Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

*Johnny Wilson, who I have known since he was a wee undergraduate in South Africa has just published an excellent text book on conservation. He's done so with Richard Primack, who has an unrivalled record of texts on conservation. It's very good indeed. And, it's free to download. Very well done, gentlemen, and my sincere thanks for your commitment to making science readily available to those who often cannot afford expensive text books. Kudos all round. *

"Sometimes even music cannot substitute for tears,” Paul Simon once sang. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa is an extremely well-written and beautifully illustrated magnum opus on almost all things biological that pertain to the difficult subject of conservation in sub-Saharan Africa. It can be viewed as a primer on ecology, a call to arms and, almost, a cry of despair as much as a reference on conservation. I found that I could only read a small part each time I opened it. The facts and problems, given in such lucid and easy-to-read detail, are enough to make you cry. It requires courage to face the existential problems that confront wildlife (and indeed humans) in Africa. That the authors have done so, and even offer glimpses of hope, is to be applauded, as is their decision to make the book available for free on the internet.