No country on earth is entirely sheltered from the relentless press of forces that promise to roll over what is left of the natural world. Some would argue otherwise, pointing to institutions that have been created by humans to preserve nature for posterity. We call them parks.
Nature is safe in parks, or so it is presumed.
But that is a blithe presumption, made without reference to nature's requirements and with scant knowledge of the forces that have perpetuated the earth's vast biological wealth over past eons . . . Like all parks, Manu is assumed to provide inviolate protection to nature. Yet even there, in one of the most remote corners of the planet, Terborgh has been witness to the relentless onslaught of civilization. In Requiem for Nature , he offers brutally honest answers to those difficult questions, and appraises the prospects for the future of tropical conservation. His book is a clarion call for anyone who cares about the quality of the natural world we will leave our children.