"Biodiversity." As argument over environmental and conservation policy grows more heated in California and throughout the nation, the term has become a buzzword. But what does biodiversity really mean? What really threatens it? Why should we care? In Our Own Hands offers a readable, scientifically sound view of California's biological diversity and what must be done to preserve it. The book will be an invaluable resource for environmental and natural resource specialists, educators, and general readers. Local and global forces threaten California's wetlands, dunes, oak woodlands, and riparian forest habitats--all declining habitats in a rapidly urbanizing, culturally heterogeneous, and politically turbulent state. Always a bellwether, California will be a model for the rest of the United States in its scientific and political solutions to conservation problems. This book proposes the first steps toward a unified national conservation policy for the twenty-first century. "Biodiversity." As argument over environmental and conservation policy grows more heated in California and throughout the nation, the term has become a buzzword. But what does biodiversity really mean? What really threatens it? Why should we care? In Our Own Hands offers a readable, scientifically sound view of California's biological diversity and what must be done to preserve it. The book will be an invaluable resource for environmental and natural resource specialists, educators, and general readers. Local and global forces threaten California's wetlands, dunes, oak woodlands, and riparian forest habitats--all declining habitats in a rapidly urbanizing, culturally heterogeneous, and politically turbulent state. Always a bellwether, California will be a model for the rest of the United States in its scientific and political solutions to conservation problems. This book proposes the first steps toward a unified national conservation policy for the twenty-first century.
Describes special forest products that represent opportunities for rural entrepreneurs to supplement their incomes. Includes: aromatics, berries & wild fruits, cones & seeds, forest botanicals, honey, mushrooms, nuts, syrup, & weaving & dying materials. Each chapter describes market & competition considerations, distribution & packaging, equipment needs, & resource conservation considerations, & also presents a profile of a rural business marketing the products. Products suitable for small or part-time operators are described. 50 photos.
For more than thirty years, humankind has known how to grow enough food to end chronic hunger worldwide. Yet while the ''Green Revolution'' succeeded in South America and Asia, it never got to Africa. More than 9 million people every year die of hunger, malnutrition, and related diseases every year - most of them in Africa and most of them children. More die of hunger in Africa than from AIDS and malaria combined. Now, an impending global food crisis threatens to make things worse. In the west we think of famine as a natural disaster, brought about by drought; or as the legacy of brutal dictators. But in this powerful investigative narrative, Thurow & Kilman show exactly how, in the past few decades, American, British, and European policies conspired to keep Africa hungry and unable to feed itself. As a new generation of activists work to keep famine from spreading, Enough is essential reading on a humanitarian issue of utmost urgency.
The world's leading resource on biointensive, sustainable, high-yield organic gardening is thoroughly updated throughout, with new sections on using 12 percent less water and increasing compost power. Long before it was a trend, How to Grow More Vegetables brought backyard ecosystems to life for the home gardener by demonstrating sustainable growing methods for spectacular organic produce on a small but intensive scale. How to Grow More Vegetables has become the go-to reference for food growers at every level, whether home gardeners dedicated to nurturing backyard edibles with minimal water in maximum harmony with nature's cycles, or a small-scale commercial producer interested in optimizing soil fertility and increasing plant productivity. In the ninth edition, author John Jeavons has revised and updated each chapter, including new sections on using less water and increasing compost power.
Drawing together case studies from all over Europe, this text explores the relationship between the overall idea of the landscape architecture for a site and the design of details. Examining concept sketches and design development drawings in relation to the details of the design, the book offers a more profound understanding of decision making through all stages of the design process. The book includes the study of the choice of materials and techniques of construction, and explores the cultural and symbolic significance of such choices, as well as questions of environmental sustainability. With projects analyzed and evaluated here that have won international acclaim, or have been awarded national prizes, European Landscape Architecture is a core book in the study and understanding of the subject.
The Montreal Process was formed to advance the development of internationally agreed-upon criteria & indicators for sustainable forest management. The Canadian commitment to this process is demonstrated by the development of a domestic set of seven criteria & indicators, six of this relate to forest conditions, attributes, functions, or benefits. The seventh relates to the overall policy framework that can facilitate sustainable forest management and support efforts to conserve, maintain, or enhance the conditions, attributes, and benefits captured in the first six criteria. This report begins with an introduction describing forest ecosystems and forest management in Canada, explaining the area of forest covered by the report, and indentifying Canada-specific forest management characteristics to help place the criteria & indicators framework in context. The main section contains reports on the criteria, each with an introduction and reports on the corresponding indicators (what is being measured, indicator data or factual description, information sources). The final section contains a summary of all the criteria as well as an overview of Canada's ability to report on them and plans to enhance reporting capability in the future. Includes glossary.
This book "illuminates the history of the many people who together have called this region home, and their relationships with the park landscapes, waters, and natural resources that continue to set the Columbia-Pacific region apart."--Cover.