Half-Earth

EO Wilson died just a few weeks ago, at the age of 92. It was a sad day for me, as he has always been one of my great heroes. “E.O.” was a fantastic scientist, a world authority on ants, and sometimes known as the “father of biodiversity”. In this book, he argues that we have no right to drive millions of species extinct and that our own future depends upon setting aside half the Earth for nature.    

Alongside climate change, one of the greatest environmental crises is the loss of biodiversity. Not only are the Earth’s plants, animals, and other organisms intrinsically valuable. We humans are totally dependent upon them for the air we breathe, the food we eat and digest, and a climate suitable for human society. Yet we are rapidly destroying our biodiversity. Biologist Edward O. Wilson suggests a radical solution: that we reserve half the Earth to restore its biodiversity.

As radical as they go. Wilson argues the case for identifying parts of the planet that can be restored to a pre-human state of ecological equilibrium, and setting aside half the planet's surface for no reason other than to allow these environments to rewild to their former glory.