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Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet
by Tim JacksonIs more economic growth the solution? Will it deliver prosperity and well-being for a global population projected to reach nine billion? In this explosive book, Tim Jackson, a top sustainability adviser to the UK government, makes a compelling case against continued economic growth in developed nations. No one denies that development is essential for poorer nations. But in the advanced economies there is mounting evidence that ever-increasing consumption adds little to human happiness and may even impede it. More urgently, it is now clear that the ecosystems that sustain our economies are collapsing under the impacts of rising consumption. Unless we can radically lower the environmental impact of economic activity - and there is no evidence to suggest that we can - we will have to devise a path to prosperity that does not rely on continued growth. Economic heresy? Or an opportunity to improve the sources of well-being, creativity and lasting prosperity that lie outside the realm of the market? Tim Jackson provides a credible vision of how human society can flourish within the ecological limits of a finite planet. Fulfilling this vision is simply the most urgent task of our times. This book is a substantially revised and updated version of Jackson's controversial study for the Sustainable Development Commission, an advisory body to the UK Government. The study rapidly became the most downloaded report in the Commission's nine year history when it was launched earlier in 2009. 10% of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to rainforest protection This paperback edition includes a new foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales
Ecovillages around the World: 20 Regenerative Designs for Sustainable Communities
by Frederica Miller<p>Aligning perfectly with the practices of ecovillages around the world, these initiatives show that ecovillages and sustainable communities are leading by example as we move into a future focused on partnership, environmental protection, prosperity, and peace for all life and the planet we live on. <p>Offering a visual tribute to the work ecovillages do to alleviate climate change, social conflict, and environmental damage, including more than 300 full-color photographs, maps, and diagrams, this beautiful book highlights 20 best practice designs from ecovillages around the world to show how we can live lightly on the planet no matter where on earth we live, in all climate zones and cultures. It demonstrates how ecovillages have already achieved the climate goals all of us are now striving toward through practical lifestyle changes that promote peaceful and joyful coexistence both among people and between people and nature. Far from being only aesthetic choices, these changes give an increased quality of life, healthy homes, delicious organic food, playful interdependence, a new spiritual connection to our living planet, and much more. Through their regenerative, sustainable, and peace-promoting practices, ecovillages continue the culture of traditional village living in a modern way that addresses the critical challenges of our time. <p>The book features the following 20 ecovillage projects: Hurdal Ecovillage and Hurdal Sustainable Valley, Norway; Svanholm, Denmark; Permatopia, Denmark; Solheimar, Iceland; Lilleoru, Tallin, Estonia; Findhorn, Scotland; Sieben Linden, Germany; Tamera, Portugal; Damanhur, Italy; Torri Superiore, Italy; Kibbutz Lotan, Israel; Sekem, Egypt; Chololo, Tanzania; Tasman Ecovillage, Australia; Narara, Australia; Hua Tao Ecovillage, China; Auroville, India; Ecovillage at Ithaca, New York, USA; Huehuecoyotl, Mexico; Ceo do Mapia, Brazil.
Permaculture: A Spiritual Approach
by Craig Gibsone Jan Martin BangPermaculture design as divine creative activity. Permaculture looks for the patterns embedded in our natural world as inspirations for designing solutions to the many challenges we are presented with today. It is a philosophical, spiritual and practical approach to the use of the land, integrating microclimate, functional plants, animals, soils, water management and human needs into intricately connected, highly productive systems. In essence, permaculture uses observation as basis for creating sustainable and effective human settlements. The authors discuss the components Earthshare, Fairshare and Peoplecare, with a specific emphasis on the spiritual aspects of the design process. Topics range from soil and plants, energy sources and house design to alternative economics, group process, governance, and spiritual nurturing and enquiry. Examples of existing permaculture structures from around the world, most notably from the Findhorn Community Eco-Village, bring the concepts to life. First-hand accounts of how people got started on their permaculture project lend a personal touch. The first book to look at the spiritual aspects as well as the practical implementation of permaculture design.
Tourism, Public Transport and Sustainable Mobility
by C. Michael Hall Diem-Trinh Le-Klähn Yael RamThis book offers a comprehensive global examination of the relationship between public transport and tourism as well as exploring other sustainable transport modes. It offers a unique view by analysing tourism through the public transport lens and vice versa. The volume provides an account of how the public transport experience can be improved for tourists so that its value can be maximised and a greater number of people can be encouraged to shift modes. It features a wide range of case studies and examples showing how the tourism industry, as well as regional economies, communities and the environment, benefit when public transport is widely used by tourists. The book will be of interest to researchers and students in the fields of tourism and transport as well as destination marketing organisations and tourism, transport and urban planners.
Landscape Ethnoecology
by Leslie Main Johnson Eugene S. HunnAlthough anthropologists and cultural geographers have explored "place" in various senses, little cross-cultural examination of "kinds of place," or ecotopes, has been presented from an ethno-ecological perspective. In this volume, indigenous and local understandings of landscape are investigated in order to better understand how human communities relate to their terrestrial and aquatic resources. The contributors go beyond the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) literature and offer valuable insights on ecology and on land and resources management, emphasizing the perception of landscape above the level of species and their folk classification. Focusing on the ways traditional people perceive and manage land and biotic resources within diverse regional and cultural settings, the contributors address theoretical issues and present case studies from North America, Mexico, Amazonia, tropical Asia, Africa and Europe.
Urban Pollution
by Eveline Da¼rr Rivke JaffeRe-examining Mary Douglas' work on pollution and concepts of purity, this volume explores modern expressions of these themes in urban areas, examining the intersections of material and cultural pollution. It presents ethnographic case studies from a range of cities affected by globalization processes such as neoliberal urban policies, privatization of urban space, continued migration and spatialized ethnic tension. What has changed since the appearance of Purity and Danger? How have anthropological views on pollution changed accordingly? This volume focuses on cultural meanings and values that are attached to conceptions of 'clean' and 'dirty', purity and impurity, healthy and unhealthy environments, and addresses the implications of pollution with regard to discrimination, class, urban poverty, social hierarchies and ethnic segregation in cities.
Mobility And Migration In Indigenous Amazonia
by Miguel N. AlexiadesContrary to ingrained academic and public assumptions, wherein indigenous lowland South American societies are viewed as the product of historical emplacement and spatial stasis, there is widespread evidence to suggest that migration and displacement have been the norm, and not the exception. This original and thought-provoking collection of case studies examines some of the ways in which migration, and the concomitant processes of ecological and social change, have shaped and continue to shape human-environment relations in Amazonia. Drawing on a wide range of historical time frames (from pre-conquest times to the present) and ethnographic contexts, different chapters examine the complex and important links between migration and the classification, management, and domestication of plants and landscapes, as well as the incorporation and transformation of environmental knowledge, practices, ideologies and identities.
Gardening The World
by Veronica StrangAround the world, intensifying development and human demands for fresh water are placing unsustainable pressures on finite resources. Countries are waging war over transboundary rivers, and rural and urban communities are increasingly divided as irrigation demands compete with domestic desires. Marginal groups are losing access to water as powerful elites protect their own interests, and entire ecosystems are being severely degraded. These problems are particularly evident in Australia, with its industrialised economy and arid climate. Yet there have been relatively few attempts to examine the social and cultural complexities that underlie people's engagements with water. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in two major Australian river catchments (the Mitchell River in Cape York, and the Brisbane River in southeast Queensland), this book examines their major water using and managing groups: indigenous communities, farmers, industries, recreational and domestic water users, and environmental organisations. It explores the issues that shape their different beliefs, values and practices in relation to water, and considers the specifically cultural or sub-cultural meanings that they encode in their material surroundings. Through an analysis of each group's diverse efforts to 'garden the world', it provides insights into the complexities of human-environmental relationships.
Unveiling The Whale
by Arne KallandWhaling has become one of the most controversial environmental issues. It is not that all whale species are at the brink of extinction, but that whales have become important symbols to both pro- and anti-whaling factions and can easily be appropriated as the common heritage of humankind. This book, the first of its kind, is therefore not about whales and whaling per se but about how people communicate about whales and whaling. It contributes to a better understanding and discussion of controversial environmental issues: Why and how are issues selected? How is knowledge on these issues produced and distributed by organizations and activists? And why do affluent countries like Japan and Norway still support whaling, which is of insignificant economic importance? Basing his analysis on fieldwork in Japan and Norway and at the International Whaling Commission, the author argues how an image of a "superwhale" has been constructed and how this image has replaced meat and oil as the important whale commodity. He concludes that the whaling issue provides an arena where NGOs and authorities on each side can unite, swapping political legitimacy and building personal relations that can be useful on issues where relations are less harmonious.
Changing Identifications And Alliances In North-east Africa
by Günther Schlee Elizabeth E. WatsonForms of group identity play a prominent role in everyday lives and politics in northeast Africa. Case studies from Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya illustrate the way that identities are formed and change over time, and how local, national, and international politics are interwoven. Specific attention is paid to the impact of modern weaponry, new technologies, religious conversion, food and land shortages, international borders, civil war, and displacement on group identities. Drawing on the expertise of anthropologists, historians and geographers, these volumes provide a significant account of a society profoundly shaped by identity politics and contribute to a better understanding of the nature of conflict and war, and forms of alliance and peacemaking, thus providing a comprehensive portrait of this troubled region.
Virtualism, Governance And Practice
by Paige West James G. CarrierMany people investigating the operation of large-scale environmentalist organizations see signs of power, knowledge and governance in their policies and projects. This collection indicates that such an analysis appears to be justified from one perspective, but not from another. The chapters in this collection show that the critics, concerned with the power of these organizations to impose their policies in different parts of the world, appear justified when we look at environmentalist visions and at organizational policies and programs. However, they are much less justified when we look at the practical operation of such organizations and their ability to generate and carry out projects intended to reshape the world.
Changing Identifications And Alliances In North-east Africa
by Günther Schlee Elizabeth E. WatsonForms of group identity play a prominent role in everyday lives and politics in northeast Africa. Case studies from Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya illustrate the way that identities are formed and change over time, and how local, national, and international politics are interwoven. Specific attention is paid to the impact of modern weaponry, new technologies, religious conversion, food and land shortages, international borders, civil war, and displacement on group identities. Drawing on the expertise of anthropologists, historians and geographers, these volumes provide a significant account of a society profoundly shaped by identity politics and contribute to a better understanding of the nature of conflict and war, and forms of alliance and peacemaking, thus providing a comprehensive portrait of this troubled region.
Ecohydrology: An Approach to the Sustainable Management of Water Resources
by Maciej Zalewski Nic Pacini David HarperEcohydrology is an emerging new sub-discipline which links elements of ecology with hydrology at all points in the water cycle, ranging in scale from water-plant physiological relationships to whole catchment water-ecosystem processes. This book pays most attention to the larger scales of ecohydrology, emphasizing the use of this tool in striving towards the goal of sustainable water management. Authors from Eastern and Western Europe, America, Australia and South Africa give a broad global context.
Ecologically-based Integrated Pest Management
by Opender Koul Gerrit W. CuperusIntegrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to manage pests through biological, cultural, physical and chemical means in order to minimize economic and environmental injury caused by such pests. Any comprehensive IPM programme requires an understanding of the ecological relationships between crops, pests, natural enemies and the environment. This book presents a series of review chapters on ecologically-based IPM. Topics covered range from the ecological effects of chemical control practices to the ecology of predator-prey and parasitoid-host systems.
Climate Change in Developing Countries: Results from the Netherlands Climate Change Studies Assistance Programme
by M. A. van Drunen R. Lasage C. DorlandsThis book presents an overview of the studies conducted by the Netherlands Climate Change Studies Assistance program. The program was set up in recognition of the need for developing countries, in particular, to face the challenges confronting all countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The book presents an overview of the main results in 13 countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mongolia, Senegal, Suriname, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe. It provides a critical evaluation of the methodologies and approaches used, a cross-country synthesis and recommendations for further studies. Subjects dealt with include not only impact studies, but also vulnerability and adaptation, mitigation and climate related policy.
Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use
by Nigel Maxted E. Dulloo J. Irinodo S. P. Keller J. Turok B. V. Ford-LloydCrop wild relatives are the natural genetic progenitors of plant species that humans cultivate and consume every day. This massive and thorough textbook covers many of the scientific efforts used to conserve and utilize these species, including in situ management, genetic and hybrid research and the prevention of natural and man-made factors that can limit or destroy crops. Specific case examples are presented from around the world, showing how agricultural science has progressed in this area, and how pollution and population growth have set this progress back. The text is dense and aimed at those already proficient at agri-science, but a more comprehensive study of crop wild relatives would be hard to imagine. Three of the six editors are affiliated with the school of biosciences, U. of Birmingham, UK; two are with Bioversity International, Rome, Italy; and one is with the U. Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain. Contributors of the 49 chapters are from many countries, and the final two chapters discuss global conservation issues.
Seed Dispersal: Theory and Its Application in a Changing World
by Andrew J. Dennis Eugene W. Schupp Ronda J. Green David A. WestcottFresh concepts in the study of seed dispersal are spurring a host of exciting new answers, answers to old questions, new methods and approaches, and a reinvigoration of the field. Seed Dispersal: Theory and its Application in a Changing World present both recent advances and reviews of current knowledge, demonstrating the vigour and vibrancy of the field.
The Agricultural Groundwater Revolution: Opportunities and Threats to Development
by Mark Giordano Karen G. VillholthWhile addressing the issues of using groundwater in agriculture for irrigation in the developing world, this book discusses the problems associated with the degradation and over-exploitation of using it. It explores the practiced and potential methods for its management in the context of agricultural development.
Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Less-favoured Areas
by J. Pender R. Ruben A. KuyvenhavenTypically defined in terms of fragile agricultural resource base and/or limited access, but also occasionally characterized in terms of population dynamics, so-called less-favored areas pose a number of human development and poverty reduction challenges while remaining the home of an estimated 42% of the population of the developing world.
Integrated Watershed Management: Connecting People to Their Land and Water
by Hans M. Gregersen Kenneth N. Brooks Peter F. FolliottGregersen, Folliott, and Brooks provide government agencies and other bodies with background information, factors to be considered, and procedures that facilitate organizing and guiding land and water use in concert with one another. The book can also serve as a reference for planning, monitoring, and implementing development efforts and natural resource management using the integrated watershed management approach. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Conserving Plant Genetic Diversity in Protected Areas: Population Management of Crop Wild Relatives
by José María Iriondo Nigel Maxted Mohammad Ehsan DullooRather than the usual focus on rare or endangered plants and ex situ efforts in conserving plant biodiversity, Iriondo (biodiversity and conservation, U. Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain) and the co-editors are devoted to the conservation of the genetic diversity of crop wild relatives in their natural environments. After presenting the increasingly urgent rationale for such conservation efforts, contributors to seven chapters address international/national initiatives including integrating efforts to maintain plant diversity with protected area management, issues in reserve location and design, monitoring technologies, and habitat recovery techniques. The volume includes highlighted case studies, and color plates of plants, interaction with local peoples for successful wild relative crop conservation, monitoring activities, a gene bank, and native plant nursery. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Pest Management and Phytosanitary Trade Barriers
by Guy J. Hallman Neil W. HeatherA significant amount of the world's economy is based upon the international trade of agricultural produce. For the producing countries, a growing concern is the potential economic and ecological damage that invasive species could cause. While threats can be decreased through the regulation of items potentially carrying invasive species, the effect of such restrictions on international trade also needs to be considered. A balance must therefore be met that permits the transfer of produce while filtering out unwanted pests. Drawing on the author's extensive experience, the social and financial implications of phytosanitary trade barriers are reviewed. This book offers valuable and comprehensive coverage of pest related barriers and strategies for their implementation.
Environmental Impacts of Pasture-based Farming
by Richard W. McdowellFocusing on the different types of pastoral farming and their impact on the environment, Environmental Impacts of Pasture-based Farming takes a broad view of the subject, whose treatment in texts is often biased towards confined animal or grain based systems. The text is organized into two sections, the first addressing issues facing environmental quality, namely soil, water and air quality and socio-economic impacts. The second section offers commentary on how pastoral sectors influence environmental issues. With highly tuned farm productive systems comes the risk of environmental impacts, and the purpose of this text is to highlight the areas in which these risks are associated and how best to mitigate them. An approach is taken that highlights these problems, but also keeps in mind that mitigation may be too restrictive on the farming system and make farming impractical.
Tropical Root and Tuber Crops: Cassava, Sweet Potato, Yams and Aroids
by Vincent LebotMost of the world's poorest smallholders depend on tropical roots and tubers crops as their principal source of food and nutrition. These species produce large quantities of dietary energy and have stable yields under difficult environmental conditions. The most important crops are cassava, sweet potato, yam and the aroids, sharing important common traits such as bulkiness, post-harvest perishability and vegetative propagation. This book compiles the most up-to-date information on the origin, genetics, physiology, agronomy, pests and diseases and postharvest processing of these crops, while attempting to provide ideas for further research and development.
Biorational Tree Fruit Pest Management
by Martin Aluja Tracy C. Leskey Charles VincentFocusing on insect pests of tree fruits and combining behavioral research with crop protection applications, this book emphasizes the importance of environmentally sustainable approaches in an agricultural ecosystem.