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Pesticides and nature conservation - The British Experience 1950–1975
385
interest and concern about soil erosion, agricultural environment. This book is strongly recommended.
productivity
and a quality
DAVID PIMENTEL Department of Entomology Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 U.S.A. PESTICIDES AND NATURE CONSERVATION
Pesticides and Nature Conservation - The British Experience 1950-1975 by John Sheail. Monographs on Science, Technology, and Society No. 4, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985, 276 pp., price H9.50, $29.95, ISBN: O,-19854150-3. During World War II, two synthetic growth regulators, MPCA and 2,4-D, were discovered independently by both British and American scientists. These two herbicides demonstrated that it was possible to kill weeds chemically, without injuring crops. At about the same time, it was found that DDT possessed the properties to make it an “ideal insecticide” by virtue of its toxicity to a wide range of insect species, low level of mammalian toxicity and persistence in the environment which allowed a desirable residual effect. It was widely used throughout the war to control the spread of typhus and malaria in military operating theaters, while all three chemicals were used extensively in agriculture to meet the demands for increased food production. This scenario is particularly significant since it heralded the beginning of the so-called “chemical revolution” in the western world. It also comprises the basis of this book, which discusses the British experience of pesticide use and the nature conservation movement over a 25-year period from 1950 to 1975. The book relates how adverse effects of pesticides on wildlife were perceived in Britain, and how scientific, administrative and political responses were made. It deals primarily with the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides (i.e. DDT, Aldrin and Dieldrin) which allegedly caused most of the damage inflicted on wildlife. The book describes the different events that occurred as various agencies of government, commissions, working parties, advisory committees, nature conservancy councils and institutes attempted to deal with the problem. It also discusses the different research programs that were established to determine how various wildlife species were being affected, the voluntary controls that were imposed on the use of pesticides, and the increasing public and political concerns and actions that emerged. The lessons learned in the British experience have had important implications for the promulgation of regulations concerning pesticide use. The book
386
provides a valuable insight into how research and executive action was mobilized to deal with the adverse effects of pesticides on wildlife in Britain. The book provides detailed information about key people and agencies, and their strategies and activities in responding to the “chemical revolution” with an “environmental revolution” of their own. In effect, the book is a kind of “Silent Spring” revisited, but with a chronology of public and political action that was directed at resolving what many considered to be an increasingly serious environmental problem. My impression is that the book contains almost too much detail. This often tends to burden the reader with events and facets that are of lesser importance and that might have been omitted without detracting from the book’s real value and message. To someone who was not involved in the environmental issues of those times, particularly those related to pesticides, the book may be somewhat boring. However, for those of us that were, it is a valuable reference document. It is good that the decision was made to document the historical perspectives of the British experience. It relates an important lesson of the past which still has current and future application in the rural and urban sectors of both developed and developing countries. JAMES F. PARR National Program Staff, Agriculture Research Service U.S. Department of Agriculture Beltsvitle, MD IJS.A.
SILVICULTURE
Plantation Silviculture in Temperate Regions with Special Reference to the British Isles by P.S. Savill and J. Evans. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K., 1986,246 pp., hardcover, price g25.00, ISBN: O-19-854138-4. Books on silviculture, particularly those written during the last 30 years, have usually been concerned with practices in one country. A more general texton silviculture in temperate regions of the world was long overdue and is a welcome addition to the literature. The authors both have considerable experience in British forestry, and have drawn on it when giving examples to illustrate the general principles which form the basis of the book, which was written as an introductory text for undergraduate and postgraduate students in forestry and related disciplines. The book has four parts. Part A (three chapters) forms the introduction, which defines the scope and limits of the book and covers the role of plantations, aspects of production, the advantages and disadvantages of monocultures and the importance of site characteristics in plantation forestry. Part B
interest and concern about soil erosion, agricultural environment. This book is strongly recommended.
productivity
and a quality
DAVID PIMENTEL Department of Entomology Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 U.S.A. PESTICIDES AND NATURE CONSERVATION
Pesticides and Nature Conservation - The British Experience 1950-1975 by John Sheail. Monographs on Science, Technology, and Society No. 4, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985, 276 pp., price H9.50, $29.95, ISBN: O,-19854150-3. During World War II, two synthetic growth regulators, MPCA and 2,4-D, were discovered independently by both British and American scientists. These two herbicides demonstrated that it was possible to kill weeds chemically, without injuring crops. At about the same time, it was found that DDT possessed the properties to make it an “ideal insecticide” by virtue of its toxicity to a wide range of insect species, low level of mammalian toxicity and persistence in the environment which allowed a desirable residual effect. It was widely used throughout the war to control the spread of typhus and malaria in military operating theaters, while all three chemicals were used extensively in agriculture to meet the demands for increased food production. This scenario is particularly significant since it heralded the beginning of the so-called “chemical revolution” in the western world. It also comprises the basis of this book, which discusses the British experience of pesticide use and the nature conservation movement over a 25-year period from 1950 to 1975. The book relates how adverse effects of pesticides on wildlife were perceived in Britain, and how scientific, administrative and political responses were made. It deals primarily with the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides (i.e. DDT, Aldrin and Dieldrin) which allegedly caused most of the damage inflicted on wildlife. The book describes the different events that occurred as various agencies of government, commissions, working parties, advisory committees, nature conservancy councils and institutes attempted to deal with the problem. It also discusses the different research programs that were established to determine how various wildlife species were being affected, the voluntary controls that were imposed on the use of pesticides, and the increasing public and political concerns and actions that emerged. The lessons learned in the British experience have had important implications for the promulgation of regulations concerning pesticide use. The book
386
provides a valuable insight into how research and executive action was mobilized to deal with the adverse effects of pesticides on wildlife in Britain. The book provides detailed information about key people and agencies, and their strategies and activities in responding to the “chemical revolution” with an “environmental revolution” of their own. In effect, the book is a kind of “Silent Spring” revisited, but with a chronology of public and political action that was directed at resolving what many considered to be an increasingly serious environmental problem. My impression is that the book contains almost too much detail. This often tends to burden the reader with events and facets that are of lesser importance and that might have been omitted without detracting from the book’s real value and message. To someone who was not involved in the environmental issues of those times, particularly those related to pesticides, the book may be somewhat boring. However, for those of us that were, it is a valuable reference document. It is good that the decision was made to document the historical perspectives of the British experience. It relates an important lesson of the past which still has current and future application in the rural and urban sectors of both developed and developing countries. JAMES F. PARR National Program Staff, Agriculture Research Service U.S. Department of Agriculture Beltsvitle, MD IJS.A.
SILVICULTURE
Plantation Silviculture in Temperate Regions with Special Reference to the British Isles by P.S. Savill and J. Evans. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K., 1986,246 pp., hardcover, price g25.00, ISBN: O-19-854138-4. Books on silviculture, particularly those written during the last 30 years, have usually been concerned with practices in one country. A more general texton silviculture in temperate regions of the world was long overdue and is a welcome addition to the literature. The authors both have considerable experience in British forestry, and have drawn on it when giving examples to illustrate the general principles which form the basis of the book, which was written as an introductory text for undergraduate and postgraduate students in forestry and related disciplines. The book has four parts. Part A (three chapters) forms the introduction, which defines the scope and limits of the book and covers the role of plantations, aspects of production, the advantages and disadvantages of monocultures and the importance of site characteristics in plantation forestry. Part B