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The Reindeer Chronicles

And Other Inspiring Stories of Working with Nature to Heal the Earth

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Compelling, Fascinating, sometimes unexpectedly moving, this vitally important book is, above all, a springboard for hope and transformation."—Isabella Tree

"A lucid and compelling look at the global movement of ecological rehabilitation."— The Boston Globe

In a time of uncertainty about our environmental future—an eye-opening global tour of some of the most wounded places on earth, and stories of how a passionate group of eco-restorers is leading the way to their revitalization.

Award-winning science journalist Judith D. Schwartz takes us first to China's Loess Plateau, where a landmark project has successfully restored a blighted region the size of Belgium, lifting millions of people out of poverty. She journeys on to Norway, where a young indigenous reindeer herder challenges the most powerful orthodoxies of conservation—and his own government. And in the Middle East, she follows the visionary work of an ambitious young American as he attempts to re-engineer the desert ecosystem, using plants as his most sophisticated technology.

Schwartz explores regenerative solutions across a range of landscapes: deserts, grasslands, tropics, tundra, Mediterranean. She also highlights various human landscapes, the legacy of colonialism and industrial agriculture, and the endurance of indigenous knowledge.

The Reindeer Chronicles demonstrates how solutions to seemingly intractable problems can come from the unlikeliest of places, and how the restoration of local water, carbon, nutrient, and energy cycles can play a dramatic role in stabilizing the global climate. Ultimately, it reveals how much is in our hands if we can find a way to work together and follow nature's lead.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 29, 2020
      In this worthwhile look at conservation, journalist Schwartz (Water in Plain Sight) sheds light on a global and “growing cohort of scientists, mavericks, and young people” engaged in the “participatory sport” of land restoration. Schwartz begins with a large-scale project in China’s Loess Plateau, a “stunning makeover” that occurred over 15 years and involved tens of thousands of people. She also highlights efforts by indigenous Sámi people in Norway to fight government-mandated thinning of the reindeer they have traditionally herded, by proving that this practice doesn’t accelerate climate change, as many other forms of animal agriculture do. In the U.S., Schwartz examines water and land management issues in New Mexico, where conflict and tension between different parties has abounded. Perhaps most fascinating are the sections on Hawaii, which describe the ecological damage wreaked by commodity sugar production, which “invariably (involved) toxic pesticides, fertilizer runoff, and diversions of natural waterways.” In recent decades, however, people in Hawaii have paid greater attention to viable land use, erosion mitigation, and “regenerative agriculture.” Bolstered by a hopeful tone, Schwartz’s study shows what can be accomplished to ensure “that the green-blue orb we sail on remains fit for habitation.”

    • Booklist

      August 1, 2020
      Climate change is on everyone's mind, but tackling the problem seems hopeless. A journalist who focuses on environmental issues, Schwartz (Water in Plain Sight, 2016) meets folks who assert that hope is all around, by restoring the soil, water, and air in local ecologies. On a globe-spanning tour for those signs of hope, she visits China's Loess Plateau, and finds that a denuded landscape has been restored within a decade, mostly due to changed grazing practices. In Middle Eastern landscapes, desertification is being countered by harvesting rainwater and planting drought-resistant trees. The Sami of northern Norway understand how integral their reindeer are to maintaining an ecological balance. Female farmers and ranchers in Washington State embody a holistic approach to land management and animal husbandry. A chapter on water squabbles in New Mexico is a study in learning to listen to one another as the first order of healing the land. Spain's barren coastline is causing a "meterological traffic jam," but change is slowly coming. This sobering book chooses to see what's "possible rather than impediments."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

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  • English

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