'I've been working my way through Shepherding Nature, and it's hard to imagine a better book for the topic. The authors provide some frameworks for thinking, analyzing factors that threaten (single or multiple, expected or unexpected), case studies that are each rather unique in threat, response, and outcome, connecting ecology with policy and management, and then great essays by people engaged with the cases, putting a very human face on the stories. The book has both a paradigm about how the future of species will develop (conservation reliance - what is it, how to think about it, how to engage in it) and the evidence-based case studies that show how different cases are (but thereby giving some insights in to the general questions and challenges that are common across them). It's hard to know how much difference a book can make, but if a book can make a difference in this arena, this is the one that the authors have written. By the time I was done I realized the book didn't rely on any ecological concepts - its approach was thoroughly evidence based. That gave me a smile.' Dan Binkley, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University
1. Extinction and the challenge of conservation reliance; 2. The conservation spectrum; 3. The genesis of conservation reliance and the language of conservation; 4. What are the threats; 5. Emerging threats in a rapidly changing world; 6. The role of policy and law; 7. What's in the conservationist's toolbox: species-centered approaches; 8. Expanding the conservationist's toolbox: going beyond species; 9. Conservation reliance is a human issue; 10. Making tough decisions: prioritizing species for conservation; 11. Being a good shepherd; Appendices; Author biographies; References; Index.