Description:
How do we gauge the state of earth's wildlife, wildlands, and oceans? State of the Wild is a new annual series that brings together some of the world's most renowned conservationists and writers-George Schaller, Alan Rabinowitz, Sylvia Earle, Rick Bass, Bill McKibben, Tom Lovejoy, and many others-to assess wildlife and wilderness, and to provide insights into how humans can become better stewards of the wild.
This new annual publication will combine evocative writings with a fascinating tour of news highlights and vital statistics from around the world. One-third of each volume will focus on a topic of particular concern to conservationists working to protect wildlife and our last wild places. This 2006 edition explores the impacts of hunting and the wildlife trade through a range of essays: Ted Kerasote traces the history of hunting in North America; Carl Safina, Eric Gilman, and Wallace J. Nichols quantify the toll taken by commercial fishing on seabirds, turtles, and other marine species; James Compton and Samuel K. H. Lee explore the global reach of the wildlife trade for traditional Asian medicine.
Contributors also examine other pivotal conservation issues, from the reasons why one in eight of the world's birds are endangered, to the impacts of global climate change, to the complexity of conserving seals, flamingos, zebras, and other wide-ranging species. The book's closing essay, "The Relative Wild," considers what exactly it means for a place to be "wild," where even the most remote corners of the planet have been altered by human activities.
Uniquely structured with magazine-like features up front, conservation news in the middle, and essay contributionsfrom eminent authors and biologists throughout, this landmark series is an essential addition to any environmental bookshelf.
Contents:
By the numbers : hunted, traded, and eaten into extinction
Foreword : a brief history of state of the wild
Introduction : wildlife, wildlands, and oceans 
PART I State of the Wild
Gold or flowers : one view on the state of the wild
Mapping the wild : the human footprint 1
Discoveries
New conservation methods and technologies
Regulating the wild
The rarest of the rare : some of the world's most endangered animals
PART II Global News Highlights
Africa
Asia
Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands
Central and South America
Europe
Middle East and North Africa
North America
Oceans
Polar regions
PART III Hunting and the Wildlife Trade
Setting the scene
A short history of hunting in North America
Consuming wildlife in the tropics
Wildlife trade within East Asia : supply and demand for traditional Oriental medicine
Twine and the ancient mariners : albatrosses, sea turtles, and fishing gear encounters 
Ebola, SARS, and other diseases that imperil people and animals
Hunting for conservation in the Amazon rain forests : lessons learned from Peru
PART IV Conservation Controversies
Let them eat cake? : some skeptical thoughts on conservation strategies in the bushmeat range states
Biting the hand that feeds you : the consumption of nature and natural resources in the tropics
Response to John Robinson : postindustrial conservation ideals and real-world politics 
Response to David Brown : the view from Versailles contrasts with local reality
Comments on Brown vs. Robinson : bushmeat trade : thoughts from "the coast"
Through the looking glass : the tragedy of depleting wildlife resources : a response to John Robinson and David Brown
Let them eat LSD bushmeat : thoughts arising from Brown vs. Robinson
PART V Wildlife
Listening to the birds
Species in focus : saving jaguars throughout their range : from theory to practice
Climate change and the wild : into the great unknown
The gathering wave of ocean extinctions
Conservation strategies for colonial and social species
PART VI Wildlands and Oceans
The land the wilderness act forgot
Marine protected areas : can we rebuild marine ecosystems by closing areas to fishing?
PART VII People and Culture
Culturally determined wildlife populations : the problem of the designer ark
PART VIII The Art and Practice of Conservation
Conservation and conflict : the importance of continuing conservation work during political upheaval and armed conflict
Neither war nor peace : protected areas still at risk in DR Congo, 2005
The destruction of Iraq's wetlands and impacts on biodiversity
Captive breeding : miracle under fire
Can tropical forests be managed for timber production and wildlife protection?
What falls through the cracks in conservation strategies? : interviews with Sylvia Earle and Thomas Lovejoy
Afterword : the relative wild
Acknowledgements
Notes
Contributors
Index