The Wealth of Nature

Hardcover;  366 pages; 12 x 12 inches; Authors: J. McNeely, R. Mittermeier, T. Brooks, F. Boltz and N. Ash; Forward by Julia Marton-Lefevre; color photographs from the International League of Conservation Photographers.   How many of the comforts we enjoy and the products we use come courtesy of Nature’s seemingly infinite warehouse of services? Bees pollinate the cereals we eat for breakfast, forests and wetlands purify the water that we drink, and the trees in our yards trap pollutants from the air we breathe. All of these benefits, as well as our fuels and natural medicines and countless others, come to us, free of charge, from our planet’s healthy ecosystems. As societies expand, however, we often lose sight of the intimate links between the health of Nature and our own well-being. How do we come to value the many services Nature provides that are necessary for our survival? And, perhaps most importantly, how do we maintain the full array of ecological services necessary for future