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E-book Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Penilaian

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We are excited to present the very first conservation biology textbook dedicated entirely to an African audience. The need for this work has never been more pressing than now. Africa has some of the fastest growing human populations on Earth. This growth, together with a much-needed push for development to ensure that all Africans can live healthy and prosperous lives, exerts unsustainable pressure on the region’s rich and unique biological treasures. Consequently, Africa is losing its natural heritage faster than ever before. It is sobering to consider that there is a very real risk that our children may never have the opportunity to see gorillas, rhinoceros, or elephants in the wild.To address this alarming loss of Africa’s natural heritage, there is an urgent need to produce the next cohort of well-trained conservation leaders, able to confront conservation challenges head-on, and to secure a sustainable future for all. This effort starts early, by exposing children from a young age to the wonders of the natural world. But it is also important to ensure that those children who later choose a career in biodiversity conservation are well-prepared for the road ahead. To facilitate this capacity building, we have compiled this textbook, designed for use in conservation biology courses, and as a supplemental text for other courses in the natural sciences and environmental policy. While the main target audience for this book is early-career conservationists, we strived for a balance between theory, empirical data, and practical guidelines to also make the book a valuable resource for mid- and late-career professionals. To further remove obstacles to training, we made every effort to ensure that this work is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. For that reason, we are making this textbook available for free, under a Creative Commons (CC BY) license, to guarantee the rights for anyone to use and spread this work to whoever wishes to make a difference in the future of Africa’s biodiversity and its people. This book contains 15 chapters and four appendices. While there is broad overlap in the topics covered in each chapter, the first three chapters are meant to be introductory, while chapter four provides an overview on the importance of biodiversity for our own wellbeing. Chapters five to seven outline the most important threats to biodiversity, while chapters eight to fifteen suggest overarching solutions to the current biodiversity crisis. We ensured that the main body text, which is nearly entirely comprised of examples from Sub-Saharan Africa, covers examples from a range of organisms living in terrestrial, freshwater, and oceanic environments. Within the main body text several words are written in bold-face—these represent the first mention and/or explanation of specialist terms listed in the glossary. Also included are over 50 Boxes, authored by conservation researchers and practitioners from governments, universities, and nongovernmental organisations in West, Central, East, and Southern Africa. These case studies cover interdisciplinary topics such as public health, sacred spaces, energy, agriculture, law, sustainable development, and leadership. They expose readers to the voices of conservationists in the region, provide compelling examples of on-the-ground work, and offer insights into real-life conservation issues readers may face in their careers.In each chapter, following the main body of text, there is a brief summary of main take-home messages, a list of discussion questions, and a list of suggested readings. The discussion questions are formulated in such a way that there are no definitive right or wrong answers—rather, they are meant to stimulate discussion among readers so that they can develop their own conservation philosophies. We tried to restrict the suggested reading lists to works that are freely available either on publisher websites or online depositories accessible through Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com). Note that the suggested readings are not meant to be absolute; in fact, they should be adapted to meet local contexts and syllabus requirements. Each chapter concludes with an extensive bibliography, which serves to provide a starting point for readers interested in specific conservation topics, and lecturers interested in adapting the suggested reading list. The textbook concludes with four appendices, meant to encourage readers to take the field’s activist spirit to heart.While we have made every attempt to ensure that the content is current and comprehensive, we recognise that mistakes do creep in; the field of conservation biology is currently also rapidly evolving, including being more inclusive of previously marginalised communities. We thus plan on continue updating this text, and welcome comments and suggestions from readers who share our interest in protecting Sub-Saharan Africa’s natural heritage.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

639.96 WIL c

Penerbit

London : Open Book Publishers., 2019

Deskripsi Fisik

697 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9781783747504

Klasifikasi

639.96

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Conservation of Biological Resource in Africa

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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