Outlining what actions are essential to the survival of life on earth
The lasting image of this book occurs close to the start. It is that of a pilot in an ultra light aircraft leading a formation of whooping cranes, all of whom believe the aircraft to be their mother, on a migratory journey from the US Midwest to Florida.
The aim is to restore a species absent from the eastern half of North America for over a century. The imagery of advanced technology being used to recreate a lost ecosystem is powerful and conjures up an optimism that, as the title suggests, the natural functions of our once and future planet can be reconciled. But such a superficial conclusion conceals a myriad and complex set of confounding issues. Restoration of what, to what period, for whom, and how?
