Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles: Confessions of a Rainforest Biologist (Hardcover)

~ William Laurance (Author) "The illuminated raindrops were like sparkling crystals..." (more)
Key Phrases: stinging trees, ambulance center, rainforest fragmentation, Millaa Millaa, World Heritage, New Guinea (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Bill Laurance went to northern Australia in the mid-1980s, it was to study the teeming life of a classic rainforest. The problem was, the rainforest of Queensland, already limited in extent, was fast disappearing, logged and bladed into oblivion; even its legendary stinging trees, "a good hit [from which] can hurt for months," seemed in danger of becoming mere memories. Laurance's fieldwork became a running chronicle of what happens to the rainforest's creatures--tree kangaroos and vipers, redback spiders and pygmy possums, and countless other species that are little known outside the area--when once-unpeopled habitats are overrun. (One of the few species to benefit from the region's decline, Laurance observes, is the antechinus, a wolverine-like marsupial that thrives on disturbance.) Laurance soon realized, as he relates in his memoir, that he'd have to couple scientific information with activism in order to protect what little of the forest remained--activism that included recommending the area for a listing under the United Nations' World Heritage program, and that put him squarely at odds with the suspicious loggers who were his neighbors. Although confronted with death threats and an actual attempt on his life, Laurance pressed on, eventually winning over enough Queenslanders to launch a small but growing ecotourism industry. Well-written and often quite funny, Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles will hearten any environmentalist and tropical traveler. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

In this amusing memoir, Laurance, a senior research scientist at the Smithsonian, recalls the 18 months he spent doing fieldwork for his dissertation in north Queensland, Australia. A budding ecologist, Laurance traveled from UC Berkeley to the rural outpost of Millaa Millaa (population 320) to study the effects of fragmentation on tropical rainforests. To help with this work, he recruited a band of high-spirited volunteers; here he describes how they gamely faced down biting water rats, stinging trees, leeches and crotch rotAsometimes motivated by little more than the promise of copious amounts of beer, whiskey and barbecue. Laurance recounts the lighter side of fieldwork (food fights help blow off steam and wrestling matches keep his volunteers in line) as well as more serious events, like hostile encounters with local loggers and farmers deeply suspicious of his outspoken proconservation stance. When a fierce political battle erupted over a proposal to create a World Heritage site to protect Australia's remaining rainforests, Laurance found himself in the center of a maelstrom of conflict. Sympathetic and evenhanded, his account blends serious warnings about environmental destruction with humorous observations about the weirdness of field research. Impassioned and accessible to a range of audiences, this is a laugh-out-loud, engaging account of the antics of a clever, impetuous Yank "gone troppo" in the Australian outback. Illus. not seen by PW. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226468968
• ISBN-13: 978-0226468969
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 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 (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #970,765 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Knew Leeches Could Be Funny?, October 5, 2000

By	Molly M. Wolf (Havertown PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading a wonderful review in the Chronical of Higher Education, I knew that I had to get my hands on this book.

Similar to Tim Flannery's Throwim Way Leg, Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles recounts a biologist's travels and adventures into the Australian rainforest with his dog (Tulley) and a motley crew of volunteer research assistants.

Although Bill Laurance is a brilliant scientist, he is also a gifted writer who has the ability to spin dry field notes into witty reading.

I highly recommend this book!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of the Solution, December 30, 2000

By	Will Chaffey (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews

It would be hard to suggest my review is subjective, since I worked with Bill Laurance in the rainforests of north Queensland in those hot, humid and heady years, and am also in the book-though its appearance in print was a great surprise. Nonetheless, for the reader, biologist, or armchair traveler, this book has a bit of everything. Laurance describes his pursuit of a Ph.d in biology with candor, insight and humor. It was an incredible time in Australia, and for once, at least, the forests won: much of Australia's remaining lowland and montaine rainforest was protected by World Heritage designation and the Rat Patrol and Higher Mammal Crew (led by Laurance) were right in the thick of it. Bill describes the realities of field work: the sheer physical aspect of being in the rainforest, the thrill of encountering relict and highly adapted species, the tension with local townspeople who make their living in extractive industries like logging, and the constant infusion of travelers and characters who were recruited to the little house on Coral Street. Small town, Australia is accurately depicted in the pages of this book: the miners, the timber cutters, pastoralists and plain drunks, most who ultimately come to respect Dr. Laurance and his work. Laurance also describes his travels in New Guinea, including several dangerous and hilarious encounters with local tribesman. Throughout are scattered insights about biology: why for example there are few aquatic marsupials (they would drown in a pouch), and human nature. My only complaint with the book, is that Laurance got the details of my own expedition in search of Morelia carinata with Geoff Cunningham substantially wrong: We did not lose our packs and food in a river crossing in the Kimberley, but walked 42 days to the coast for a rendezvous with a boat that never arrived due to a cyclone. After waiting ten days at the coast, we walked 168 miles to the nearest cattle station on the edge of nowhere. We did not eat anything but grasshoppers and wild figs for ten days, and were grateful to emerge from the outback with our lives. But, since I lost touch with Bill for 5 years, I can imagine he might get those details mixed up. All in all, it's a wonderful book, and a real insight into the challenges of field biology and habitat conservation. Laurance's post-script is a call to action to halt the destruction of rainforests around the world. Get involved. As he used to say, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."