Genes from the Wild describes the growing contribution of wild genetic resources to the production of food and raw materials, describes their characteristics, explains the benefits and problems of using them and outlines the ways in which they are threatened and the measures being taken to conserve them.

Destruction is usually a poor trade-off: well-managed wetlands in Louisiana are producing fortunes in seafood and timber. This book examines the value of swamps and marshes, as well as the threats against them. It takes the reader to some of the world's most bizarre landscapes like the 'inland delta' of the Niger River in drought-stricken Mali.

Lands lost to desert may effectively be lost for ever, so desertification is humanity's most obvious despoliation to the planet. This book describes what is happening and where. It also discusses many of the myriad ways in which it is possible to arrest the progress of desertification.

Modern society too often views water as a convenient vehicle for disposing of waste - and the results are becoming increasingly apparent. This book examines the roots of freshwater pollution - urbanization, industrialization and intensive farming - supported by case studies from the Rhine and the Great Lakes.

Genetic diversity is essential to the security of agriculture. Without the availability of a wide range of plant varieties and the genetic resources they contain, crops cannot adapt to combat the ever-changing threats of pests, diseases and climatic change. This book traces the decline of crop varieties in European farming.

Agriculture produces methane and the products of burning off, which add to the world's problems of acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer and global warming. Focusing on the UK, the USA and Third World countries, this book reviews the agriculture and pollution. It examines the facts and assesses the relative dangers of the pollution problems.

Forest Politics carefully traces the evolution of international cooperation on forests, from the inception of the controversial International Tropical Timber Organization and the failed Tropical Forestry Action Programme in the mid-1980s, to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests in the mid-1990s.

Much of the world's tropical timber is supplied from natural forest. This book reviews the extent to which natural forests are already being sustainably managed for timber production, and looks at how these practices can be enlarged. It is intended for those working or interested in the subject of tropical forests.

Plantations are playing an increasingly important part in the development and the economies of the South. This book examines their rationale and purpose, exposing the misconceptions and myths that have surrounded their role, and describing the contribution they can make to sustainable development.

The destruction of the tropical forest is one of the major problems of our time. This book provides a vision of hope: in Latin America, Africa, and South East Asia, growing numbers of people are developing techniques specifically designed to promote the wise use and preservation of remaining forest lands.