Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth

Category: Book
By (author): Hiss, Tony
Introduction By: Wilson, E. O.
Subject:  NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection
  NON-FICTION / General
  POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Environmental Policy
  SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Biological Diversity
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: March 2021
Format: Book-hardcover
Pages: 320
Size: 8.25in x 5.62in x 0.88in
Availability:
Unavailable

Additional Notes

From The Publisher*"As clear a picture of humanity's impact on earth's natural environment as any ever written." --E. O. Wilson (from the Introduction)

An urgent, resounding call to protect 50 percent of the earth's land by 2050--thereby saving millions of its species--and a candid assessment of the health of our planet and our role in conserving it, from the award-winning author of The Experience of Place and veteran New Yorker staff writer.

Beginning in the vast North American Boreal Forest that stretches through Canada, and roving across the continent, from the Northern Sierra to Alabama's Paint Rock Forest, from the Appalachian Trail to a ranch in Mexico, Tony Hiss sets out on a journey to take stock of the "superorganism" that is the earth: its land, its elements, its plants and animals, its greatest threats--and what we can do to keep it, and ourselves, alive.

Hiss not only invites us to understand the scope and gravity of the problems we face, but also makes the case for why protecting half the land is the way to fix those problems. He highlights the important work of the many groups already involved in this fight, such as the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, and the global animal tracking project ICARUS. And he introduces us to the engineers, geologists, biologists, botanists, oceanographers, ecologists, and other "Half Earthers" like Hiss himself who are allied in their dedication to the unifying, essential cause of saving our own planet from ourselves.

Tender, impassioned, curious, and above all else inspiring, Rescuing the Planet is a work that promises to make all of us better citizens of the earth.
Review Quote*"Tony Hiss has not just captured the possibility of large-scale conservation, he's understood that it needs to be connected with human beings. The idea of Indigenous Protected Areas that he describes is one of those prospects-simultaneously radical and obvious-that might give us a fighting chance in the decades ahead!" -Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

"Hiss creates a sense of hope with lyrical descriptions and immersive portrayals of various programs across the continent . . . This eye-opening survey will leave readers inspired." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A passionate argument for protecting the world's rapidly shrinking wilderness . . . [Hiss] describes a campaign to protect 50% of the world's land [and] illustrates his thought-provoking arguments with a handful of North American projects, including a major expansion of the Appalachian Trail, rejuvenation of New Jersey's Pine Barrens, restoration of the vast pine forests in the Southeast, and conversion of Yellowstone into a Greater Yellowstone protected area, essential to preserve its diminishing species . . . A combination of passion, inspiration, and rigor." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Biographical NoteTONY HISS is the author of fifteen books, including the award-winning The Experience of Place. He was a staff writer at The New Yorker for more than thirty years, was a visiting scholar at New York University for twenty-five years, and has lectured around the world. He lives in New York with his wife, young-adult writer Lois Metzger.