State of the Wild 2010-2011
As one of the older conservation organisations (it was founded in 1895) the Wildlife Conservation Society has spread from its origins in the Bronx zoo to be one of the leading international organisations. This is one of its biennial reviews covering not only global issues at a time of global financial insecurity but also the impact of war. This makes such a review particularly important – it’s very clear that some excellent projects might not be funded and others will be curtailed (or even be too dangerous to continue). Still, there is hope; Afghanistan opened its first national park in 2009. In its short life as a series (it started in 2006), the State of the Wild has sought to bring together key issues in conservation.
The book starts with a pictorial review of global conservation. This covers the main news stories for the 7 global regions, roundups of news for endangered species, habitats and current risks. Unusually, but welcome, is a small section on those who try to conserve their countries wildlife in the most inhospitable of times, where conservation is often backed up with a rifle! This leads us on to the focus for this issue – wildlife conservation in a time of war. Warfare alters the rules of conservation. Previously safe parks are now places for human refuge and are therefore subject to neglect and destruction. Although we think Africa in this regards, it’s just as common in Eastern Europe. buffer zones might help but after the conflict there’s work to be done. From here, the authors look at a series of case studies. Fist is Afghanistan showing that, with care and governance, even the most difficult of places can be made suitable for wildlife. It’s not just those areas immediately in conflict. Further chapters looking at regions as diverse as the Middle East, Africa and South America illustrate the problems we face not just in re-building areas but also forging new political ties. Part three turns to some of the key issues arising from current work. Divided into two – wildlife and wild places, a series of cases examine the issues. We start with Asian turtles. The turtle has been a cultural symbol for centuries but its diminishing wild population makes it critically endangered. Perhaps captive breeding might help here. Elephants might be considered something of a success story but the issue of forest elephants, where even population counts are difficult, shows we still need to be vigilant. Our next case, the Guanaco, highlights another issue. After its range was reduced and it was hunted, the remaining population was predated by puma. To help solve this problem, new reserves are being set up to allow the small, fragmented populations, to survive. Moving to wild places, the review looks at a series on endangered areas starting with the Taiga. Oceans and even city areas are places of both opportunity and threat where it is important that we look at the future of species at a time of increased competing uses. Finally in this section, there’s an interesting look at financing conservation. It’s long been realised that ecosystems provide services for people such as food supply, water etc. Usually, this has been treated as a free good but there are moves to actually pay the market price for this with the assumption (so far largely untested) that by putting a price on its head, wildlife will pay for itself. A final section looks at the way the art and science of conservation is progressing. Cases raised vary from religion to the use of canine detectors (to find scats!).
This is a very useful book. It provides us with a wide-ranging overview of some of the key areas in modern conservation. It’s strengths lie in the quality of production and the wide-ranging cases giving something for everybody. Its focus on North America and the work of the society does limit its appeal outside of the region but it remains one of the very few reviews dedicated solely to wildlife conservation and as such it is a valuable addition to the library.
