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"This is the first publication to extensively document the natural history of the Caribbean's largest, most diverse tropical island and archipelago. Cuba's remarkable number of endemic species - including the world's smallest bird, the bee hummingbird, minute frogs and boas, magnificent painted land snails, rare butterflies and orchids - contribute to the importance and beauty of Cuba and her rich fauna and flora depicted here."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The United Nations declared the year 2002 as "The Year of the Mountains" and encouraged countries all over the world to have environmental conferences regarding the conservation of mountains. The Conference for the Caribbean and the Americas was held in Cuba, and Clyde Butcher was invited to photograph the mountains of Cuba for the conference. He spent three weeks photographing from the Sierra Maestra of the east coast to the mogote region of the west coast--rain forests, waterfalls, and cliffs that drop off into a perfect ocean. The beauty and majesty of Cuba's natural landscape are captured in his intimate compositions, their focus on shape and light, the horizon and the sky.
Conquering Nature provides the only book-length analysis of the environmental situation in Cuba after four decades of socialist rule, based on extensive examination of secondary sources, informed by the study of development and environmental trends in former socialist countries as well as in the developing world. It approaches the issue comprehensively and from interdisciplinary, comparative, and historical perspectives. Based on the Cuban example, Diaz-Briquets and Perez-L—pez challenge the concept that environmental disruption was not supposed to occur under socialism since it was alleged that guided by scientific policies, socialism could only beget environmentally benign economic development. In reality, the socialist environmental record proved to be far different from the utopian view. Between the early 1960s and the late 1980s the environmental situation worsened despite Cuba's achieving one of the lowest population growth rates in the world and having eliminated extreme living standard differentials in rural areas, two of the primary reasons often blamed for environmental deterioration in developing countries. The government's approach was to "conquer nature" and under its central planning approach, it did not take local circumstances into consideration. This disregard for the environmental consequences of development projects continues to this day despite official allegations to the contrary—as the country pursues an economic survival strategy based on the crash development of the tourist sector and exploitation of natural resources. An underlying conclusion of the book is that the environmental legacy of socialism will present serious challenges to future Cuban generations. Conquering Nature provides, for the first time, a relevant analysis of socialist environmental policies of a developing country. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Cuba and those interested in environmental issues in developing countries.
An illustrated biography of the ornithologist James Bond, the author of the book Birds of the West Indies and the namesake of Ian Fleming's fictional British spy.
In this award-winning environmental history of Cuba since the age of Columbus, Reinaldo Funes Monzote emphasizes the two processes that have had the most dramatic impact on the island's landscape: deforestation and sugar cultivation. During the first 300 years of Spanish settlement, sugar plantations arose primarily in areas where forests had been cleared by the royal navy, which maintained an interest in management and conservation for the shipbuilding industry. The sugar planters won a decisive victory in 1815, however, when they were allowed to clear extensive forests, without restriction, for cane fields and sugar production. This book is the first to consider Cuba's vital sugar industry through the lens of environmental history. Funes Monzote demonstrates how the industry that came to define Cuba--and upon which Cuba urgently depended--also devastated the ecology of the island. The original Spanish-language edition of the book, published in Mexico in 2004, was awarded the UNESCO Book Prize for Caribbean Thought, Environmental Category. For this first English edition, the author has revised the text throughout and provided new material, including a glossary and a conclusion that summarizes important developments up to the present.
The richness and diversity of Cuban birdlife features 354 recorded species that represent 20 orders and 60 families. The 21 living endemic species include the charming Cuban Tody, the striking and elegant Cuban Trogon (the national bird), the colorful Cuban Green Woodpecker, and the smallest of all birds, the Bee Hummingbird. This compact and portable field reference will help Cubans, visitors from abroad, and bird enthusiasts identify and enjoy the island's avifauna. The 51 color plates and 662 images accurately illustrate male, female, and juvenile plumages (in some cases for the first time). Many migratory species are depicted in both winter and breeding colors, providing a glimpse of many common North American birds as they appear when away from northern surroundings. In the comprehensive Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba Orlando H. Garrido and Arturo Kirkconnell share their vast wealth of knowledge about birds--and habitats--that are too little known. Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba contains: * Species accounts including habitat descriptions, similar species, range, status, nesting and feeding habits, and vocalizations.* Checklists of endemic species and subspecies.* Background on the geography, climate, geology, paleontology, and natural history of Cuba.*144 maps that show regional boundaries and vegetative habitats as well as the local distribution of each species.
A new and necessary examination of how nineteenth-century Cuban white elites viewed the natural world, material culture, and political power as intertwined In the decades before the Cuban wars of independence, white elites exploited the island's natural history and culture to redefine racial identity and reassert authority. These practices occurred in the face of challenges to their political power from Cubans of mixed race and as Cuba's dependence on sugar led to ecological and economic precarity. Lee Sessions uses close visual analysis to investigate how white elites wielded power by manipulating material culture, placing in conversation for the first time the natural history museums, botanical gardens, and thousands of paintings, drawings, and prints produced in and about Cuba from 1820 to 1860. This important and novel book explores how groups used material culture to imagine their own future at a moment when racial and political dynamics were changing rapidly and intersecting with an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale.
This small book has been written for nature-lovers who are visiting Cuba and are interested in identifying the islands flowering herbaceous plants, vines, bushes and trees, whether they be in cities, on the beach, or in the islands woods, savannas or mountains. This book covers over a hundred flowering plants and includes a glossary of botanical terms, although efforts have been made to avoid verbal technicalities. In each case there is explanatory text.
Handmade in Cuba is an in-depth examination of Ediciones Vigía, an artisanal press that published exquisite books crafted from simple supplies during some of Cuba’s most dire economic periods. Vividly illustrated, this volume shows how the publishing collective responded to the nation’s changing historical and political situation from the margins of society, representing Cuban culture across the boundaries of race, age, gender, and genre. In this volume, poets and scholars reflect on the unique artistic direction of Rolando Estévez, who oversaw the creation of over 500 handmade books and magazines between 1985 and 2014. They highlight the beautiful designs and unusual materials selected, including fabric, metals, wood, feathers, and discarded items. Through diverse perspectives, including an interview with Estévez himself, the essays showcase the unlimited inventive possibilities of books as objects, as sculptural pieces, and as installations. Even in the age of technology, Estévez generated enormous excitement and admiration for these hand-crafted books, and this volume offers the first inside view of this important alternative publishing space. Contributors: Ruth Behar | Juanamaría Cordones-Cook | Gwendolyn Díaz | Erin Finzer | William Luis | Nancy Morejón | Kim Nochi | Carina Pino Santos | Kristin Schwain | Elzbieta Sklodowska