related to the ecological effects of renewable energy production. Synthesizing an extensive, rapidly growing base of research and insights from practitioners into a single, comprehensive resource, contributors to this volume • describe processes to generate renewable energy, focusing on the Big Four renewables—wind, bioenergy, solar energy, and hydroelectric power • review the documented effects of renewable energy production on wildlife and wildlife habitats • consider current and future policy directives, suggesting ways industrial-scale renewables production can be developed to minimize harm to wildlife populations • explain recent advances in renewable power technologies • identify urgent research needs at the intersection of renewables and wildlife conservation Relevant to policy makers and industry professionals—many of whom believe renewables are the best path forward as the world seeks to meet its expanding energy needs—and wildlife conservationists—many of whom are alarmed at the rate of renewables-related habitat conversion—this detailed book culminates with a chapter underscoring emerging opportunities in renewable energy ecology. Contributors: Edward B. Arnett, Brian B. Boroski, Regan Dohm, David Drake, Sarah R. Fritts, Rachel Greene, Steven M. Grodsky, Amanda M. Hale, Cris D. Hein, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Jessica A. Homyack, Henriette I. Jager, Nicole M. Korfanta, James A. Martin, Christopher E. Moorman, Clint Otto, Christine A. Ribic, Susan P. Rupp, Jake Verschuyl, Lindsay M. Wickman, T. Bently Wigley, Victoria H. Zero
In North America, concepts of Historical Range of Variability are being employed in land-management planning for properties of private organizations and multiple government agencies. The National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and The Nature Conservancy all include elements of historical ecology in their planning processes. Similar approaches are part of land management and conservation in Europe and Australia. Each of these user groups must struggle with the added complication of rapid climate change, rapid land-use change, and technical issues in order to employ historical ecology effectively. Historical Environmental Variation in Conservation and Natural Resource Management explores the utility of historical ecology in a management and conservation context and the development of concepts related to understanding future ranges of variability. It provides guidance and insights to all those entrusted with managing and conserving natural resources: land-use planners, ecologists, fire scientists, natural resource policy makers, conservation biologists, refuge and preserve managers, and field practitioners. The book will be particularly timely as science-based management is once again emphasized in United States federal land management and as an understanding of the potential effects of climate change becomes more widespread among resource managers. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/wiens/historicalenvironmentalvariation.
Natural Resources Conservation and Advances for Sustainability addresses the latest challenges associated with the management and conservation of natural resources. It presents interdisciplinary approaches to promote advances in solving these challenges. By examining what has already been done and analyzing it in the context of what still needs to be done, particularly in the context of latest technologies and sustainability, the book helps to identify ideal methods for natural resource management and conservation. Each chapter begins with a graphical abstract and presents complicated or detailed content in the form of figures or tables. In addition, the book compares the latest techniques with conventional techniques and troubleshoots conventional methods with modifications, making it a practical resource for researchers in environmental science and natural resource management. - Discusses the pros and cons of past and current endeavors related to natural resource management - Presents recent technologies and methods for management and conservation, particularly with applications for sustainability - Covers a variety of disciplines, from environmental science to life science - Includes a graphical abstract as well as a section on significant achievements in the field and future perspectives
As the world faces unprecedented challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, the resources needed far outstrip the capabilities of nonprofits and even governments. Yet there are seeds of hope—and much of that hope comes from the efforts of the private sector. Impact investing is rapidly becoming an essential tool, alongside philanthropy and government funding, in tackling these major problems. Valuing Nature presents a new set of nature-based investment areas to help conservationists and investors work together. NatureVest founder William Ginn outlines the emerging private sector investing opportunities in natural assets such as green infrastructure, forests, soils, and fisheries. The first part of Valuing Nature examines the scope of nature-based impact investing while also presenting a practical overview of its limitations and the challenges facing the private sector. The second part of the book offers tools for investors and organizations to consider as they develop their own projects and tips on how nonprofits can successfully navigate this new space. Case studies from around the world demonstrate how we can use private capital to achieve more sustainable uses of our natural resources without the unintended consequences plaguing so many of our current efforts. Valuing Nature provides a roadmap for conservation professionals, nonprofit managers, and impact investors seeking to use market-based strategies to improve the management of natural systems.
With over 8500 entries, this informative dictionary addresses the social, legal, political and economic aspects of the environment and conservation as well as the scientific terms.
Developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are increasingly influenced by human-induced environmental changes. It is crucial that sustainable development be based on insights into these expanding processes--conservation as well as deterioration. Nature's Geography offers a new perspective on the geographical nature of these changes. The book reveals how human-environment relations must be understood at multiple scales and time frames. Editors Karl S. Zimmerer and Kenneth R. Young have forged an exciting group of case studies from distinguished geographers focusing on high mountains, tropical forests, and lowlands, as well as humid and arid-semiarid landscapes. Each chapter analyzes the implications for meshing environmental protection and sound resource use with development. The case studies evaluate three topics: spatial habitat fragmentation and forest dynamics; disturbances in mountain ecosystems; and the major activities of settled areas, chiefly farming, livestock-raising, and forestry. Included are analyses of interactions involving wildlife, such as primates and wild pandas; assessment of fire impacts and road-building; long-term forest management as well as recent techniques; and the role of environmental variation and ecosystem properties in agriculture and rangeland. Nature's Geography demonstrates the vital importance of advancing a new approach to geography. This definitive study of landscape change and environmental dynamics will have wide appeal for those interested in geography, ecology, environmental studies, conservation biology, and development studies.
Why shouldn't people who deplete our natural assets have to pay, and those who protect them reap profits? Conservation-minded entrepreneurs and others around the world are beginning to ask just that question, as the increasing scarcity of natural resources becomes a tangible threat to our own lives and our hopes for our children. The New Economy of Nature brings together Gretchen Daily, one of the world's leading ecologists, with Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, to offer an engaging and informative look at a new "new economy" -- a system recognizing the economic value of natural systems and the potential profits in protecting them. Through engaging stories from around the world, the authors introduce readers to a diverse group of people who are pioneering new approaches to conservation. We meet Adam Davis, an American business executive who dreams of establishing a market for buying and selling "ecosystem service units;" John Wamsley, a former math professor in Australia who has found a way to play the stock market and protect native species at the same time; and Dan Janzen, a biologist working in Costa Rica who devised a controversial plan to sell a conservation area's natural waste-disposal services to a local orange juice producer. Readers also visit the Catskill Mountains, where the City of New York purchased undeveloped land instead of building an expensive new water treatment facility; and King County, Washington, where county executive Ron Sims has dedicated himself to finding ways of "making the market move" to protect the county's remaining open space. Daily and Ellison describe the dynamic interplay of science, economics, business, and politics that is involved in establishing these new approaches and examine what will be needed to create successful models and lasting institutions for conservation. The New Economy of Nature presents a fundamentally new way of thinking about the environment and about the economy, and with its fascinating portraits of charismatic pioneers, it is as entertaining as it is informative.
