This fascinating book presents the experiences and pooled knowledge of two very different conservation scientists; Pei Shengji from Sichuan, China and Alan Hamilton from London, UK. They have been drawn together over many years through working on some of the same conservation projects and have discovered that they overlap in their ideas about the sorts of work that needs to be done and how it can best be carried out. The book describes some of their own experiences, set within the contexts of their varied careers and the development of their thinking.
Plant conservation is crucial to the preservation of natural ecosystems, but conventional approaches have met with only limited success. The authors have concluded that plant conservationists need social allies — elements of society that have other primary concerns, but whose efforts, if successful, will bring benefits to plant conservation too.
It is the state and condition of plants on the ground that ultimately matter in conserving ecosystems, and therefore it is the role of local people who interact directly with them which enables success. Ethnobotany is a key skill required of practical plant conservationists. Its techniques enable them to explore connections between people and plants, learn about local perspectives and establish relationships with the people upon whom conservation and sustainable development relies.
This book:
recommends how to advance plant conservation, based on real experiences.
will inspire more people to become involved in plant conservation.
demonstrates how the very different backgrounds of the authors have influenced the courses of their careers, but have enabled them to come to very similar conclusions about conservation practice.
demonstrates the importance of geographically-based biocultural diversity, as a counterbalancing force to globalisation.
Содержание
PART 1. ANALYSIS AND PROPOSAL
1. Sustainable development: an existential challenge of our time
2. Plants in planetary history
3. Plants in human history: acquisition of biological produce
3.1. The big picture
3.2. Earlier times (to 1500 CE)
3.3. Later times (from 1500 CE)
4. Cultural lenses through which plants are perceived
4.1. Worldviews
4.2. Influences of the enlightenment
4.3. Limits to growth
4.4. Environmentalism
5. Knowledge of plants
5.1. Personal and scientific knowledge
5.2. The span of science from blue-sky thinking to routine applications
5.3. Plants and human health
6. Principles of ecosystem-based plant conservation
6.1. Meaning of ecosystem-based plant conservation
6.2. Conservation of plant diversity: a priority in wider perspective
6.3. Value of an ecosystem services framework for analysis and evaluation
6.4. Information and benefit-sharing
6.5. Evidence-based plant conservation
7. Practice of ecosystem-based plant conservation
8. Conclusions
PART 2: PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
8. Alan’s experiences
9. Pei’s experiences
Об авторе
Pei is the father of modern ethnobotany in China, responsible for training and advising many students and researchers on how to work with communities for conservation and rural development. He is an expert on palms and was formerly the Director of Xichuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden.
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