Canadian professor Glynnis Hood’s fantastic new book, “The Beaver Manifesto“, just arrived in the mail today. I started reading the small volume immediately, and found both the writing and the message most engrossing. I am already a devout fan of the beaver, and was immediately sold at the first few words of the manifesto:
“If I could design the perfect animal, it would be the beaver…”
I could not agree more. The beaver is an incredibly important keystone species, whose vital role in helping provide clean water for all other creatures, including humans, is unsurpassed. Without the hard work of beavers, a thriving diverse wetland can become a desolate barren desert.
Dr. Hood explains the necessity of a healthy beaver population to help maintain all life, as well as the need to think like beavers, like ecosystem engineers who understand how everything is intrinsically connected:
“Very few other animals have challenged our actions and behaviors as much as the beaver has. We plant a tree; beavers can cut it down. We build a road; beavers can dig right through the roadbed and turn it into a creek. We drain a landscape; beavers build a dam and bring water back. There is something in that persistent drive to sustain water on the landscape that is a clue for our own survival as a species. Whether we take the time to learn from other species depends on or own adaptability and willingness to see our world and the resources within us in a new light.”
This small handsome book about beavers is from Rocky Mountain Books, who have also published such compelling nature related works as: “The Incomparable Honeybee & the Economics of Pollination“, “The Insatiable Bark Beetle” and “The Grizzly Manifesto”.
