Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard Hardcover – Illustrated, February 4, 2020

A friend turned me onto this book. Not only did I love reading it myself, I have bought multiple copies to give as gifts to environmentally conscious friends and family. I knew that it was good to plant flowers for pollinators, but I did not really have a concept of how I could use my little suburban plot of land so much more effectively to provide habitat for native pollinators. This book inspired me to reorganize my garden and focus much more on planting native plants to begin to develop my own home-grown National Park! This book is a must for anyone who wants to learn more about how to make a difference in the world in their own backyard.

This is a great book. The author is passionate about the importance of everyone taking manageable actions to help nature thrive in our little pieces of Earth, and he offers simple suggestions for doing so. The references are vast within the text, and the information is fascinating. It's a book any nature lover will welcome. I plan to share with several friends/family to help spread the word.

The best book I read in 2024! I bought copies for several family members and for my garden club gift exchange. The importance of what we plant and how we look at nature was made evident in these pages. Highly recommended reading for everyone who lives on this planet!

I can't say enough great things about this book. Broad takeaway: you can make a difference. Live in an apartment? You can put out plants for birds, bees and butterfly's. Office job? Same thing in your outdoor areas. On an on. This helps give you real tools, real info, and real reasons we should all be doing this. These animals literally help keep us alive. I don't want to sound like a nutter, but that's the truth. No more bees, no more humans. Period. His writing is easy and informative for what is a difficult subject. We should all be thinking of our yards as "stopping points" or "places of refuge" for these little critters. Use less stuff to kill the bugs. Make more places for them to thrive. Excellent read. I've given away at least a dozen of these books and always to rave reviews and not just to granola munching tree huggers. This applies to everyone.

I started reading at Chapter 7 because invasive species are of particular interest to me. And I was not disappointed. In fact, that was the best explanation I have ever read of why we need to eradicate invasive species. It was scientific, but he explained it clearly so a non-scientist like me can understand it. And not just understand it, but be inspired to act.The idea that I can do my part to change the world, in my backyard is very empowering and resonates deeply with me. What a great concept, which is transferable to so many other issues.It's a beautiful book, very well illustrated.So then I went back to the beginning and started reading from the introduction onward. And I was so glad I started in the middle because the book starts very slowly and it takes several chapters before it starts to become clear where he's going with it. If I had started on page one, I may have given up after a couple of chapters.For example, he writes bios of two of his environmentalist heroes, and sure they are great guys, but those sections could have been easily omitted without undermining the narrative.Some of his early ramblings are cringe. "We have now explored and colonized all of planet Earth, so we are looking upward, as now, rather foolishly I think, we talk of colonized Mars." Who cares what you think about Mars? This book is about Earth. He goes on to say, "Most of us still yearn to discover. We have replaced wagon trains with road trips in hopes of satisfying this age-old craving, but we rarely succeed." Speak for yourself! My road trips are very satisfying and filled with discoveries.Fortunately, he finally gets his act together, and it ends up being and very worthwhile book, in spite of all the excess fat that could have been trimmed by a good editor.