- Table View
- List View
Public and Private in Natural Resource Governance: A False Dichotomy? (Earthscan Research Editions)
by Thomas Sikor?This volume develops the rich conceptual and empirical content of public-private relationships, increasingly acknowledged as the dominant realm of natural resource governance. Ten wonderful studies from around the world illuminate opportunities for advancing the theory, analysis and effective formation of sustainable systems of resource use. The book is excellent for courses in governance and public policy in any resource and environmental field.? JEFF ROMM, PROFESSOR FOR RESOURCE POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, US ?The book addresses the theoretically and politically most important division of social organization into public and private. The authors bring an exciting, multidisciplinary perspective to bear on changing and multiple publics and the strength of relationships connecting these two spheres in rural development and natural resource governance. The contributions range from consumer health and food safety, soil science, forestry and water management to sociological and economic aspects of natural resource property and governance.? FRANZ VON BENDA-BECKMANN, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, GERMANY Natural resources have historically been considered as being governed in public or private spheres - that is, by the state on behalf of the people, or by companies or individuals driven by the market. This dichotomy between private and public is now recognized as overly simplistic, and it is clear that ?publics? and ?privates? operate at a range of levels and with differing degrees of separation or overlap. Bringing together a group of internationally respected researchers, this book provides a new perspective on prominent issues in resource governance, including the state, NGOs, civil society, communities, participation, devolution, privatization and hybrid institutions, highlighting the three-dimensional nature of relations between ?public? and ?private?. It builds on empirical analyses from six fields of natural resource governance - agri-environment, biodiversity, bioenergy, food quality and safety, forestry and rural water - and employs a comparative approach that goes beyond the specifi cities of individual policy fields, recognizing shared elements and allowing for a greater understanding of the dynamics underlying governance processes. Introductions to the volume and to each section summarize the key debates and highlight linkages between chapters. This is essential reading for academics, students and policy experts in natural resource governance, development and environmental policy.
The Ptarmigan's Dilemma: An Ecological Exploration into the Mysteries of Life
by Mary Theberge John ThebergeDrawing on breakthrough research in evolution, genetics, and on their extensive work in the field and lab, wildlife biologists John and Mary Theberge explain for non-scientists the real facts of life. Birds that suddenly grow gall bladders, when their species has none. Moose with antlers so big they encumber their movement through the forest. Butterflies that risk extinction by overwintering en masse. These are just a few stories the Theberges tell in their examination of what the mechanisms of evolution are and how they work. With examples from the very latest discoveries in genetics and ones they have made in their own field work, The Ptarmigan's Dilemma is a ground-breaking explanation of evolution for non-scientists. By marrying the separate sciences of ecology and genetics, the Theberges paint a picture far richer than either discipline can alone of how, for almost 4 billion years, life on Earth has evolved into the rich diversity that's under threat today. Along the way, they explain just what "the survival of the fittest" really means, how dramatic evolutionary changes can take place in just one generation, and how our too-little knowledge of or interest in how life on Earth organizes and supports itself is rapidly making us a danger to ourselves.
The Psychology of Travel (The Psychology of Everything)
by Andrew StevensonWhy do we travel? Are holidays good for our health? What are the social and psychological factors that drive us to move? The Psychology of Travel provides an eclectic introduction to the range of travel experiences from commuting, to going on holiday, to studying abroad. Travel is a near-universal experience and manifests itself in various forms, from everyday experiences to exotic adventure, although it varies across time and cultures. The book unpacks the concept of travel, and engages with topics including migration, wellbeing, acculturation, wayfinding, slow travel, place attachment and nostalgia, and brings them into sharp focus in relation to globalisation and climate change, By asking what drives us to journey and offering key insights into the psychological factors behind different kinds of travel, The Psychology of Travel introduces the reader to new ways of thinking about global mobility and movement.
The Psychology of Pro-Environmental Communication: Beyond Standard Information Strategies
by Christian A. KlöcknerThe environment is part of everyone's life but there are difficulties in communicating complex environmental problems, such as climate change, to a lay audience. In this book Klöckner defines environmental communication, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the issues involved in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour.
The Psychology of Environmental Law (Psychology and the Law)
by Arden Rowell Kenworthey Bilz Linda J DemaineOffers psychological insights into how people perceive, respond to, value, and make decisions about the environmentEnvironmental law may seem a strange space to seek insights from psychology. Psychology, after all, seeks to illuminate the interior of the human mind, while environmental law is fundamentally concerned with the exterior surroundings—the environment—in which people live.Yet psychology is a crucial, undervalued factor in how laws shape people’s interactions with the environment. Psychology can offer environmental law a rich, empirically informed account of why, when, and how people act in ways that affect the environment—which can then be used to more effectively pursue specific policy goals. When environmental law fails to incorporate insights from psychology, it risks misunderstanding and mispredicting human behaviors that may injure or otherwise affect the environment, and misprescribing legal tools to shape or mitigate those behaviors.The Psychology of Environmental Law provides key insights regarding how psychology can inform, explain, and improve how environmental law operates. It offers concrete analyses of the theoretical and practical payoffs in pollution control, ecosystem management, and climate change law and policy when psychological insights are taken into account.
Psychology and Behavioral Economics: Applications for Public Policy
by Kai RuggeriPsychology and Behavioral Economics offers an expert introduction to how psychology can be applied to a range of public policy areas. It examines the impact of psychological research for public policymaking in economic, financial, and consumer sectors; in education, healthcare, and the workplace; for energy and the environment; and in communications. Your energy bills show you how much you use compared to the average household in your area. Your doctor sends you a text message reminder when your appointment is coming up. Your bank gives you three choices for how much to pay off on your credit card each month. Wherever you look, there has been a rapid increase in the importance we place on understanding real human behaviors in everyday decisions, and these behavioral insights are now regularly used to influence everything from how companies recruit employees through to large-scale public policy and government regulation. But what is the actual evidence behind these tactics, and how did psychology become such a major player in economics? Answering these questions and more, this team of authors, working across both academia and government, present this fully revised and updated reworking of Behavioral Insights for Public Policy. This update covers everything from how policy was historically developed, to major research in human behavior and social psychology, to key moments that brought behavioral sciences to the forefront of public policy. Featuring over 100 empirical examples of how behavioral insights are being used to address some of the most critical challenges faced globally, the book covers key topics such as evidence-based policy, a brief history of behavioral and decision sciences, behavioral economics, and policy evaluation, all illustrated throughout with lively case studies. Including end-of-chapter questions, a glossary, and key concept boxes to aid retention, as well as a new chapter revealing the work of the Canadian government’s behavioral insights unit, this is the perfect textbook for students of psychology, economics, public health, education, and organizational sciences, as well as public policy professionals looking for fresh insight into the underlying theory and practical applications in a range of public policy areas.
Psychologie und Klimakrise: Psychologische Erkenntnisse zum klimabezogenen Verhalten und Erleben (essentials)
by Marcel HuneckeAuf der Grundlage umweltpsychologischer Erkenntnisse werden Ansatzpunkte und Strategien zur Förderung nachhaltigen Verhaltens benannt. Eine sozial-ökologischen Transformation erfordert jedoch nicht nur die Veränderung von spezifischen Verhaltensweisen, sondern umfassende Veränderungen in den bestehenden Lebensstilen. Der Ansatz der psychischen Ressourcen verfolgt dieses Ziel durch die Berücksichtigung des subjektiven Wohlbefindens als zentrale Motivationsquelle für nachhaltiges Verhalten. Hierbei gilt es auch die durch die Klimakrise verursachten Gefühle der Macht- und Hilflosigkeit zu überwinden, um das individuelle und kollektive Engagement für den Klimaschutz zu stärken.
Psychological Theories for Environmental Issues (Ethnoscapes)
by Mirilia BonnesEnvironmental psychology is an increasingly important area of research, focusing on the individual and social factors responsible for many critical human responses to the physical environment. With such rapid and widespread growth, the main theoretical strands have often been left unclear and their scientific and practical implications have been underdeveloped. This essential and stimulating book contextualizes and critically analyzes the main theoretical ideas. It compares the different theories, assessing each one's possibilities and limitations, and demonstrates how each approach has been used for the development of knowledge of environmental psychology. The research area infiltrates a broad selection of disciplines, including psychology, architecture, planning, geography, sociology, environmental issues, economics and law. It also offers significant contributions to a wide range of policy evaluations. It will prove invaluable to academics and practitioners from across these disciplines, above all those in planning, environmental studies, human geography and psychology.
Psychoanalytic Ecology: The Talking Cure for Environmental Illness and Health (Routledge Focus on Environment and Sustainability)
by Rod GiblettPsychoanalytic Ecology applies Freudian concepts, beginning with the uncanny, to environmental issues, such as wetlands and their loss, to alligators and crocodiles as inhabitants of wetlands, and to the urban underside. It also applies other Freudian concepts, such as sublimation, symptom, mourning and melancholia, to environmental issues and concerns. Mourning and melancholia can be experienced in relation to wetlands and to their loss. The city is a symptom of the will to fill or drain wetlands. This book engages in a talking cure of psychogeopathology (environmental psychopathology; mental land illness; environ-mental illness) manifested also in industries, such as mining and pastoralism, that practice greed and gluttony. Psychoanalytic Ecology promotes gratitude for generosity as a way of nurturing environ-mental health to prevent the manifestation of these psychogeopathological symptoms in the first place. Melanie Klein’s work on anal sadism is applied to mining and Karl Abraham’s work on oral sadism to pastoralism. Finally, Margaret Mahler’s and Jessica Benjamin’s work on psycho-symbiosis is drawn on to nurture bio- and psycho-symbiotic livelihoods in bioregional home habitats of the living earth in the symbiocene, the hoped-for age superseding the Anthropocene. Psychoanalytic Ecology demonstrates the power of psychoanalytic concepts and the pertinence of the work of several psychoanalytic thinkers for analysing a range of environmental issues and concerns. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental psychology, psychoanalysis and the environmental humanities.
Psychoanalysis and Ecology at the Edge of Chaos: Complexity Theory, Deleuze,Guattari and Psychoanalysis for a Climate in Crisis
by Joseph DoddsThis book argues that psychoanalysis has a unique role to play in the climate change debate through its placing emphasis on the unconscious dimensions of our mental and social lives. Exploring contributions from Freudian, Kleinian, Object Relations, Self Psychology, Jungian, and Lacanian traditions, the book discusses how psychoanalysis can help to unmask the anxieties, deficits, conflicts, phantasies and defences crucial in understanding the human dimension of the ecological crisis. Yet despite being essential to studying environmentalism and its discontents, psychoanalysis still remains largely a 'psychology without ecology.' The philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari, combined with new developments in the sciences of complexity, help us to build upon the best of these perspectives, providing a framework able to integrate Guattari's 'three ecologies' of mind, nature and society. This book thus constitutes a timely attempt to contribute towards a critical dialogue between psychoanalysis and ecology. Further topics of discussion include: ecopsychology and the greening of psychotherapy our ambivalent relationship to nature and the non-human complexity theory in psychoanalysis and ecology defence mechanisms against eco-anxiety and eco-grief Deleuze|Guattari and the three ecologies becoming-animal in horror and eco-apocalypse in science fiction films nonlinear ecopsychoanalysis. In our era of anxiety, denial, paranoia, apathy, guilt, hope, and despair in the face of climate change, this book offers a fresh and insightful psychoanalytic perspective on the ecological crisis. As such this book will be of great interest to all those in the fields of psychoanalysis, psychology, philosophy, and ecology, as well as all who are concerned with the global environmental challenges affecting our planet's future.
Psychedelic Shamanism, Updated Edition
by Jim DekornePsychedelic Shamanism presents the spiritual and shamanic properties of psychotropic plants and discusses how they can be used to understand the structure of human consciousness. Author Jim DeKorne offers authoritative information about the cultivation, processing, and correct dosages for various psychotropic plant substances including the belladonna alkaloids, d-lysergic acid amide, botanical analogues of LSD, mescaline, ayahuasca, DMT, and psilocybin. Opening with vivid descriptions of the author's personal experiences with psychedelic drugs, the book describes the parallels that exist among shamanic states of consciousness, the use of psychedelic catalysts, and the hidden structure of the human psyche. DeKorne suggests that psychedelic drugs allow us to examine the shamanic dimensions of reality. This worldview, he says, is ubiquitous across space, time, and culture, with individuals separated by race, distance, and culture routinely describing the same core reality that provides powerful evidence of the dimensional nature of consciousness itself. The book guides the reader through the imaginal realm underlying our awareness, a world in which spiritual entities exist to reconnect us with ourselves, humanity, and our planet. Accurate drawings of plants, including peyote, Salvia divinorum, and San Pedro, enhance the book's usefulness.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Psilocybin Therapy: Understanding How to Use Nature's Psychedelics for Mental Health
by Dr. JJ PursellDiscover a new path to self-discovery and healing with this timely exploration of the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms. In Psilocybin Therapy, Dr. JJ Pursell explores the next frontier in mental health: the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms and related psychedelics. Readers will learn about the chemical makeup of mushrooms and what makes them powerful, the history of the fungi, the thought leaders in the movement, and the impact of psilocybin on the brain. Additional chapters explore how to use psilocybin with a facilitator, how psychedelics can help users work through deep psychological issues, what microdosing means, and how to assess potential risks. Pursell weaves her personal experience with psilocybin as both a user and a facilitator throughout the text. The result is a relatable, accessible, and helpful guide for those seeking a new form of self-discovery and healing.
Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide
by Paul StametsFrom the author of GROWING GOURMET AND MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS comes the only identification guide exclusively devoted to the world's psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Detailed descriptions and color photographs for over 100 species are provided, as well as an exploration of their long-standing (and often religious) use by ancient peoples and their continued significance to modern-day culture. Some of the species included have just been discovered in the past year or two, and still others have never before been photographed in their natural habitats.
Proximal Soil Sensing
by Alex B. Mcbratney Budiman Minasny Raphael A. Viscarra RosselThis book reports on developments in Proximal Soil Sensing (PSS) and high resolution digital soil mapping. PSS has become a multidisciplinary area of study that aims to develop field-based techniques for collecting information on the soil from close by, or within, the soil. Amongst others, PSS involves the use of optical, geophysical, electrochemical, mathematical and statistical methods. This volume, suitable for undergraduate course material and postgraduate research, brings together ideas and examples from those developing and using proximal sensors and high resolution digital soil maps for applications such as precision agriculture, soil contamination, archaeology, peri-urban design and high land-value applications, where there is a particular need for high spatial resolution information. The book in particular covers soil sensor sampling, proximal soil sensor development and use, sensor calibrations, prediction methods for large data sets, applications of proximal soil sensing, and high-resolution digital soil mapping. Key themes: soil sensor sampling - soil sensor calibrations - spatial prediction methods - reflectance spectroscopy - electromagnetic induction and electrical resistivity - radar and gamma radiometrics - multi-sensor platforms - high resolution digital soil mapping - applications Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel is a scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia. Alex McBratney is Pro-Dean and Professor of Soil Science in the Faculty of Agriculture Food & Natural Resources at the University of Sydney in Australia. Budiman Minasny is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Agriculture Food & Natural Resources at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Proving Ground: Expertise and Appalachian Landscapes
by Edward SlavishakDisrupting the intervenor narrative in Appalachian studies.The Appalachian Mountains attracted an endless stream of visitors in the twentieth century, each bearing visions of what they would encounter. Well before large numbers of tourists took to the mountains in the latter half of the century, however, networks of missionaries, sociologists, folklorists, doctors, artists, and conservationists made Appalachia their primary site for fieldwork. In Proving Ground, Edward Slavishak studies several of these interlopers to show that the travelers’ tales were the foundation of powerful forms of insider knowledge. Following four individuals and one cohort as they climbed professional ladders via the Appalachian Mountains, Slavishak argues that these visitors represented occupational and recreational groups that used Appalachia to gain precious expertise. Time spent in the mountains, in the guise of work (or play that mimicked work), distinguished travelers as master problem-solvers and transformed Appalachia into a proving ground for preservationists, planners, hikers, anthropologists, and photographers.Based on archival materials from outdoors clubs, trade journals, field notes, correspondence, National Park Service records, civic promotional materials, and photographs, Proving Ground presents mountain landscapes as a fluid combination of embodied sensation, narrative fantasy, and class privilege. Touching on critical regionalism and mobility studies, this book is a boundary-pushing cultural history of expertise, an environmental history of the Appalachian Mountains, and a historical geography of spaces and places in the twentieth century.
Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds
by Chris ChesterHouse sparrow "B" fell twenty-five feet from his nest into the life of Chris Chester. The encounter was providential for both of them. B and Chester spent hours together playing games like bottle-cap fetch or hide-and-seek. They learned "words" in each other's vocabularies. B developed a fetish for nostrils and a dislike of the color yellow. He grew anxious if Chester came home late from work. At bedtime he would rub his sleepy eyes on Chester's thumb and settle to sleep in his palm. Chester ended up turning part of his house into an aviary and adjusting his social life to meet B's demands. This was a small price to pay, though, for the trust and comfort of a twenty-five-gram friend who brought joy and wonder back into his life.
The Proven Winners Garden Book: Simple Plans, Picture-Perfect Plants, and Expert Advice for Creating a Gorgeous Garden
by Thomas Christopher Ruth Rogers ClausenGarden with the confidence of a winner! Proven Winners is America’s #1 plant brand. And now they are sharing their expert plant knowledge and creative design ideas in their first book, The Proven Winners Garden Book. This definitive guide starts with lessons on how to prepare a space, tips on choosing the right design, and a primer on buying the right plants. Twelve garden plans provide simple design ideas that will add curb appeal to your home garden. They include— A welcoming entrywayA butterfly and pollinator gardenA fragrant flower gardenA shady summertime retreatA deer-resistant garden There are an additional twenty-five container recipes that add color and pizzazz to gardens of all sizes—even on balconies and patios. The creative combinations include holiday themes, solutions for shade and other concerns, poolside ideas, and much more.
Proud to Be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation
by Jonah GoldbergIn Proud to Be Right, Jonah Goldberg, the New York Times bestselling author of Liberal Fascism, presents voices of the next Conservative generation. A fresh and provocative collection of lively political writing from right wing writers under the age of 30, Proud to Be Right rebuts the conventional wisdom that Generation Y is a uniformly liberal demographic—and that intelligent young people today fall blindly into the Barack Obama camp.
Protocols for Pre-Field Screening of Mutants for Salt Tolerance in Rice, Wheat and Barley
by Souleymane Bado Brian P. Forster Abdelbagi M. A. Ghanim Joanna Jankowicz-Cieslak Günter Berthold Liu LuxiangThis book offers effective, low-costand user-friendly protocols for the pre-field selection of salt-tolerant mutants in cereal crops. It presents simple methods for measuring soil salinity, includingsoil sampling and the analysis of water-soluble salts, and describes adetailed, but simple, screening test for salt tolerance in rice, wheat andbarley seedlings, which uses hydroponics. The protocols are devised for use byplant breeders and can be easily accommodated into breeding practice.
Protocols for In Vitro Cultures and Secondary Metabolite Analysis of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants, Second Edition
by S. Mohan JainThis volume provides a detailed step-by-step description of protocols for the establishment of in vitro cultures of important medicinal plants, their mass multiplication in controlled environment, and step-wise secondary metabolite analysis. Many of these protocols also provide a basis for in vitro germplasm conservation or cryopreservation of medicinal plant species. Written for the Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Protocols for In Vitro Cultures and Secondary Metabolite Analysis of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants, Second Edition aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.
Protest-Aktivist*innen der Umweltschutz-Bewegung im Netz und auf der Straße: Voraussetzungen und Motive für Partizipation (Medien der Kooperation – Media of Cooperation)
by Lisa VilliothDieses Open-Access-Buch untersucht mit Fokus auf einzelne Bürger*innen fallspezifisch und empirisch den Handlungs- und Wirkungszusammenhang von Straßenprotest und Online-Aktivismus im Bereich der Umweltschutz-Bewegung. Eine ganze Bandbreite von Online- und Offline-Protestpraktiken erlaubt es Bürger*innen heutzutage, sich in politische Prozesse einzumischen, Öffentlichkeit für bestimmte Themen zu erzeugen und Politiker*innen und Unternehmen unter Druck zu setzen. Online ist hierbei jedoch nicht zwangsläufig Ersatz für Offline. In vielen Situationen von Protestpartizipation ergänzen sich Elemente beider Sphären. Warum entschließen sich Bürger*innen, ganz spezifischen Praktiken – online wie offline – nachzugehen und anderen Praktiken nicht? Welche Vor- und Nachteile benennen sie für die einzelnen ihnen zur Verfügung stehenden Formate? Die Arbeit steht im Schnittfeld unterschiedlicher politikwissenschaftlicher Forschungsfelder wie der Protestforschung, der politischen Partizipationsforschung und der Forschung rund um das Thema Digitalisierung. Basierend auf 18 Leitfaden-Interviews und einer ausführlichen Analyse werden sechs Typen von Protest-Aktivist*innen gebildet.
The Proterozoic in Canada (The Royal Society of Canada Special Publications #2)
by James E. GillProterozoic time produced much of great interest to geologists, and was of tremendous economic import to the people of Canada and the United States. Most of the iron deposits of the Lake Superior district, the Michigan copper deposits, the enormously important Sudbury nickel-copper-platinum deposits, the spectacular silver deposits of the Cobalt district, and all of the important uranium ores in the Shield area are considered to have formed during this period in geological time. Proterozoic rock groups include those Precambrian rocks which are least deformed and metamorphosed. Because of their important economic deposits, they have been examined in great detail in certain localities. The results of such examination, and of others which were for reconnaissance only, are summarized in this volume of the Royal Society of Canada. Suggestions are made for revision of previous interpretations of Precambrian history, and the terminology which grew out of them. Three papers deal with problems arising from the current use of the term Proterozoic, and with possible changes in its use to bring it more into accord with the facts. Contributors to this volume are: E.M. Abraham, Robert Bergeron, R.G. Blackadar, I.C. Brown, G.H. Charleswood, J.F. Davies, K.E. Eade, W.F. Fahrig, R.M. Farquhar, James E. Gill, H.C. Gunning, J.M. Harrison, D.F. Hewitt, W.W. Moorhouse, J.E. Reesor, S.M. Roscoe, R.D. Russell, James E. Thomson, Robert Thomson, L.J. Weeks, Alice E. Wilson, J.T. Wilson, G.M. Wright.
Protectors of the Land and Water: Environmentalism in Wisconsin, 1961-1968
by Thomas R. HuffmanSince the beginning of the twentieth century, Wisconsin citizens have promoted innovative environmental programs. During the 1960s Wisconsin was again at the forefront of the movement advancing mainstream political environmentalism. Thomas Huffman traces the rise of environmentalism in the Badger State during these key years, when the people of Wisconsin instituted policies in such areas as outdoor recreation and resource planning, water pollution control, the preservation of wild rivers, and centralized environmental management. Huffman focuses especially on the influence of Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat and founder of Earth Day, and Governor Warren Knowles, a Republican. He shows that their efforts--and the efforts of their followers in citizen groups, the business and university communities, and the state government--clearly indicate that the origins of environmentalism cannot be placed along a left-right political spectrum. Rather, the movement evolved from an interweaving of liberal and conservative ideologies and from important traditions and precedents within the state's environmental culture. What happened in Wisconsin is particularly significant, Huffman points out, because of the effect of that state's example on other states and the federal government.Originally published in 1994. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
The Protectors
by Kathiann M. KowalskiIt takes commitment to overcome interests that stand in the way of protecting the environment. Meet three people who weren't afraid to speak up to protect natural areas—and us.
Protection of the Three Poles
by Falk HuettmannThe Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Hindu Kush-Himalayas form a trio of terrains sometimes called "the three poles". Mainly composed of rock, snow, and ice, these precious regions, which are home to many unique species such as the polar bear, the emperor penguin, and the snow leopard, contain the primary water resource of this planet and directly shape our climate. This book presents a first-ever global assessment and progressive review of the three poles and demonstrates the urgent need for their protection. Sins of the past have irrevocably harmed and threatened many of the unique qualities of these regions, and the future looks bleak with the global population forecast to reach 9 billion by 2060, and with climate change on the rise. Presented here is a wide-reaching and coherent overview of the three poles' biodiversity, habitats, and ongoing destruction. Failed protection and social targets set by the United Nations and other bodies are exposed while economic growth, unconstrained or inappropriate development, and urban sprawl are promoted unabated. Polar regions play a major role in the global agenda as they are rich in oil and other resources, marking them for contamination, overfishing, and further degradation. Tourism in the Antarctic has benefited from enlightened self-regulation, but there are signs that this is changing, too. The chapters of this book are written by experts in their fields, and their evidence leaves no doubt that we already live beyond our carrying capacity on a finite but decaying space. A global protection role model and several outlook scenarios are proposed to help set in motion polar protection priorities that are actually valid. Humanity has demonstrated through international treaties such as the Antarctic Treaty and the Madrid Protocol that we can put the interests of the planet as a whole first. This must become the norm, not the exception.