Product Overview
As eloquent as it is alarming, Carol Ann Bassetts portrait of todays Galpagos depicts a deadly collision of economics, politics, and the environment that may destroy one of the worlds last Edens.
For millions, the Galpagos Islands represent nature at its most unspoiled, an inviolate place famed for its rare flora and fauna. But soon todays 30,000 human residents could surpass 50,000. Add invasive species, floods of tourists, and unresolved conflicts between Ecuadorian laws and local concerns, and its easy to see why the Galpagos were recently added to UNESCOs World Heritage in Danger list.
Each chapter in this provocative, perceptive book focuses on a specific person or group with a stake in the Galpagos natural resourcesfrom tour companies whose activities are often illegal and not always green, to creationist guides who lead tours with no mention of evolution, from fishermen up in arms over lobster quotas, to modern-day pirates who poach endangered marine species.
Bassett presents a perspective as readable as it is sensible. Told with wit, passion, and grace, the Galpagos story serves as a miniature model of Earth itself, a perfect example of how an environment can be destroyed--and what is being done to preserve these islands before it's too late.
