Dartmouth/University Press of New England

2004/2006

Ominous storm clouds have gathered to threaten humanity's most basic resource of all, the diversity of life on earth. And the danger facing us--the possibility of losing forever hundreds of thousands of species with whom we share this planet--is magnified by the fact that this rapid decline of global biodiversity is too vast to be handled solely by states or their existing international institutions. Michael Gunter, Jr. argues a fundamentally different route is needed and suggests nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are best situated to negotiate the powerful array of political and economic interests when it comes to protecting species diversity.

“This is an important and much-needed book on a vital subject.  Using thorough, hands-on scholarship, Gunter delineates the role of the NGOs as the spearhead of the global conservation movement.  He delivers balanced accounts of their strategies, their relationship to governments and the public, their successes and their vulnerabilities

E.O Wilson, Two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner

“A welcome contribution…Written with the scrutiny of a political scientist and the heart of an environmentalist…This book appeals to both academics and practitioners alike.  Members of the environmental field will benefit from this book’s intermingling of the empirical and theoretical…Practitioners should be eager to apply the lessons of this sector in their own work.”

- Cristina M. Balboa, Yale University

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