We talk a lot about saving the planet, but real conservation starts with understanding.
The books we are sharing in this blog post have changed how we see land, wildlife, people, and power. They go beyond headlines and hashtags, and into the lived realities of conservation: who it impacts, what’s at stake, and why simple answers rarely work.
If you want to care better about the planet, these 7 reads recommended by CC’s staff and board members are a powerful place to start.
Spirit of the Rainforest by Rosa Vasquez Espinoza
Dr. Rosa Vasquez Espinoza is no stranger to the Amazon. Growing up with the rainforest as her back garden, she learnt the lessons of the rainforest from her grandmother, a native healer in natural medicine. She went on to pursue a classical education in science, gaining a PhD in the US, but has always been pulled back to the heart of the Amazon. As a leading biologist in her field, Rosa continues to explore the region through a unique blend of scientific inquiry and ancient insight. In this book, Rosa celebrates the richness of Amazonian culture, the wonders of biodiversity, and the enduring spiritual connections between humanity and the natural world.
Wilder by Millie Kerr
Finalist in the 2024 AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Writing
Wilder details the return of jaguars to an Argentinian national park, the first-ever pangolin reintroduction project in South Africa, and the ways in which giant tortoises are aiding the recovery of ecosystems throughout the Galápagos Islands, among many others.
At an urgent moment in the international fight against biodiversity loss, Wilder’s message is one of innovation and optimism.
A Walk Up the Hill by Madhav Gadgil
Influenced by his birdwatcher father, Gadgil learnt to recognize birds from their pictures even before he could read. This book is an account of his life walking up and down the country’s hills and dales, watching peacocks dance and elephants prance, living among fisherfolk on the west coast, horticulturists on Western Ghats, and the tribals of Manipur and Maharashtra, all the while being a part of a vibrant scientific community.
The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue by Mike Tidwell
In 2023, author and activist Mike Tidwell decided to keep a record for a full year of the growing impacts of climate change on his one urban block right on the border with Washington, DC, a love letter to the magnificent oaks and other trees dying from record heat waves and bizarre rain. No book has told the story of climate change this way: hyper-local, full of surprises, full of true stories of life and death in one neighborhood. The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue is a harrowing and hopeful proxy for every street in America and every place on Earth.
White Man’s Game by Stephanie Hanes
The stunningly beautiful Gorongosa National Park, once the crown jewel of Mozambique, was nearly destroyed by decades of civil war. It looked like a perfect place for Western philanthropy: revive the park and tourists would return, a win-win outcome for the environment and the impoverished villagers living in the area. So why did some researchers find the local communities actually getting hungrier, sicker, and poorer as the project went on? A probing examination of Western conservation efforts in Africa, where our feel-good stories belie a troubling reality.
A Conservation Notebook by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski
A Conservation Notebook is a collection of more of than 100 personal photos and illustrations, adventures, encounters, traveler’s tales, outlying ideas, commentaries, and observations reflecting five decades of work in the nature conservation wonderland, linked by the theme that nature is too important to ignore. A highly personal volume from the former head of Creative Services for WWF International.
Intertwined: Women, Nature and Climate Justice by Rebecca Kormos
Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Prize
Women are disproportionately impacted by climate change—floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures overwhelmingly affect women in the short and long term. In some cases, women make up almost 90 percent of casualties during dangerous climate events, and the majority of those displaced in the aftermath are women. Despite this disparity, women are underrepresented at every level of decision-making about the future of our planet: only 24 percent of CEOs in nonprofit conservation and around one-third of the representatives in national and global climate negotiating bodies have been women. Intertwined proves that climate justice is inextricable from gender equality.