Breakfast Of Biodiversity: The Political Ecology of Rain Forest Destruction | 
| Authors: John Vandermeer, Ivette Perfecto
Creator: Vandana Shiva
Publisher: Food First
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 21149
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2 Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 207
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 093502896X
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.7516
EAN: 9780935028966
ASIN: 093502896X
Publication Date: October 2005
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: P20080929104248S
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Product Description
Unweaving the Web of Destruction The continuing devastation of the worlds tropical rain forest affects us allspurring climate change, decimating biodiversity, and wrecking our environments resiliency. Millions of worried people around the world want to do whatever it takes to save the forest that is left. But halting rain forest destruction means understanding what is driving it. In Breakfast of Biodiversity, John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto insightfully describe the ways in which such disparate factors as the international banking system, modern agricultural techniques, rain forest ecology, and the struggles of the poor interact to bring down the forest. They weave an alternative vision in which democracy, sustainable agriculture, and land security for the poor are at the center of the movement to save the tropical environment. This new, fully updated edition of Breakfast of Biodiversity discusses important new developments in our understanding of rain forest biology and assesses the impacts of a decade of "free" trade on the rain forest and on those who live in and around it.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Sobering but empowering analysis June 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Breakfast of Biodiversity" by John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto is a critical analysis of the myriad forces that are driving the destruction of the world's tropical rain forests, with particular emphasis on Central America where the authors have been engaged for many years of hands-on research and field work. The authors write in this, the 2005 second edition about the important insights and lessons that have been learned since the book's first edition published in 1995. Presenting knowledge gained through both scholarly research and their own practical experiences, the authors help us understand that narrowly-focused solutions to solving environmental problems will inevitably come up wanting in the absence of wider, more meaningful socio-political changes. The result is a sobering but ultimately empowering text that allows us to better understand both the challenge and the promise of saving the earth's remaining rain forests.
The authors explain how rain forests are neither fragile nor stable, discussing how rain forests can recover relatively quickly from short-term disruptions such as clear-cut logging operations but can suffer long-lasting damage from industrial agriculture and, of course, urbanization. We come to appreciate the wide variety of rain forest types as well as their common characteristics, shedding light on how humans might be able to make better strategic use of the land and live in harmony with the rain forest.
The idea that managing land under cultivation in a sustainable and socially equitable manner appears to be a surprisingly effective proposal when compared with the oftentimes ineffective method of land conservation that has often been favored by mainstream environmental groups. In fact, the authors compare the fate of rain forest lands over time to make their point: in Nicaragua, more rain forest had been saved as a result of the progressive land redistribution policies of the Sandinista government that in Costa Rica, where market forces have compelled the poor to convert so-called protected areas of the rain forest to farmland. Unfortunately, when the Sandinistas lost power in the 1990s, the neoliberal policies favored by the succeeding administration quickly unraveled these gains and resulted once again in an accelerated loss of rain forest lands.
However, the authors are hopeful that the anti-globalization movement can help to unravel the dense web that connects international capital with third world indebtedness, arguing that if inequality can be minimized then the poverty that drives desperate people into the rain forest can be curtailed. Therefore, the authors hope that their book will compel environmentalists to unite with social and political activists in an united effort to call for meaningful change in the world economic system. While this may be a tall order, the penetrating analysis contained in this exceptional book suggests that such a strategy is the only credible solution to solving one of humankind's most formidable problems.
I highly recommend this accessible, informative and enlightening book to everyone.
Breakfast of biodiversity+ lunch and dinner too! August 15, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
A slim volume that pack a punch.It highlights the global nature of the problem, stressing that rainforests can and indeed do regenerate, but not if the disturbance is too great.
Food insecurity and lack of land tenure are cited as important driving forces, and conventional, purist models of conservation, while satisfying the hopes and desires of lobbies in the wealthy developed world, fail to address the human dilammas that are so important.
A 'Political Ecological Strategy' if offered as a solution that takes heed of all the strands of the 'web of destruction' both in a local and a global context, and although not suggesting that the future is 'rosy', it does offer a glimmer of hope.
A book to be thoroughly recommended to all those who are interested in the future of the rainforest, its people and the planet.An excellent read.
 thought-provoking February 17, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wonderfully researched, if sometimes dryly written. If you like this book, then you'll likely find something interesting in the coffee-table book, Costa Rica: The Last Country the Gods Made.The essays, " New Conservation in the Costa Rican Parks System" and "House Made of Rain" touch on many of the things discussed in Vandermeer's text.
Great explanation of political ecology December 26, 2000
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a professional in the environmental area in Central America, I applaud Vandermeer and Perfecto's explanations of the workings of man in the humid tropical forests of our region. These are not easy issues, yet they manage to leave the reader with a sense of the urgency without oversimplifying or becoming preachy. This book is best for someone who is really interested in the political ramifications of US policy in the tropics, or for someone interested in working in the environment overseas.
Great examination of rain forest destruction July 27, 2000
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was drawn to this book because of the foreword by Vandana Shiva. I kept reading it. It does a good job of looking at several of the different variables causing rain forest destruction and keys in on land and food as major factors. Clear and easily read. Not to long or overly verbose.
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