Synopses & Reviews
"How best to preserve biological diversity and protect endangered species drives the conservation impulse on every continent, but none more so than Africa. In
Game Changer Glen Martin plunges bravely into the center of a scalding scientific debate and without sentiment or prejudice reveals and lauds what works on the world's most biodiverse continent, while exposing the destructive romanticism, inchoate philosophy, and outright idiocy that is steering so many contemporary wildlife conservation efforts toward failure."and#151;Mark Dowie, author of
Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict Between Global Conservation and Native Peoples"We are well into a massive global environmental crisis, against which the worldviews and tactics of status quo conservation are manifestly inadequate. Game Changer may well be the most explosively controversial look yet at this tragic state of affairs, viewed through the conflicted topics of animal rights, hunting, and African cultural diversity. I couldnand#8217;t put this book down and I can scarcely wait for the inevitable critical reactions, in hopes that Glen Martinand#8217;s provocative candor will lead to more effective solutions." and#151;Harry Greene, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University
"A sobering exposand#233; of Africaand#8217;s wilderness facade. Martin tours Kenyaand#8217;s legendary Eden of elephant and lion, wildebeest and rhino, and finds it on the verge of crumbling under the weight of a burgeoning populace and a misguided conservation agenda. Martin's is a gritty tale of bush meat and ivory, poachers and poverty, and a call for a more pragmatic approach toward saving the last great herds of Earthand#8217;s quintessential wild kingdom." and#151;Will Stolzenburg, author of Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World's Greatest Wildlife Rescue
"The hardest lesson we all must learn about saving Africaand#8217;s wildlife: conservation canand#8217;t just be about the animals. Game Changer makes this case brilliantly. While the plight of individual animals pulls on our heartstrings, Glen Martin fearlessly show us how conservationists must think about entire landscapes, including people." and#151;Jonathan Adams, author of The Myth of Wild Africa
Review
and#8220;Martin builds a convincing case. . . . But the real value of Martinand#8217;s book is in showing how hard it is to find any conservation strategy that works in the complex reality of todayand#8217;s Africa. . . . Walking the fine line between unregulated killing and managed hunting will not be easy but, Martin concludes, it may be the only hope for Africaand#8217;s wild creatures.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Africaand#8217;s wild megafauna are caught in the crossfire between animal-welfare campaigners and conservationists. . . . In this pacy, unsentimental account, Martin . . . points out that measures such as ecotourism and protection for iconic species have backfired dramatically.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Martinand#8217;s work incisively probes complexities most wildlife lovers have likely never considered, but urgently need to, before some of their beloved species utterly disappear from the earth.and#8221;
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and#8220;A nuanced investigation.and#8221;
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and#8220;A perceptive if partisan examination of a continent-wide controversy over how best to preserve Africa's amazing wildlife heritage.and#8221;
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and#8220;This book is a must-read for anyone interested in African wildlife conservation.and#8221;
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and#8220;The real value of Martinand#8217;s book is in showing how hard it is to find any strategy that works in . . . todayand#8217;s Africa.and#8221;
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“A perceptive if partisan examination of a continent-wide controversy over how best to preserve Africa's amazing wildlife heritage.” Carl Hays - Booklist
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“This book is a must-read for anyone interested in African wildlife conservation.” San Francisco Chronicle
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“Highly engaging and colorful in style . . . excitingly displayed evidence.” Diana Rupp - Sports Afield Magazine
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and#8220;This book is an important contribution to the debate on wildlife conservation in Africa and needs to be widely read.and#8221;
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“A nuanced investigation.” D. H. M. Cumming - IUCN SULInews
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and#8220;Highly engaging and colorful in style . . . excitingly displayed evidence.and#8221;
Synopsis
Are conservation and protecting animals the same thing? In Game Changer, award-winning environmental reporter Glen Martin takes a fresh look at this question as it applies to Africaand#8217;s megafauna. Martin assesses the rising influence of the animal rights movement and finds that the policies championed by animal welfare groups could lead paradoxically to the elimination of the very speciesand#151;including elephants and lionsand#151;that are the most cherished. In his anecdotal and highly engaging style, Martin takes readers to the heart of the conflict. He revisits the debate between conservationists, who believe that people whose lives are directly impacted by the creation of national parks and preserves should be compensated, versus those who believe that restrictive protection that forbids hunting is the most effective way to conserve wildlife and habitats. Focusing on the different approaches taken by Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia, Martin vividly shows how the worldand#8217;s last great populations of wildlife have become the hostages in a fight between those who love animals and those who would save them.
About the Author
Glen Martin is the author of National Geographicand#8217;s Guide to Wildlife Watching: 100 of the Best Places in America to See Animals in their Natural Habitat and coauthor (with Jay Stuller) of Through the Grapevine: The Real Story Behind Americaand#8217;s $8 Billion Wine Industry.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Maps
1. Never an Eden
2. The Man Who Hated Hyenas
3. Dreaming the Peaceable Kingdom
4. From Automata to Sentient Beings
5. My Cow Trumps Your Lion
6. Death to Land#8217;Ancien Rand#233;gime
7. Reality Check
8. The Kenya Model
9. An Inalienable Right
10. Buy (or Lease) It and They Will Come
11. Even the Cows Must Pay
12. Elephant Man
13. The Sage Reconsiders
14. Commodifying Conservation
15. Not a Primary Issue of Concern
16. Hard Choices
17. The Nation on a Plate
18. Topsoil and Condoms
19. Summing Up in Diani
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgments
Index