By Michael L. Rosenzweig

Oxford University Press, 2003

Reviewed by David Williams

Ever since March 1, 1872, when Ulysses Grant signed into law the world’s first national park at Yellowstone, conservationists have followed a simple plan: protect natural habitat whenever and wherever possible. It is a model that has led to the successful preservation of tens of millions of acres of land and the protection of a vast array of species. It is also a model that cannot succeed in the long term, according to University of Arizona evolutionary ecologist, Michael Rosenzweig.

Rosenzweig’s problem with the traditional paradigm is that four times more people now inhabit the Earth than in 1875, and our footprint has grown correspondingly. Because big, unprotected open spaces no longer exist, Rosenzweig proposes “the science of inventing, establishing, and maintaining new habitats to conserve species diversity in places where people live, work, and play.” He calls this new conservation ethic “reconciliation ecology.”

In laying out his recipe for reconciliation ecology, Rosenzweig mixes conservative, pragmatic, and naïve arguments. Government can have some role, but it should be small and should stay out of the way of free enterprise. Success will require a thorough understanding of species and their needs, but even if we can obtain that knowledge, which in itself is a significant challenge, it is not clear that a “build it and they will come” approach will be the species magnet that Rosenzweig proposes.

Rosenzweig has raised a serious issue for conservation biologists. His examples offer hope for success. He clearly understands the science of species diversity, although the book could be better organized, and his numerous references to God detract from his argument. Reconciliation ecology is a strategy that calls for further examination, especially as the world grows smaller and human impact grows larger.

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Worlds Apart: Globalization and the Environment

Edited by Games Gustave Speth

Island Press, 2003

A few years ago, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote what has become one of the best-known books on globalization, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. That was a tough act to follow. Yet what Worlds Apart has to offer is its focus on the oft under-appreciated environmental angle of the globalization phenomenon.

The book grew out of a lecture series at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Like many series, some chapters are more compelling than others. Some of the more thought-provoking ideas come from Maurice Strong, Robert W. Kates, and Vandana Shiva. Strong draws upon his 30-plus years of experience leading international summits. He lays out a road map for what he terms “a new paradigm of a cooperative global governance.” Kates and Shiva view globalization from wholly different stands. Kates argues that current economic trends are inevitable and that we need to “civilize” globalization much as we tamed the American industrial revolution at the turn of the 20th century. On the other hand, Shiva vehemently propounds that globalization is fundamentally flawed and will neither produce environmental nor humanitarian justice. You are left to contemplate the evidence and draw your own conclusions.

The somewhat academic tone of other chapters strips some of the power of this otherwise provocative book.

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Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature

By Sandra Postel and Brian Richter

Island Press, 2003

In the 1970s and 1908s, biologists thought that the health of aquatic communities depended on sustaining some “minimum” flow. In recent years, science has begun to tell us otherwise. Contrary to this “flatline minimum,” rivers need a much fuller spectrum of flow conditions. Rivers for Life is a comprehensive and refreshing text on how river ecology really works. It is replete with ecological examples of rebuilding natural flow patterns and case studies on innovative policy approaches being implemented in the U.S., South Africa, and Australia. If you read one book on river ecology and management this year, Postel and Richter’s should be it.

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