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Electronic TEG

Published in TEG news issue 24, Summer 1998, by the British Ecological Society.
Category: Book Reviews.

Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Hill MK. 1997. Understanding Environmental Pollution.Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 512 56680 0. pp xvi +316.

Rather than produce another standard description of pollution this book takes a more direct solutions-oriented approach by adopting a four-fold analysis to a range of current pollution issues. For each example Hill asks four questions: what is it, why worry about it, where does it come from and what can we do about it. It is this more than anything that sets the book apart from others. The first four chapters provide the reader with an overview of pollution which covers standard ground but also takes a more rs for granted. However, a look at their history reveals a mixture of luck, politics and determination (in any order). One of our most respected scientists has completed a history of the first 50 years of the IUCN or World Conservation Union as it's now known. Surprisingly, the book starts with the assertion that it is the 'conservation world's best-kept secret'. Given the data that it has provided for generations of conservationists this might seem strange but Holdgate maintains that it is part of its success - to be a 'green web' (hence the title) rather than an advocacy group. The book follows a timeline from the beginnings to the recent World Conservation Congress describing the people, events and initiatives that shaped the IUCN. A final chapter is used to put a more critical analysis of events and the future of the organisation. It is a fascinating book to read although you would need to be familiar with the background to fully appreciate it.

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