Eco-geography: What We See When We Look at Landscapes

by Andreas Suchantke (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $3.47

  What do we really see when we look at a landscape? In detailed and telling observations Andreas Suchantke describes some of the most fascinating landscapes on Earth: encompassing the savannahs of East Africa, the rainforests of South America and Africa, the unique islands of New Zealand, the Great Rift Valley of Africa, and the Middle East. He brings us to landscapes that have been severely damaged by human activity and others, such as the island of Sri Lanka, where nature and human culture have been brought into paradisal harmony. His beautiful descriptions alone are worth the journey, but these essays are more than great nature and ecology writing. Suchantke's real interest is a new way of seeing the physical landscape. This approach is not then just analysed objectively, but recreated imaginatively, with nature experienced as a form of meaning, a language. As Suchantke shows us, the quality of our relationship with nature is determined by how well we understand this language. Eco-Geography is a ray of hope, to help us to achieve the balance between the materialism of modern science, and the current philosophy of despair that sees human beings as destroyers of nature. It shows the potential we have to develop sensibilities that meet the needs of the planet, and to form a true nuturing partnership between nature and human culture.