Ecology and environmental management: A geographical perspective

Negev, Israel; and Turan, Iran. Collectively, they present a very informative picture of desert spread and/or control under different climatic regimes, economic circumstances, cultural backgrounds and stages of technological development. Although some readers might have preferred more direct, condensed and illustrated accounts of these problem areas and a straightforward report of measures, successful and otherwise, which have been tried to counter the advance of desert conditions, it would be unfair to the author to imply that he has failed to portray the diversity and complexity of circumstances and the inevitable frustrations that are encountered. Towards the end of the book, he says: “The Plan of Action needed perhaps no more than two recommendations: (1) Do whatever is needed to inspire people with confidence that they can solve their own problems and fire them with the determination to do so; (2) Provide them with whatever technical or financial aid that they, local people, thereupon ask for”. And, a little later: “So we arrive at last to the conclusion that to improve the conditions of human existence, we must first improve the conditions of human existence”. In simpler language, what seems to be meant is that it is impossible to separate desertification from the tangle of social, economic and political questions confronting individual nations. This being the case, it is difficult to envisage any comprehensive international aid programme or set of objectives that could meet all situations. Consequently, any Plan of Action designed to satisfy the interests and aspirations of all concerned would need to be reduced to something vague and meaningless - or even absurd. J.M. CABORN (Edin burgh, Great Britain)

ECOLOGY

AND ENVIRONMENTAL

Ecology and Environmental

MANAGEMENT

Management:

A Geographical Perspective.

C. Park. Wm. Dawson and Sons, Folkestone, 272 pp., $10.00, ISBN o-7129-0835-8.

Great Britain,

Chris

1980,

This book is written by a geographer for students of geography and environmental management who have little or no previous ecological or biological training. It deserves and, I believe, will attract a much wider audience including ecologists. Much ecological information, arranged from a physical geography viewpoint, is presented in a balanced way. The tables and figures are clear and relevant and there is a good bibliography, but, surprisingly there are no photographs. By presenting a logical frame of reference whereby practitioners from diverse professions can better appreciate the application of ecological principles to environmental management, Chris Park has made a significant contribution to the improved conservation of natural resources. This is im-

408

portant when seen against the context of current background of a world population multiplying at an unprecedented rate, whilst the natural resource base on which human welfare depends is being progresssively depleted. After a discussion of the nature and causes of current environmental problems, the biosphere is considered as a global scale environmental system with massive transfers of water, energy, chemical elements and sediments. Ecosystems, the fundamental ecological units of the biosphere, are then examined with emphasis on their productivity and dynamic nature, both in time and space. The relationships between ecosystem diversity and stability are discussed. Change is seen as inevitable and a factor to be accepted in developing an optional conservation strategy. There is an interesting account of ecological variations in terms of major biomes, regional surveys and productivity . The concluding chapters examine ecological resources on a global scale and in Britain, pollution problems and the ecological basis of environmental management. The discussion of ecological management possibly puts too much emphasis on the management of nature reserves in the United Kingdom. Rural areas outside nature reserves may well prove to be more important in the long term for the protection of ecological resources. Recent studies have emphasised the relevance of ecology and environmental management to man-made situations including large cities. The author defines various strategies of environmental management. It would be helpful in future editions if the author considered in greater detail the economic, social and cultural implications of these strategies with case histories from developing countries. This excellent book should be a required text book for all student concerned with natural resources including landscape planners and architects, foresters and agriculturalists. It will be of interest also to biologists in general and to administrators concerned with national resources. DERRICK OVINGTON (Canberra, A.C.T., Australia)

ENVIRONMENTAL

Environmental

EDUCATION

Education:

Principles, Methods

and Applications.

and Z. Naveh (Editors). Plenum Press, New York and London, 285 pp., U.S. $32.50, ISBN 6-306-40433-B.

T.S. Bakshi 1980,

Book titles frequently seem to proffer more than they can supply and this book is an example of such a shortcoming. It constitutes Volume 18 in a series entitled “Environmental Science Research”, in which previous numbers have been devoted largely to the chemistry and control of pollutants. It also represents the Proceedings of the Symposium on Environmental Educa-