Bird Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions
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This is a fascinating book. Having spent more than 35 years in conservation, access to something like this years ago would have been invaluable for me. Of course, conservation has come a long way since then but, for those dealing with issues new to them, this title can, within minutes of browsing, provide a synopsis of the interventions to date, as well as some indication of their success (or otherwise). And while the conservation business is well advanced in some countries, there are many dedicated conservationists elsewhere in the world tackling for the first time problems that are helpfully reported on here. The power of the book is that it can quickly advance the reader’s knowledge, pointing out what is known and what isn’t. It describes 322 bird conservation interventions from around the world, summarising the published papers concisely by revealing what was investigated, how it was done and the outcome. It provides snapshots of each
and is spectacularly informative and very readable.
This is a reference book, but don’t be put off by it not being bed-time reading. The 15 sections are grouped intelligently, first mainly by threat, including such topics as pollution and invasive aliens, and then by the nature of the threat – pollution covers industrial, agricultural, air-borne and energy, for example.
No study is repeated. Instead there is good cross-referencing, with key texts on similar studies listed at the end of each section. The 45-page index is comprehensive, while the list of contents allows quick finding of a topic.
So who would want to buy this book? Clearly conservationists, managers of nature reserves or other land, farmers of animals, plants or fish, researchers and scientists. But so might an average birder looking to understand the current high-profile conservations topics, such as the effectiveness of actions to reduce the impact of predators or the ways in which field or forest management can affect birds. If your interest is in providing nestboxes, this will give you an array of information on their effectiveness. If the price puts you off, there is much material freely available online at www.conservationevidence.com, which also has the advantage of being updated regularly.
and is spectacularly informative and very readable.
This is a reference book, but don’t be put off by it not being bed-time reading. The 15 sections are grouped intelligently, first mainly by threat, including such topics as pollution and invasive aliens, and then by the nature of the threat – pollution covers industrial, agricultural, air-borne and energy, for example.
No study is repeated. Instead there is good cross-referencing, with key texts on similar studies listed at the end of each section. The 45-page index is comprehensive, while the list of contents allows quick finding of a topic.
So who would want to buy this book? Clearly conservationists, managers of nature reserves or other land, farmers of animals, plants or fish, researchers and scientists. But so might an average birder looking to understand the current high-profile conservations topics, such as the effectiveness of actions to reduce the impact of predators or the ways in which field or forest management can affect birds. If your interest is in providing nestboxes, this will give you an array of information on their effectiveness. If the price puts you off, there is much material freely available online at www.conservationevidence.com, which also has the advantage of being updated regularly.
- Bird Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions by David R Williams, Robert G Pople, David A Showler, Lynn V Dicks, Matthew F Child, Erasmus K H J zu Ermgassen and William J Sutherland (Pelagic Publishing, Exeter, 2013).
- 575 pages, black-and-white illustrations.
- ISBN 9781907807190. Pbk, £39.99.
