land degradation & development
Land Degrad. Develop. (2010)
BOOK REVIEW
DEAD PLANET, LIVING PLANET. BIODIVERSITY AND
ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOP-
MENT, A RAPID RESPONSE ASSESSMENT, C. Nellemann,
E. Corcoran (eds). Birkland Trykkeri, Norway, 2010. ISBN
978-82-7701-083-0, US$30.00, 109pp.
Dead Planet, Living Planet is part of the United Nations
Environment Programme’s work to assess the challenges and
opportunities faced when transitioning to a low carbon, resource
efficient Green Economy. The book is a collection of short chapters
that discuss ecosystem services, global land use change and a series
of approaches to ecosystem restoration. The book is testament to
the significant breadth and depth of knowledge UNEP has gathered
in this area. The range of approaches for successful restoration that
have been investigated is very impressive.
Following an introduction to ecosystem services (chapter 2), the
book goes on to discuss global land use change and scenarios of
biodiversity loss (chapter 3). The subsequent seven chapters
(chapters 4–10) each consider a different aspect of ecosystem
restoration, for example, restoration for biodiversity, restoration for
water supply or restoration for climate change mitigation. In each
chapter the reader is concisely introduced to the problem and
provided with case studies that illustrate ways in which a problem
has been successfully solved. The methodologies for restoration are
often novel and generally very simple, providing important
recommendations on how to avoid pitfalls and maximise the
potential for success. In total the book documents over 30
successful restoration case studies and draws information from
thousands of projects. Due to the nature and breadth of topics
covered, its concise chapters, the simplicity of explanations and
practical case studies, this book will be relevant to academics,
policy makers and practitioners, all of whom can draw some
important lessons.
The reader is first introduced to conservation of biodiversity as
the simplest and most effective means of ensuring ecosystem
services are protected for the future. In chapter 3 the intact
ecosystem is compared to the restored ecosystem in terms of
biodiversity, showing that biodiversity in the restored area is
generally lower than in the intact ecosystem, making it apparent
that greater effort should be placed on protecting areas on a greater
scale than is done at present. Where restoration is required it is
costly (US$10–100 thousand per hectare), yet the loss of ecosystem
services of an area altogether would be far greater (- ecosystem
services worldwide are worth US$21–72 trillion/yr). Challenges of
water management can be met by restoring ecosystem catchments,
riparian zones and wetlands (chapter 4). Through restoration water
Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
purification is possible on a far greater scale with 6–22-fold higher
benefit than a filtration plant; no small matter when over 50 per cent
of the world hospital beds are filled with people suffering from
water borne diseases (chapter 5). Reduction in ecosystem services,
such as nutrient depletion, reduced water for irrigation, lower pest
control and loss of pollination (as outlined in the overview provided
in chapter 1) would depress food production by up to 25 per cent,
and strongly impact food security, especially in the most
impoverished, disenfranchised communities. Among other
approaches chapter 6 shows that switching to organic farming
would improve food quality, restore and maintain soil fertility and
reduce pest infestation and provide US$1,610–19 420/ha/yr worth
of ecosystem services compared to US$1, 270–14 570/ha/yr for
conventional farming. Similar monetary values, costs and benefits
are placed upon other restoration attempts. For example,
reforestation of some areas would act as storm barriers, worth
US$23 billion to the United States alone. Climate change
mitigation and carbon sequestration are perhaps the most
commonly thought of purposes for ecosystem restoration. In
chapter 7 we learn that reducing deforestation by 50 per cent by
2030 would cut emissions by 1.5–2.7GtCO2/yr with an estimated
long-term financial benefit of US$3.7 trillion.
Dead Planet, Living Planet provides some salient advice and
convinces the reader that restoring ecosystems is not only possible,
but that it is also a fairly straightforward process in many cases. As
long as the pitfalls of restoration processes are avoided, 25–44 per
cent of the original services and biodiversity provided in
comparable systems can be restored, significantly improving the
wellbeing of the six billion people currently living on the planet.
If there were to be one criticism of the book, it would be that
some information is restated throughout, making it repetitive if read
as a whole. The book would also benefit from improved links to
figures and better explanations for figures which are often presented
alongside text with nothing to explain or link them to that which has
proceeded. Often the figures are far more complicated than the text
or case studies given and are not altogether necessary.
DR ANNA EVELY
Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability, University of
Aberdeen, AB24 3UU UK
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com)
DOI: 10.1002/ldr.1054