Green book of the week: ZooBorns by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

Today we review a great book for both kids and parents and actually anyone who is an animal lover.

Our book is:

ZooBorns

Authors: Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

Andrew Bleiman is a lifelong animal nerd who serves on the Auxiliary Boards of the Lincoln Park Zoo and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. He also runs Zooillogix.com, a bizarre zoology news blog on the ScienceBlogs Network (a division of Seed Media). In his day job he develops new media strategy for the Bradford Group.

Chris Eastland is a classically trained artist and photographer, who studied and taught at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy, and now lives in Brooklyn. Chris was formerly the Photography Editor for Quest Magazine.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published on: November 2010

What this book is about? (from the publisher's website)
ZooBorns showcases the newest and cutest animal babies from accredited zoos and aquariums around the world. With interesting animal facts and background stories on the featured babies, ZooBorns illustrates the connections between zoo births and conservation initiatives in the wild.

What we think about it?
Animals are cute by nature (well most of them..) and as you can guess there's nothing cuter than little animal babies. And this book is full of them. Kit the Sea Otter, Miki the Beluga Whale, Menari the Sumatran Orangutan and many many more. They're all really adorable - my little toddler was fascinated and didn't want to leave the book for a long time (well, at least until dinner was ready).

But as Dr. Paul Boyle, Senior VP for Conservation and Education at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums writes in the introduction to the book "these adorable youngsters are much more than just cute, furry faces. Baby animals born at zoos and aquariums represent new hope for their species in the wild. By studying rare or elusive species, zoo and aquarium researchers develop new conservation strategies for wild populations."

This book is definitely more than just a photo book of cute animals. It provides you important information on the status of the species and introduces you to many species that at least I wasn't aware of (have you heard of Aye-ayes that are considered bad omens by local villagers who persecute these rare creatures?).

I like how ZooBorns combines serious and important information with fun stories, like showing you the little cute crowned Sifaka that has a stuffed teddy bear for comfort. It's a great way to get both kids and their parents engaged, educate them and let them think of the challenges animals are dealing with and our interactions as humans with these animals, as well as our responsibility to be more considerate in the way we live to make sure these great animals will keep being around.

Final green comment: Inside the book, published by Simon & Schuster, there is no mention of the paper the book is printed on, so I can't know for sure if it is printed on environmental paper or not. Having said that, given Simon & Schuster paper policy, there's a good chance it is printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. In any event, due to the topic of the book, we thought it earns the right to be part of our green books recommendations.

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Green Options 2: The Nature Conservancy: 320,000 Acres of Forest Protected in Landmark Deal

Usually we republish every Tuesday one post from Green Options, but today we make an exception and republish two. The reason is a very important announcement of the Nature Conservancy on one of the most significant conservation sales in history. We wanted to bring you the full announcement with all the details, and we thank Jonathon D. Colman for approving to reprint his post that was originally posted on PlanetSave on June 30. Eco-Libris congratulate the Nature Conservancy for this remarkable deal and we hope to see many more acres of forestlands being preserved with their help!


Few places on Earth are as untouched as the "Crown of the Continent" — a 10-million-acre expanse of mountains, valleys and prairies in Montana and Canada. The area has sustained all the same species — including grizzlies, lynx, moose and bull trout — for at least 200 years.

Now — in one of the most significant conservation sales in history — The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land have preserved 320,000 acres of forestlands in western Montana that provide valuable habitat for species in the Crown of the Continent.

"There hasn't been an animal extinction here since Lewis and Clark encountered it in the early 19th century," explains Kat Imhoff, the Conservancy's state director in Montana. "It's the only such ecosystem in the Lower 48 states."

The deal is part of the Conservancy’s large-scale efforts to protect forestlands around the world — the majority of which are working forests supplying sustainably harvested timber.

Over the past five years, the Conservancy has protected 3.5 million acres of forestlands — at a time when nearly one-half of Earth’s original forest cover is gone and global deforestation rates continue to rise.