Precautionary Politics: Principle and Practice in Confronting Environmental Risk

556 Among the themes of the book, the social, economic and political aspects of biodiversity conservation are comprehensively considered along with the ecological aspects. This approach is highly commended and essential to conservation biology. In particular, few conservation biology textbooks still explicitly cover cultural and ethical issues. Further credits to this book are the discussion on ecosystem goods and services and the insightful views on politics and action, reaching from international agencies to individuals, although not covering national legislations. The topics of the case studies are thematically and taxonomically comprehensive, but limited geographically, examples from Europe, continental South America, and the Arctic and Antarctic areas could be added. Interesting themes complementing the contents of the book would be for instance the susceptibility of Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems to climate change and the dependence of traditional Arctic livelihoods on ecosystem functioning. The book offers a variety of useful material specifically for students and instructors. Each chapter ends with a summary, an annotated list of suggested further readings, and topics for discussion, including hands-on exercises. The authors also provide an exceptionally wide variety of content lists and indices. In addition to the full table of contents, there is a brief one-page list consisting only of the part titles and main headings. While perhaps not strictly necessary, this list offers a general overview of the contents and organization of the book. The book also contains a list of the case studies presented, a reference list, a glossary, and subject and species indices. In addition, the book’s artwork is available to instructors online and by request on CD-ROM. If one was to wish for one further item, it would be a general introduction outlining and summarizing the book’s contents. In the preface, the first author briefly describes the background and writing process of the three editions. Although giving an interesting and personal view of the history of the book, the preface does not present the book’s contents as such. Some elements of such introduction are included in the preface, as well as in the “prologue” of the third part of the book. Readers might benefit if in forthcoming editions these elements were collated in an introductory preface. The current preface would then function as an inspiring foreword. In addition, in this well-structured book the role of the “prologues” to each part of the book remains somewhat unclear. However, partly introducing or summarizing the contents of the subsequent chapters, partly acting as a preface to the whole book, together they form an interesting entity that interacts beautifully with the epilogue, jointly constructing a strong appeal for the conservation of biodiversity. Much of the hope for the maintenance of the world’s biota lies in the accumulation of knowledge that will both strengthen the basis of decisionmaking and shape the public opinion and policies. In particular, the material on the management of ecosystems and populations in the book will hopefully help to bridge the gap between theory and practice by serving decision-makers and conservation managers, which is essential for conservation biology. The applicability of the information would be further enhanced by the compilation of more concrete and succinct practical messages on applicable issues, but this may fall outside the scope of the book. An aspect fundamental to the accumulation and application of knowledge is the education of future researchers and managers. The authors’ aim has been to write a basic text on conservation biology for educational purposes, and this aim is well fulfilled. Drawing on their experience in teaching and instructive writing, the authors provide an accessible, wellorganized and updated review suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in various biological and environmental sciences. The book will also serve as a reference work for researchers, and the expressive and lively prose, reflecting the dedication of the authors, will hopefully inspire not only future conservation biologists but anyone who is interested in the richness of life surrounding us.