"A fantastic read, a work of great scholarship and a true vision for the future." -- David Bellamy "I thoroughly recommend Future Nature to all those involved in taking conservation into the next millennium whether land use planners, ecologists, agriculturalists, civil servants or politicians." -- Michael Winter, Land Use Policy "It is a compulsive read, not least because of Bill Adam's finely honed and well-crafted written style. He provides an unusual and entertaining blend of emotional, even emotive, personal reflection, wide-ranging anecdotes and systematic examples of the results of a wide and disparate range of published research -- Professor Nigel Curry, University of Gloucestershire "An admirable commentary on nature conservation in Britain over the last 50 years." -- Environmental Values In this new and updated edition, Adams analyzes the problems that conservation faces and seeks the new ideas and new energy that conservation needs for the future. Concepts such as biodiversity and sustainability, and changes in our understanding, appreciation and concern for nature, offer unprecedented opportunities. The links between nature and culture are tightly intertwined, as are those between economics and the countryside. Adams explores these links, and the scientific, cultural and economic significance of conservation.
He argues that conservation must move beyond the boundaries of parks and reserves to embrace the whole countryside, and that it must be built into ordinary life, not isolated as a specialized product kept only in reserved places. Conservation action much be founded on the relationship between our daily lives and the natural world: its success demands a creative approach, and a recognition of the vital wilderness of nature.