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As one of the world's oldest mountain ranges, the Aravalli Mountains hold within them a wealth of ecological wonders and cultural significance. This enlightening book takes a journey through their rich history, vibrant landscapes, and the pressing need for sustainable development. Drawing from first-hand experience in sustainable mountain development within the Aravalli range, the authors share invaluable insights into the delicate balance between progress and preservation. Through extensive field surveys and advanced geospatial technologies like geographic information systems and remote sensing, crucial vulnerabilities and encroachment threats have been identified, paving the way for evidence-based policy recommendations.With a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration with local stakeholders and environmental organizations, the authors underscore the urgency of holistic, community-driven initiatives. From conservation efforts to regulatory reforms, this book advocates for comprehensive strategies that safeguard the Aravalli's ecological integrity for generations to come.

Drawing on the author's personal experiences working across the globe, this book explains why we need to conserve biodiversity, the threats it faces, how we can successfully conserve biodiversity, and some success stories of how we have conserved it.This is a personal journey from being an environmental vandal to internationally renowned conservationist. The book follows the author's life and career in conservation, from scarring koala-feed trees to being chased by elephants, sniffed by lions, gored by quokkas, and watched by wolves. It mixes robust facts with fun stories to engage a broad audience spanning the general public to academics and enthuse them into promoting the conservation of the plants and animals humanity relies on. Split into five sections, the first explains why we should conserve Nature and the value it holds. Section 2 discusses the threats to biodiversity, and Section 3 describes the author's personal experiences in conserving biodiversity, from creating protected areas and managing invasive species, reintroduction programmes, and the social policies we need to enact to ensure biodiversity persists. Section 4 provides examples of conservation success stories from across the globe, and the book concludes by looking at the big picture issues society needs to address to ensure that future generations get to experience the same degree of beauty of the natural world that we have.This book is a must read for all concerned with conserving Nature and sustaining our planet.

This book examines the entanglements and blurred edges of nature conservation and geopolitical relations in the borderlands of the trinational Maya Forest.Maya Forest is an umbrella term for transboundary conservation developed by scientists and conservationists in the 1990s to protect the threatened rainforest in the borderlands of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Currently, the Maya Forest is a biodiversity hotspot composed of a network of protected areas and heritage sites. However, issues related to water, land, and forests have often been treated as separate political units, and not as part of the same history. Written by two authors with decades of hands-on experience in this region, this book sheds light on the complex dynamics by which conservation and natural resource management geopolitically shape borderlands such as the Maya Forest. The book introduces the novel concept of forest waterlands as borderlands and fluid edges, which are now subject to concern by conservationists. These are entangled spaces in which conservation, peoples, and politics interact, connect, and disconnect with the nexus of waters, forests, and lands. The book sheds light on the building and mapping of the Maya Forest ecoregion, with particular attention to water as an often neglected, but unifying element. It showcases how the Maya Forest is a distinct region characterized by transformations entangled with the Maya, trails of biological stations, the shared history of chicleros (chewing-gum hunters), fluid international rivers and transboundary basins, and various geopolitical discrepancies. It offers a contemporary glimpse into the Maya Forest's intertwined bio- and geopolitics, which urge us to rethink borders and boundaries.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of nature conservation, global environmental politics, geopolitics, borderlands, international relations, and natural resource management.

This book examines the legal protection and management of inland waters in Europe.With inland waters facing a range of significant threats, including from climate change, pollution, and overexploitation, this volume discusses legal solutions for protecting and managing these inland waters. It presents comparative studies from a range of European countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Lithuania, Poland, and Spain, with each chapter examining the legal status and legal instruments being implemented in each country, allowing for easy cross-comparison. Topics covered include surface water management and protection, water quality and monitoring, management of hazardous substances, and crisis management. Through these unique comparative studies, the volume highlights legal solutions which can be adopted by other nations and used as models for wider implementation across Europe. In doing so, this book offers important recommendations for changing water law to ensure a water secure future in Europe.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of water law, water resource management, environmental policy, and environmental conservation.

James C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they can teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural death; they are frequently maimed and even murdered. It is the annual flood pulse—the brief time when the river occupies the floodplain—that gives a river its vitality, but it is human engineering that kills it, suppressing the flood pulse with dams, irrigation, siltation, dikes, and levees. In demonstrating these threats to the riverine world, award-winning author James C. Scott examines the life history of a particular river, the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) of Burma, the heartland and superhighway of Burman culture. Scott opens our understanding of rivers to encompass their entirety—tributaries, wetlands, floodplains, backwaters, eddies, periodic marshlands, and the assemblage of life forms dependent on rivers for their existence and well-being. For anyone interested in the Anthropocene and the Great Acceleration, rivers offer a striking example of the consequences of human intervention in trying to control and domesticate a natural process, the complexity and variability of which we barely understand.

The book unravels the complexity of Pakistan's physical terrain, from the Arabian Sea coast to the Himalayan heights, focusing on its bio-climatic environment. While throwing light on the evolution of societal organisation and the nature and intensity of economic enterprises, it discusses the human response to the natural milieu and the way natural resources have been harnessed.This volume discusses the distribution of natural resources and deciphers the evolutionary development of manufacturing, transport and trade, the main non-agricultural enterprises, and looks at the potential for their growth. It provides an overview of the country`s economy and its fluctuations through different political regimes. It also investigates the country's diverse social, linguistic, and ethnic composition. A habitat study, incorporating villages and towns and their numerical and spatial distribution and also the hierarchical organisation of rural society have received a special focus in the book. The book, with its qualitative and quantitative information, will be useful to students, teachers and researchers studying physical geology, climatology, hydrology, soil science, environmental studies, archaeology, sociology, economics, demography, area studies and regional development studies. It will also be an indispensable companion to professionals in floral-landscaping, habitat study, administrators, and policymakers.

This book provides a critical assessment of conservation in the Anthropocene grounded in the personal, historical, and cultural development of human interaction with nature.The author argues that conservation can no longer be primarily about preserving nature but must adapt its efforts to promote changes through which humans create a landscape that is neither abandoned nor degraded but used well by humans and non-humans alike. The book first reviews the origin of ideas and conditions that have led to the concept and classification of the Anthropocene and explores how the author's own interactions with nature were shaped through his experience as a conservation biologist. Next, it considers how humans have come to be the primary drivers of ecological activity, geological events, and climate change. Chapters then focus on the need for new conservation thinking regarding novel ecosystems, urban conservation, the role of Indigenous Peoples in conservation, and the value of protected areas (PAs), parks, and wilderness. The book concludes by identifying strategies for effective conservation and argues for a new formulation of conservation values that redefine human relationships and interaction with nature. Chapters are enlivened by the personal experiences of the author and the first-person narratives of conservation activists and scientists throughout the world who are learning to practice and succeed in conservation efforts under Anthropogenic conditions.Drawing on global examples, this book will be of great value to students and scholars of biodiversity conservation and environmental science ready to consider a new way of looking at the care and nurture of nature in the Anthropocene.

This book maps the encounters between Indigenous Peoples and local communities with mining companies in various postcolonial contexts.Combining comparative and multidisciplinary analysis, the contributors to this volume shine a light on how the mining industry might adapt its practices to the political and legal contexts where they operate. Understanding these processes and how communities respond to these encounters is critical to documenting where and how encounters with mining may benefit or negatively impact Indigenous Peoples. The experiences and reflections shared by Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors will enhance our understanding of evolving practices and of the different strategies and discourses developed by Indigenous Peoples to deal with mining projects. By mobilizing in-depth fieldwork in five regions—Australia, Canada, Sweden, New Caledonia, and Brazil—this body of work highlights voices often marginalized in mining development studies, including those of Indigenous Peoples and women.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of mining and the extractive industries, sustainable development, natural resource management, and Indigenous Peoples.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the field of gender and water governance, exploring how the use, management and knowledge of water resources, services and the water environment are deeply gendered.In water there is a recognized gender gap between water responsibilities and water rights and bridging this gap is likely to help achieve not just goals of equity but also those of sustainability. Building on a rich legacy of feminist water scholarship, the Routledge Handbook of Gender and Water Governance is a collection of reflections and studies that can be used as a prismatic lens into a thriving and ever proliferating array of feminist water studies. It provides a clear testimony of how hydrofeminism has evolved from rather instrumental gender and water studies to scholarship that uses feminist tools to pry open, critically reflect on and formulate alternatives to water development-as-usual. The book also shows how the community of feminists interested in studying water has diversified and expanded, from often white female scholars studying projects and gender relations in the so-called Global South, to a varied mix of scholars and activists theorizing from diverse geographical and political locations – prominently including the body. It is organized into five interconnected parts: Part I: Positionality and embodied waters Part II: Revisiting water debates: diplomacy, security, justice and heritage Part III: Sanitation stories Part IV: Precarious livelihoods Part V: New feminist futures Each of these parts brings out the gendered nature of water, shedding light on the often neglected care and unpaid labour of women and its relationship with extractivism and socioeconomic inequalities. The overall aim of the handbook is to apply social science insights to water governance challenges, creating synergies and linkages between different disciplines and scientific domains.The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Water Governance is essential reading for students, scholars and professionals interested in water governance, water security, health and sanitation, gender studies and sustainable development more broadly.

This book examines how different countries across Southeast Asia and Latin America respond to the emergence and expansion of the lucrative, yet controversial palm oil industry, paying attention to how national policy and governance regimes are shaping this global industry.With its historic roots in Southeast Asia, oil palm cultivation continues to expand beyond its historical centres. In Latin America, many countries are now developing their own policies to promote and govern oil palm cultivation. This book provides a unique examination of how different countries strive to strike a balance between developmental and environmental concerns, through case studies on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico, and an outlook for the industry's prospects in Africa. This book applies an assemblage approach to draw out lessons on the global challenges posed by the industry and how differing national governance regimes and communities might respond to them. Rather than a single global industry, the book unveils a complex arrangement of national and even local palm oil assemblages, indicating that there is more than one way to do palm oil. In doing so, the book contributes to a better understanding of the drivers and processes that shape the governance of the industry, both in different nations and globally.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the palm oil industry, as well as those interested in natural resource governance, sustainable agriculture, conservation, environmental justice, and environmental and development policy more broadly.

The story of wool covers 4,000 years of human history – the first written record of dying wool for cloth was found on a Mesopotamian papyrus c. 2000 BCE. In this book, the whole story is told, from the rearing of the different animals that provide the raw material to its transformation into woven cloth and knitted material. Much of the emphasis is on Britain, where, in the Middle Ages, wool was the basis for much of the country's prosperity, as can still be seen in the magnificent opulence of the churches endowed by the wool merchants. It deals with the different techniques used for spinning, weaving and finishing cloth. The eighteenth century saw great changes, as production moved from cottage to mill and the mill towns grew. But this is also an international story, looking at a variety of different topics, from the work of Incan and Mayan people in South America to the development of the flocks of Australia. But, this is not just about technology – it is also about how that technology has an impact on the lives of people, from th life of the shepherd to the industrial disputes that broke into the violence of the Luddite rebellions.

This book presents a novel examination of Marine Protected Areas within a security context, bridging science, policy, and geopolitics, and addressing the often-under-emphasized aspect of environmental justice.The book argues that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are not only a critical tool for protecting marine biodiversity in a changing climate, but they also play an important role at the intersection of geopolitics and environmental justice, and they provide a case study of environmental governance at the science-policy interface. The book takes an interdisciplinary and critical approach and builds on the author's two decades of experience working in this field. Geopolitically, it explores the ways in which MPAs provide footprints for influence and access to resources far from home for nations with overseas territories. MPAs also raise important issues connected to equity, environmental justice, and social justice, including access to resources and participation in environmental decision-making processes, key aspects for achieving long-term conservation goals. The book also demonstrates how MPAs are a critical lens for understanding how policy makers cope with scientific uncertainty, and the necessity of well-designed and precautionary science advisory processes. While the ecological contribution of MPAs is paramount, social issues and geopolitical considerations are often less obvious in the discourse underpinning MPAs, and the resulting tensions can undermine long-term conservation objectives. By applying the three lenses of geopolitics, environmental justice and science, this book provides key insights to help the international community moving past the 2030 biodiversity targets and beyond, towards a future of meaningful, equitable, and effective conservation approaches.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of biodiversity conservation, marine studies, political geography, environmental governance, and science-policy studies. It will also be of interest to marine conservation governance professionals and policymakers.

For over a century, business interests and political insiders controlled waters across the Hawaiian Islands to benefit a privileged few at the expense of stream ecology, taro farmers, and our islands'future sustainability. With the future of Hawai‘i's precious water resources at a critical stage, this book is a groundbreaking exploration of water in Hawaiʻi that bridges ancestral place-based knowledge with present challenges faced by community members, cultural activists, academics, scientists, and policymakers alike. In Waiwai: Water and the Future of Hawai‘i, Kamanamaikalani Beamer brings together experts from diverse fields to tackle complex issues in water management. Indigenous scholars recount how ancestral abundance revolved around the movement and health of water and articulate how these guiding principles transitioned to exploitation by plantation industrialists after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Legal scholars unpack the web of regulations governing water rights; scientists assess the damage already done to aquifers and ecosystems and suggest ways to improve them. The book also investigates environmental responsibility in the case of the fuel leak from the US Navy's Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, giving county officials and community advocates a chance to uplift the concerns of those most impacted by the devastating tragedy.While providing readers with critical knowledge of the current status of water, the book's ultimate goal is to catalyze action. Chapter contributors aim to answer the central question: “What do people need to know about the future of water in Hawaiʻi, and what can they do to enable a better future?” The result is a bold vision for how everyone can work together for the long-term health of these islands we call home. Both accessible and critical, Waiwai sounds an alarm about the precarious state of water in Hawaiʻi. It is an interdisciplinary collaboration that illuminates past mistakes, makes clear present challenges, and equips readers with the knowledge and tools to come together and chart a way forward. With this book as a guide, community members, academics, scientists, policymakers, and aspiring visionaries are invited to redirect the course of water management toward sustainability, ensuring a legacy of abundance for future generations.

This book examines Africa's current food system and future challenges for food security over the next 25 years.Africa is on the rise and by 2050, the continent will be home to a quarter of the world's population. The analysis presented in this book clearly shows that the African food system needs to transform at a much faster pace to ensure that the people it serves are food secure. This book begins with four contrasting case studies that focus on country-specific challenges in Egypt, Ethiopia, Senegal and Zimbabwe. This is followed by 15 thematic chapters organised in three sections on challenges, threats and opportunities. Individual chapters address a wide range of topics including climate change, water security, farm sizes, crop yields, conservation trade-offs, food prices, trade, conflict and structural change. The book concludes by discussing key pathways to improve Africa's food system and food security for the decades ahead.This book is essential reading for students, scholars and practitioners who work on global food security, sustainable food systems, food, health and nutrition and African development.

Australia is full of unique geological formations, fascinating fossils and intriguing minerals. Every Rock Has a Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology explores our incredible landscapes and offers captivating insights into our exceptional continent. Discover pink diamonds and stromatolites, the Great Artesian Basin and Uluru, and granite rocks formed billions of years ago. With stunning illustrations, engaging text and packed with fun facts, this is the perfect book for anyone curious about Australian geology. Reading level varies from child to child, but we recommend this book for ages 8 to 12.

This volume presents the first systematic review of public bank lending in the water sector in the Global South.Many public banks have an explicit mandate to finance public water management, yet despite a resurgence of interest in public banks and the role they can play in sustainable development, their role in funding water management has been largely ignored. Drawing on case studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America, this book measures the scale and nature of interaction between public banks and public water operators for the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation. It identifies challenges and opportunities for deeper engagement between public banks and public water operators in the Global South and highlights promising practices, showcasing how these might be transferred to different regions and different sectors. Each case study is based on in-depth interviews with public banks that have funded public water operators, and public water operators that have borrowed from public banks, including Banco Popular in Costa Rica, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development in India and the TIB Development Bank in Tanzania. Overall, this book provides a critical analysis of the potential of public banks to address global water security issues.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of water resource management, water and health, sanitation and sustainable development. It will also be of interest to professionals and policymakers working with public and development banks in the supply of safe water and sanitation for all.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.