In a really excellent piece in the Guardian, Robert Macfarlane argues that we must reconnect with our environment through classic works of wildlife literature.
The suggestion – which echoes a similar call made by Lopez exactly 20 years ago in America – is that a series of classic works of nature writing from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland should be established and published. Such a series would not kowtow to the doubtful idea of a “national” literature. Instead, it would be a series of local writings, which concentrated on particular places, and which worked always to individuate, never to generalise. It would not vaunt a little-islandism, nor would it be blind to the spoliation of the landscape which has occurred. It would not adore landscape as a site for the exercise of middle-class nature-sentiment – a gymnasium for the sensitive.
It would, however, honour a form of care, and a form of attention, to the landscapes of the British Isles. It would discover in landscapes values which transcend the commercial and the consumerist. And it would restore to visibility a tradition of nature writing which has slipped from view these past 50 years.
We’ve been gathering a collection of botanical titles to take to the Congress – we’ll be promoting books from the some of the best science and conservation publishers from around the world. It’s really interesting to see all the books coming together as a collection – and, it’s been great fun picking titles!
British Harvestmen, edition 3 — due very soon. Congratulations to the Field Studies Council for keeping the indispensable ‘Synopses of the British Fauna’ going!
Riparia presents a thorough review of the importance of riparian ecosystems. In recent years riparian management has been widely implemented as a means of improving fisheries, water quality, and habitat for endangered species. This book provides the basic knowledge necessary to implement successful, long-term management and rehabilitation programs.
“Streamside communities are exceedingly important for the functioning of ecosystems and the providing of ecosystem services to people. With growing challenges of land-use, climate change, and expanding infrastructure, the publication of Riparia: Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Streamside Communities, is especially timely, and deserves to be widely read and applied.” – Jeffrey A. McNeely, Chief Scientist, IUCN-The World Conservation Union
Begon, Townsend and Harper’s Ecology: Individuals, Populations and Communities is the textbook that every undergraduate must have for an ecology related degree – myself included! My battered copy of the 3rd Edition still has pride of place on the bookshelf.
The original publication date for this title was mid-May, and we’ve had a lot of customers asking when the publication date has slipped to – the latest info we have is that stock is on it’s way to us right now. We are running a special pre-publication offer price on Ecology of
Â£32.50 Â£24.99 – this will end the day stock arrives. So… you’ve got just a few days left to pick up a bargain on this key text.
A Guide to the Identification of Seahorses is a comprehensive information source on the taxonomy and distriubtion of the 33 CITES listed species. This key marine conservation manual is published as part of Project Seahorse.
Fungi of Switzerland, Volume 6, is due in the next couple of weeks. We are just checking the price, should be displayed on nhbs.com within a few days. This is a magnificent series, the latest volume is sure to be a must for serious mycologists.
Wildflowers of Northern Mongolia – This great little book has arrived from the Alaskan publishers. We will have copies at the Botanical Congress.
See for details on volume 1 of Tropical African Flowering Plants’. We’ve just had an email from the Conservatoire in Geneva who are publishing the series. This is an English edition which substantially updates the French edition, published in 4 volumes as “EnumÃ©ration des plantes Ã fleurs d’Afrique tropicale (1991-1997)”. The new English language version will be in 6 parts, dealing with all 26,000 species! Volume 2 due in 2006.
We are proud to announce that we are now a distributor for CITES – we are really looking forward to working with this key conservation organisation.