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Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make
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Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral Hardback - 2013

by Deni Ellis Bechard

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Reader reviews for Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

From the publisher

When acclaimed author Deni Bchard first learned of the last living bonobos--matriarchal great apes that are, alongside the chimpanzee, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom--he was completely astonished. How could the world possibly accept the extinction of this majestic species?

Bchard discovered one relatively small NGO, the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), which has done more to save bonobos than many far larger organizations. Based on the author's extensive travels in the Congo and Rwanda, this book explores BCI's success, offering a powerful, truly postcolonial model of conservation. In contrast to other traditional conservation groups Bchard finds, BCI works closely with Congolese communities, addressing the underlying problems of poverty and unemployment, which lead to the hunting of bonobos. By creating jobs and building schools, they gradually change the conditions that lead to the eradication of the bonobos.

This struggle is far from easy. Devastated by the worst military conflict since World War II, the Congo and its forests continue to be destroyed by aggressive logging and mining. Bchard's fascinating and moving account--filled with portraits of the extraordinary individuals and communities who make it all happen offers a rich example of how international conservation must be reinvented before it's too late.

From the rear cover

"Here is the matter of conservation given profound explanation--a searching and knowing consideration that enables an important social and political and cultural struggle in Africa to become a needed lesson for us who live elsewhere to ponder, take to heart."
--Robert Coles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

"Into the Congo, this adventure reveals not a heart of darkness but a rich world of light, shade, and imperiled life, a connection between the human and the great circle of being."
--James Engell, Editor of Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology and Faculty Associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment

"An inspired, poignant, and seriously researched look at a subject of profound importance."
--Wade Davis, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and author of The Serpent and the Rainbow

"A story that movingly illuminates the time we live in, a tale of an emblematic struggle in which the fate of all of us and our future on this planet are at stake."
--Bruce Rich, author of Mortgaging the Earth and To Uphold the World

"An emotionally-enthralling, nuanced voyage into the conundrums of bonobo conservation."
--William Powers, author of Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa's Fragile Edge

"A brilliant example of how conservationists can work with communities to save not only their own immediate environments but also the world at large through courage, cooperation, and compassion."
--Grant Hayter-Menzies, author of Imperial Masquerade and Shadow Woman

"Readers of this book will be entertained and moved by Deni Bchard's stories about this remarkable endangered and irreplaceable species and those dedicating their lives to saving them."
--Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations

"The embodiment of the type of reporting that we dream of reading, but all too rarely encounter--intelligent, engaged, and above all, astonishingly perceptive."
--Dinaw Mengestu, MacArthur Fellow and author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

"Bchard's riveting journey through the 'dark continent' provides a surprisingly uplifting story about a radically different and successful conservation program."
--David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature

Details

  • Title Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral
  • Author Deni Ellis Bechard
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 320
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis
  • Publication date 2013-10-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Illustrated, Index, Maps, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781571313409 / 1571313400
  • Weight 1.55 lbs (0.70 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 in (23.11 x 15.49 x 3.05 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Central Africa
    • Topical: Ecology
  • Category Animals
  • Library of Congress subjects Wildlife conservation - Congo (Democratic, Endangered species - Congo (Democratic
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2013944089
  • Dewey Decimal Code 599.885

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 09/01/2013, Page 21
  • Foreword, 11/30/2013, Page 0
  • Kirkus Reviews, 08/01/2013, Page 0
  • Publishers Weekly, 07/22/2013, Page 0

About the author

Deni Bchard's first novel, Vandal Love, won the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. He has also authored a memoir, Cures for Hunger, and written for a number of magazines and newspapers, among them the LA Times, Salon, Outside, the National Post, VQR, Maisonneuve, Le Devoir, the Harvard Review, and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin . He has been a fellow at MacDowell, Jentel, the Edward Albee Foundation, Ledig House, the Anderson Center, and Vermont Studio Center, among others. He has done freelance reporting from Northern Iraq as well as from Afghanistan, and he has traveled in more than fifty countries.

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EMPTY HANDS, OPEN ARMS : THE RACE TO SAVE BONOBOS IN THE CONGO AND MAKE CONSERVATION GO VIRAL
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EMPTY HANDS, OPEN ARMS : THE RACE TO SAVE BONOBOS IN THE CONGO AND MAKE CONSERVATION GO VIRAL

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Empty Hands, Open Arms : The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral
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Empty Hands, Open Arms : The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

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Milkweed Editions. Used - Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Empty Hands, Open Arms : The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

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Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

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Empty Hands, Open Arms : The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

Empty Hands, Open Arms : The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

by Deni B?chard

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Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

by Bechard, Deni Ellis

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by Bechard, Deni Ellis

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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