History and Future of Plants, Planet and People

Towards a New Ecologically Sustainable Age in People's Relationships With Plants

Alan Hamilton, Pei Shengji

• Publisher: CAB International
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781789248944
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

This fascinating book presents the experiences and pooled knowledge of two very different conservation scientists; Pei Shengji from Sichuan, China and Alan Hamilton from London, UK. They have been drawn together over many years through working on some of the same conservation projects and have discovered that they overlap in their ideas about the sorts of work that needs to be done and how it can best be carried out. The book describes some of their own experiences, set within the contexts of their varied careers and the development of their thinking.Plant conservation is crucial to the preservation of natural ecosystems, but conventional approaches have met with only limited success. The authors have concluded that plant conservationists need social allies - elements of society that have other primary concerns, but whose efforts, if successful, will bring benefits to plant conservation too.It is the state and condition of plants on the ground that ultimately matter in conserving ecosystems, and therefore it is the role of local people who interact directly with them which enables success. Ethnobotany is a key skill required of practical plant conservationists. Its techniques enable them to explore connections between people and plants, learn about local perspectives and establish relationships with the people upon whom conservation and sustainable development relies.This book: recommends how to advance plant conservation, based on real experiences. will inspire more people to become involved in plant conservation. demonstrates how the very different backgrounds of the authors have influenced the courses of their careers, but have enabled them to come to very similar conclusions about conservation practice. demonstrates the importance of geographically-based biocultural diversity, as a counterbalancing force to globalisation.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half title page
• logo_Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Maps
• Figures
• Tables
• Preface
• Sustainable Development: An Existential Challenge of Our Time (With a Note on the Luganda Language)
• Plants, Planet and People – An Overview
• Plants in Human History to 1500 ce
• Cultural Influences on People/Plant Relationships, Part 1 – Worldviews
• Plants in Human History Since 1500 ce
• Cultural Influences on People/Plant Relationships, Part 2 – Post-1500 Developments in Europe and the West
• Human Knowledge of Plants
• A History of Plant Conservation
• Principles and Practice of Ecosystem-Based Plant Conservation
• The People and Plants Initiative (PPI, 1992–2005)Hamilton Alan
• The Medicinal Plants Conservation Initiative (MPCI, 2004–2008)Hamilton Alan
• The Saga of Rubber, Part 2 – The Story in China and the Founding of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden
• Commercialisation of the Hani’s Knowledge of Fleagrass – A Case Study in Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) in China
• Revitalising the Traditional Conservation Practices of the Dai (China)
• Research into the Environmental History of Tropical AfricaAlan Hamilton
• A Conservation Crisis Caused by Destructive Logging in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania (1986–1987), and a Sequel in Mexico (1988)Alan Hamilton
• Conservation and Community Knowledge, Mt Kinabalu, Malaysia (1992–1998)Alan Hamilton
• Conservation on the Frontline: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda (1966–2004)Alan Hamilton
• Resource Conflicts at Ayubia National Park, Pakistan (1996–2004)Alan Hamilton
• Conservation and Healing in Dolpo, Nepal (1997–2004)Alan Hamilton
• Conservation and Development Based on Medicinal Plants at Ludian, China, with an Extension to the Meili Snow Mountain Range (from 2006)
• Reference
• Index of Species
• General Index