70 BOOK REVIEWS

PRACTICAL CONSERVATION, WATER AND WETLANDS, P. Furniss and A. Lane, The Open University, Hodder & Stoughton, 1992, 128 pp. Price: f7.99.

This book is part of the Practical Conservation training programme of the Open University. The programme deals with all aspects of conservation, this guide covering water and wetlands. We are told that a 30 minute video cassette accompanies the text, but sadly it was not provided as part of the review. If the video is anything like the book, I have no doubt it is enthralling.

I rarely enthuse in book reviews but this must be the exception. The practical guide is authoritative throughout and provides real insight into procedures for enhancement and wise management of wetland and freshwater habitats. In the introduction, the holistic approach integrating all aspects of the water environment with the wider landscape sets the scene. The appreciation that wet habitats are dynamic ecosystems which, if left to their own devices, through the process of succession, will change, is fundamental to sound management. The art is to judge when man should control the succession to retain a particular habitat, and when he should leave well alone.

The student is taken through the text via a series of case studies of very different potential problems. The case studies include a farm in the Scottish Border Hills with 6 hectares of wetland features including flashes, mires and flushes which could be enhanced environmentally; and a section of the River Ouse in Buckingham, which has a flooding problem associated with urban development.

Succeeding chapters guide the student through: assessing water and wetlands in the landscape; assessment of wet habitats; business and integrated assessment; maintaining and improving existing water and wetlands;

creating new wet habitats, implementing the plan and monitoring progress. In other words, the chapters take one through the processes required for the development of a management plan. Accompanied by copious illustrations and tables, and with a clear structure and format how can a student possibly fail?

There are minor inaccuracies largely due to changes which have taken place since the book was written (e.g. the remit of the National Rivers Authority recently has been strengthened environmentally, and the Nature Conservancy Council has been divided into country agencies) but I could find no substantive errors.

What improvements could be made? I would have given much more emphasis to integrated catchment management and, indeed, firmly believe that the catchment is the fundamental unit for management. Within a catchment management plan one needs to assess the total water budget and set management strategies on a sustainable basis. I would also have given more emphasis (page 77) to the concept of buffer areas: both constructed wetlands at point sources of pollution, and the areas of land between diffuse pollution sources and the river course. Trout farming (page 60) in certain circumstances can be very detrimental to the aquatic environment, in terms of excessive water use and nutrient enrichment. These effects could have been highlighted more as they do create some of our more serious water problems. Presumably, the text will be updated at regular intervals and these issues can be considered.

At E7.99 there is really no excuse for not having the book on all educational bookshelves which purport to cover environmental issues; unless, of course, you have a yearning for the old-style, rather boring, classical textbooks of yesteryear.

PATRICK DENNY English Nature, Peterborough, UK