Earthscan Reference Collections – serie

'Jules Pretty brings together the most comprehensive and carefully selected collection of writings available about sustainable agriculture. Together with an excellent overview chapter, the collected works provide the best available source for an enlightened analysis and debate about sustainability in agriculture. The four volumes will serve both as an excellent reader for students and a unique reference for all with an interest in the pursuit of sustainabiity in the food system' Professor Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Cornell University, former Chair of CGIAR Science Council and World Food Prize Laureate, 2001'This is the single most comprehensive overview of sustainable agriculture, from ancient beginnings to the most topical modern issues. Jules Pretty has assembled a marvellous collection of the most seminal papers that are driving sustainable agriculture in all parts of the world.' Jeffrey A. McNeely, Chief Scientist, IUCN-The World Conservation Union'Showing that, after all, humans can learn from experience, Jules Pretty has woven together the best of the old with the best of what is new and visionary. He gives us a solid, knowledge-based foundation for a badly needed new paradigm - that of an agriculture which sustains all life into the longer term. The impressive list of contributors ensures that all relevant areas have been competently assessed... A unique reference work for teachers, students and practitioners.' Hans R. Herren, World Food Prize Laureate, 1995'An ambitious and deeply insightful series that unites the great minds not just of the agricultural, nutrition and environmental sciences, but also history, culture, economics, technology, learning and communications, policy, regulatory and institutional approaches. It will be a major reference work for all interested in the future of humanity and sustainable food and agricultural systems.' Parviz Koohafkan, Director, Environment, Climate Change and Bioenergy Division, FAO, Italy'This work presents a body of knowledge that has come of age. It takes into account not only the science but also human behaviour, institutions and politics. It will be an invaluable support for practices that are rapidly gaining significance.' Professor Neils R�ling, formerly of Wageningen University, The NetherlandsThis 4-volume set, edited by the world's leading expert on agricultural sustainability, brings together and interprets the most influential, important and time-tested international scholarship across the fields of agriculture and food production with a set overview and individual volume introductions that make sense of this diverse and complex field.Volume I covers the history of agriculture from its ancient origins through successive technological and institutional revolutions to the present. Volume II examines the relationship between agriculture and the environment including agricultural contamination, greenhouse gases and climate change, environmental improvements and sustainability, integrated farming, eco-agriculture and agro-ecology, landscape restoration and environmental goods and services. Volume III provides full coverage of the modern industrialized global food system, corporate control, poverty, hunger and international successes, failures and challenges, diet and health, consumer behaviour and local alternatives to industrialization. Volume IV addresses how we think about land and our relationship to it, governance and stewardship of the rural commons, systems thinking, ecological literacy, social connections and a sustainable rural life, supportive and perverse agricultural subsidies and policies that shape food poverty and sustain agriculture into the future.

The thought-provoking articles in Conservation can assist in catalyzing the transition to a new green economy by shaping the mind-sets of leaders, students, teachers and the public alike.' Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP)'An extremely useful compilation of articles on the complex issues underlying nature conservation.' Ashish Kothari, Co-chair, IUCN Intercommission Strategic Direction on Governance, Equity, and Livelihoods in Relation to Protected Areas (TILCEPA)'In this intelligently chosen, broadly ranging set of readings on conservation, Professor Adams assembles a set of vital readings for professionals, teachers, students, and the interested public.' Kent Redford, Director, Wildlife Conservation Society InstituteThis 4-volume set, edited by a leading expert on nature conservation, brings together in one collection a series of papers fundamental to understanding the social, political, cultural and scientific dimensions of conservation. Each volume is introduced by a new review essay, which both sets the scope for the collection and advances analytical understanding of conservation issues.Volume I covers the historical development of conservation ideas and reviews the diverse contemporary philosophical, ethical, cultural and practical arguments for conservation.Volume II addresses the core issue of conservation: the maintenance of living diversity in the face of human demands on the biosphere. The intention here is not to offer a sourcebook of conservation science, but to include the key texts that have changed the way conservation is understood and practised.Volume III explores the overlaps and conflicts between conservation and development, andwin-win solutions to conflicts between the two, including ideas of sustainable development.Volume IV presents work on conservation as an essentially political process, drawing chiefly on social science and, in particular, political ecology and environmental history.

This four-volume set, edited by leading experts in soil science, brings together in one collection a series of papers that have been fundamental to the development of soil science as a defined discipline. Volume I contains papers that look at the soil as a natural body and speculate on how it was formed, the extent of its global coverage, and the many complex interactions with the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere. It focuses its attention on the 'what' of the pedosphere and the extent of our current understanding of it.Volume II focuses on the 'how' of soils, the understanding of fundamental processes. It is concerned with the integration of physics, chemistry, biology and mineralogy to understand fundamental soil properties and processes that control transport, cycling, speciation and bioavailability of elements or molecules. These phenomena are studied at multiple scales ranging from atomic to global. Volume III contains papers on 'why' soil science is important to society. It demonstrates the application of fundamental knowledge to solve social, economic, and environmental challenges of major societal and scientific interest. It can be considered the applied segment of soil science to ensure that soils are used and managed in a sustainable manner.Volume IV contains papers that are more general and address the transfer of knowledge to segments of society where soil science is misunderstood or under-appreciated. It addresses public literacy in soil science, education, international conventions, consequences of human activities on soil ecosystems, policy issues, food security, and philosophy and history of the discipline.

This four-volume set is edited by leading experts on the evolving role of forests in providing raw materials and environmental services to meet society’s changing needs. It brings together in one collection the major works that have helped to shape thinking on forests as a key sustainable resource. The collection includes classic papers but also assembles more recent publications at the cutting edge of thinking on forests and their sustainable use. The set includes a general introduction and each volume is introduced by a new overview essay, placing the selected materials in context. The breadth of subject matter is considerable, ranging from the management and conservation of forest landscapes, soils, hydrology and tree-atmosphere relations, socio-economic aspects, including the livelihoods of indigenous people, policy and economics, to contemporary issues such as ecosystem services and climate change.Volume I covers forest conservation, now recognized as crucial to the mitigation of climate change, and its overall implications for forest landscapes, as well as forest ecology and biodiversity conservation within forests. Volume II addresses the more technical biological, physical, and chemical aspects of trees and forests and their environment, including physiological aspects and plant-atmosphere, soil and water relationships. Volume III considers the livelihoods of people working or living in forests, including non-timber forest products, rights and tenure and community forestry, as well as on-farm forestry and urban forestry. The final volume provides an overview of policy, governance, legal, and economic aspects of forests and forest management, including the important topics of decentralization and the ownership of forests.The set provides students and teachers, confronted with thousands of journal articles, book chapters and grey literature, with a ready-made selection of—and commentary on—the most important key writings on sustainable forests. It is an essential reference for libraries concerned with geography, environmental studies, ecology, natural resource management, and forestry.