Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats And Opportunities [Paperback]

James N. Levitt (Editor), Tom Vilsack (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

The Internet and advanced logistics are enabling new changes on the landscape, with both positive and negative impacts on our efforts to conserve land and biodiversity. Emerging technologies have led to tremendous innovations in conservation science and resource management as well as education and advocacy efforts. At the same time, new networks have been powerful enablers of decentralization, facilitating sprawling development into previously undesirable or inaccessible areas. This volume offers a cross-disciplinary perspective on critical changes on the land and in the field of conservation. It: provides a general overview of the impact of new technologies and networks; explores the potentially disruptive impacts of the new networks on open space and biodiversity; presents case studies of innovative ways that conservation organizations are using the new networks to pursue their missions; and considers how rapid change in the Internet age creates the potential for landmark conservation initiatives. The work examines the links among land use, technology and conservation from multiple perspectives, and suggests areas and initiatives that merit further investigation. It offers insight into the challenges facing the land and biodiversity conservation community.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James N. Levitt is director of the Internet and Conservation Project at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155963913X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559639132
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,006,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JAMES N. LEVITT

Jim Levitt is director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at The Harvard Forest, and a research fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. In addition, he leads the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's annual Conservation Leadership Dialogue.

Levitt is the editor three books on conservation policy and practice: Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats and Opportunities (Island Press, 2002), From Walden to Wall Street: Frontiers of Conservation Finance (Island Press and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2005), and Conservation Capital in the Americas, (Lincoln Institute, in collaboration with the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University and Island Press, 2010).

He has written and lectured extensively in the United States and internationally on conservation innovation in the twenty-first century. He has also served on the National Advisory Board of the Long-Term Ecological Research program sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and is a past Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He currently serves as a director or advisor of QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment, the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale, Saving Land (the journal of the Land Trust Alliance), the Patagonia Sur Foundation, and Patagonia Sur, LLC.

A graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Management, Levitt has three decades of experience as a consultant and advisor to large public, private and non-profit organizations. In 2008 he was named by the Yale School of Management as a Donaldson Fellow, an honor given to alumni for career achievements that "exemplify the mission of the School." He was also awarded the medallion of Chile's Chamber of Deputies in recognition of his work to advance land conservation in that nation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CONSERVATION IN THE INTERNET AGE - FASCINATING, October 17, 2002

By 

Andrew H. Mcleod "Andy McLeod" (Tallahassee, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats And Opportunities (Paperback)

A very valuable and thought-provoking read, both personally and professionally. The book's historical sweep is impressive. Its range of contributors is also very broad and impressive - while I follow a good bit in the environment and conservation, this book offers many perspectives that I had not considered previously. A good book for those who love the dynamics of history, are fascinated by technology and its leaps, who protect and manage natural resources.

The book takes on the vexing questions of "When does change realize progress? And when does it not?" By juxtaposing nature and man's interaction with it, with the rapidly changing world of high technology, the book requires consideration of these questions. CONSERVATION IN THE INTERNET AGE makes one inclined to believe that people serious about the directions of land use and conservation need to be thinking about what Leviit calls "new networks." (I certainly didn't know what this meant before reading the book!) Overall, the book provides hope that new analysis and communications technologies will advance prudent long-term protection of land, water, and other natural resources.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imporant and interesting insights, October 31, 2002

By 

"david_luberoff" (Lexington, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats And Opportunities (Paperback)

The book fills an important void by asking whether the Internet and might affect land use in the United States-particularly whether it could have dramatic and largely negative consequences on large habitats in previously rural areas.

At first glance, this connection is not obvious. But, as Levitt notes, virtually every significant innovation in transportation and communications technologies (such as highways, telephones, and electricity) have spurred decentralization.

Starting from this premise, the various contributors offer readable, in-depth analyses of whether the Internet is having such impacts and, in an interesting twist, how organizations concerned about habitat preservation can tap the power of the Internet to further their goals.

The result is a volume that should be read by anyone interested in the intertwined fate of rural communities and the natural habitats that surround them.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and important book, October 31, 2002

By 

"david_luberoff" (Lexington, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats And Opportunities (Paperback)

The book fills an important void by asking whether the Internet and might affect land use in the United States-particularly whether it could have dramatic and largely negative consequences on large habitats in previously rural areas.

At first glance, this connection is not obvious. But, as Levitt and his collaborators notes, virtually every significant innovation in transportation and communications technologies (such as highways, telephones, and electricity) have spurred decentralization.

Starting from this premise, the various contributors offer readable, in-depth analyses of whether the Internet is having such impacts and, in an interesting twist, how organizations concerned about habitat preservation can tap the power of the Internet to further their goals. The result is a volume that should be read by anyone interested in the intertwined fate of rural communities and the natural habitats that surround them.