History, cculture aand cconservation

Contested NNature –– PPromoting iinternational bbiodiversi-

ty wwith ssocial jjustice iin tthe ttwenty-ffirst CCentury

Edited bby SSteven RR. BBrechin, PPeter RR. WWilshusen,

Crystal LL. FFortwangler aand PPatrick CC. WWest,

SUNY PPress, NNew YYork ((NY, UUSA), 22003. 3321 pp.

SShhoorrtt rreevviieeww bbyy GGrraazziiaa BBoorrrriinnii-FFeeyyeerraabbeenndd aanndd EElllleenn LL.. BBrroowwnn

IIf you care deeply about con-

servation and are baffled by

the seemingly intractable

human-related problems that

impact it, if you believe that

conservation should neither

meddle with “politics” nor

accept compromises, if you

are dismayed at the merging

of conservation and anti-

poverty agenda... this is the

book for you! You may not

agree with everything you will

read, but you will find a pow-

erfully argued case for conser-

vationthrough a rights and

community-based approach.

If, on the other hand, you

already favour such an

approach, then the book is

also for you as it provides an

intelligent compendium of the

arguments supporting it—

including a recent historical

analyses of relevant concepts

and initiatives in the interna-

tional arena—and several

inspiring case studies.