Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life by George MonbiotMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What an amazing book! I really liked it but only after about 5 or 6 chapters - because there seemed to be too many personal musings and angry thoughts about the author's lost opportunities to catch (endangered?!) fish or become a member of an African tribe etc. There was even a chapter about people who thought they had seen a black panther on various moors in the UK. Quite interesting and amusing but its relevance escaped me.
However, if you can get through those earlier bits then the author proceeds to provide a wealth of information about the loss of habitat, extinction of various species and theories about the causes. Inevitably homo sapiens figures as the main culprit over the many millennia in his quest for superiority over all other species on Earth. There is an impressive volume of research with pages and pages for reference at the end of the book.
It is vexing for anyone interested in rewilding our planet to read about obvious things that can, or could, be done but ignored by most governments and organisations with vested interests in clearing forests, scrubland, peat moors etc, thus maintaining a damaging status quo! Not enough people it seems are aware of the real damage to the Earth and the loss our children and grandchildren will find later - too late! Monbiot's book was written several year ago and its importance cannot be overstated.
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