Description

A NEW SCIENTIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

‘A fascinating read for anyone interested in the future of the planet’ Adam Hart, author and BBC science presenter

Our planet hasn’t seen the current rate of extinction since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and global conservation efforts are failing to halt this. As a society, we face choices which will determine the fate of Earth’s estimated 8.7 million species, including humans. As wildlife declines, conservation needs to make trade-offs. But what should we conserve and why?

Are we wrong to love bees and hate wasps? Are native species more valuable than newcomers (aka invasives)? Should some animals be culled to protect others, and what do we want the ‘natural world’ to look like? There are many surprising answers in Rebecca Nesbit’s lively, stimulating book, which sows the seeds of a debate we urgently need to have.

Publisher Review

Conservation often requires tough decisions. Rebecca Nesbit takes an entertaining and unflinching look at one of the toughest decisions of all - what do we save if we can't save everything. A fascinating read for anyone interested in the future of the planet -- Adam Hart, author and BBC science presenter Praise for Rebecca Nesbit: Clear-headed and with a strictly fact-based view of the issue, it highlights the complexities inherent in understanding the multiple ways in which plant genetic engineering can and has been used in the real world. If you want to get beyond post-truth on the issue of GMOs, Nesbit's book is a great place to start -- Mark Lynas