A World Like Our Own: Man and Nature in Madagascar

by Alison Jolly

Pp. xvi, 272; 4 color photo-plates, 225+ black-and-white photo-plates. One-quarter tan cloth, lettered in green on the spine, over dark green cloth boards, color pictorial dust jacket, 4to. Jolly takes the reader on a tour of the 1000 mile-long island of Madagascar to see the extraordinary plants and animals of its rain forests and spiny deserts. There are 40 species of lemurs and six entire families of plants that grow nowhere else. There are also 36 genera of birds found only on Madagascar. No ownership marks and no signs of use.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1980

About the author

Alison Jolly (May 9, 1937 – February 6, 2014) was a primatologist, known for her studies of lemur biology. She wrote several books for both popular and scientific audiences and conducted extensive fieldwork on Lemurs in Madagascar, primarily at the Berenty Reserve, a small private reserve of gallery forest set in the semi-arid spiny desert area in the far south of Madagascar.

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Of Lemurs and Men"

A huge island, bigger than France, Madagascar remains off everyone's radar, except if lemurs fascinate you or you are into so-called "world music". While Malagasy people may appear in France fairly often, in the English-speaking world, you can easily live a lifetime without meeting any. It's remote, but a most interesting place. Madagascar had a population of 5.3 million at independence in 1960. Today, Malagasy number about 22 million. This precipitous rise in 52 years has spelled disaster for the natural environment of the great island, just as such a rise did in the USA and in many other nations. Alison Jolly went to Madagascar in the 1970s to study the interaction of Man and Nature; I think she came away discouraged though she tried to inject a modicum of hope into her account. When poor governments cannot afford to put many resources into preserving the environment and when the only way to earn a living for the poorer class of people is to burn or cut down forests in order to grow crops, it is all very well for conservationists to bemoan the loss of species but what are the alternatives ? Various solutions to this conflict of interests do, of course, exist, but both will and skill must be present for them to take effect. Jolly travelled around the island, to a number of different environments, to find and photograph the many endemic species of plant, insect, bird, reptile, and mammal in Madagascar. In some cases she was successful, in others, perhaps too late. She describes both the natural world and the lives of the poor people, far from towns, who live in each area. In any case, if you would like to read an interesting book about the Malagasy and their relationship to lemurs, tortoises, prickly plants, birds, and vanished pygmy hippos (to name a handful), you have come to the right place. There's a good map and a large number of interesting photographs. The dilemma of Madagascar is not unique; we, the human race, face it all over. Are we going to stop destroying our planet or not ? How can we provide for our fellow men who have no other option but to destroy more ? The jury is out. This book is another brick in the wall of evidence, a rather poetic 'brick' I may add. So far, no final answer. The cockroaches and ants are in the wings.

I first read this book many years ago and having recently re-read it, found it just as good. I don't know if things in Madagascar have turned around or not.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!