Customer Reviews

Defending the Land of the Jaguar: A History of Conservation in Mexico

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Kudos to author Lane Simonian for producing the definitive English-language account of Mexican environmental history. Defending the Land of the Jaguar traces the history of conservation and environmentalism in Mexico from the pre-Conquest era to roughly 1992 and the NAFTA debates. I read this book with some trepidation, since it's a subject so close to my heart, having covered interior and border environmental issues for the past few years. Conveniently, the book ends just at the time that I entered Mexico. In some ways I wish I had had this book, but I guess I was lucky to be able to explore some of these topics on my own. Do I recommend this book? Definitely. This is a must read for anyone interested in Latin American environmental issues.

Simonian's book provides an excellent overview of the principal figures and events in the history of conservation in Mexico. The only improvement that could be made would have been to offer a more detailed analysis of the major events, leading to a profounder understanding of the reasons for the current state of conservation in Mexico. Ofcourse, this could only have been done in the course of longer book. For readers trying to understand conservation and environmental policy in the larger context of Mexican political and cultural history, I would strongly recommend reading an additional text on the general history of modern Mexico.