Rambunctious Garden

"[Marris] doesn't just dwell in the imperfections of the past. She also offers forward-looking innovations."—Mother Jones

 

"Covering the world of ecology and conservation from the ancient forests of Poland to the urban waterways of Seattle, Washington, Marris calls for a new kind of conservation that eschews the defensive stance of the past and embraces the challenges of acknowledging, understanding, protecting, and restoring the nature of the present and the future.  This is a thought-provoking book that should be widely read and more widely discussed."—Kent H. Redford, director, Wildlife Conservation Society

"In Rambunctious Garden, Emma Marris weeds through a jungle of ecological dogma, yanking and hacking at our most cherished perceptions of Nature’s purity. Marris asks us to look beyond the black-and-white world of pest and weed versus native and natural. And to humbly accept our duty, as tenders of a garden rambunctious beyond our ken, but not beyond our care."—William Stolzenburg, author of Rat Island and Where the Wild Things Were

"This is reality-based ecology at its best. It leads to far better science and conservation practices than the ideology of pristine ecosystems ever could."—Stewart Brand, author of Whole Earth Discipline

"Great environmental books tell a story and change our thinking—Emma Marris has written such a book.  She shows conservation a way out of its sullen addiction to the parable of relentless decline, and offers instead a vision of a lively nature—poking itself rambunctiously into every human habitat and finding ways to run free in those rare places where humans do not step quite so heavily. I am hoping that everyone who works in conservation or somehow supports or cares about conservation and nature reads this book. It is Rachel Carson for the twenty-first Century."—Peter Kareiva, chief scientist, The Nature Conservancy