What nature? New book on Danish nature
A brand new book – with several contributors from CMEC - attempts to answer a simple question that does not have a simple answer: What is nature? What do we mean with nature when we are referring to it as beautiful or threatened? What kind of nature is authentic? And what nature do we want in Denmark now and in the future?
A new book, with the Danish title “Hvilken natur?” (What nature?), has just been published. The book's 20 chapters touch upon a wide range of topics from the aesthetics and poetry of nature to ecological restoration and the biodiversity crisis.
Special Consultant Karsten Elmose Vad from the CMEC Center has co-edited the book with Anne Katrine Gjerløff from the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Karsten has also authored the first chapter of the book about the diversity of views on – and understandings of – nature (“Natursyn – forstå dit eget og andres syn på vores natur”).
Professor Jette Bredahl Jacobsen from IFRO and the CMEC center has authored a chapter on the socio-economic valuation of nature (“Den værdifulde natur”).
Professor Carsten Rahbek, also the Director of the CMEC center, has authored two chapters: One on what is biodiversity and why it matters to us all – and one on the status, threats and future of Danish biodiversity (“Hvad er biodiversitet – og hvorfor er den vigtig for os?” og “Danmarks biodiversitet – status, trusler og fremtid”).
Together, these contributions demonstrate the CMEC Center’s continuous engagement in communicating research-based knowledge on biodiversity and contributing to the democratic debate about the state and future of Danish nature.
The book is funded by 15. Juni Fonden and published by the Danish Association for Biology. You can order your copy of the book (in Danish) here.