This is part two of William Wheeler’s Aral Sea blog, linked to his forthcoming paper in Global Environment. The first part appeared last week. Here William describes a Danish-led project to regenerate Aral Sea fisheries in the post-Soviet period, against the prevailing narrative of a ‘dead’ Sea. In the previous part of this blog, I … More II The flounder and the Danes: Rebuilding a fishery on the North Aral Sea

In today’s blog, the first in a two part series, William Wheeler ruminates on the ‘disaster discourse’ and the local human experience of the Aral Sea regression, subject of his forthcoming article in Global Environment (Special Issue on Disasters and Property guest-edited by Marc Elie and Fabien Locher, forthcoming September 2018).  Disasters, as anthropologists have … More I. The Aral Sea disaster

In today’s blog, Stefan Dorondel (of the Francisc I. Rainer Institute of Anthropology, Bucharest and The Institute for Southeast European Studies of the Romanian Academy) makes the case for greater study of river islands and wetlands by environmental historians, presenting an overview of the islands in the lower Danube explored in more historical detail in his article … More Islands of the Danube: An Unwritten History

In today’s blog, Martin Drenthen of Radboud University previews the Special Issue of Environmental Values on Rewilding which he has edited (Environmental Values 27/4 August 2018). Whereas natural areas are still disappearing at a rapid pace in many parts of the world, in other parts species are coming back and landscapes are becoming more wild … More Rewilding in Cultural Layered Landscapes

In today’s blog, Roberta Biasillo and Marco Armiero discuss Italian forest narratives and how they may be read. The blog is inspired by their article in Environment and History, published in January 2018 (online first) That Italy’s embodied narratives begin or coincide with the natural-cultural features of its territory is obvious. This happens here just … More Italian eco-narratives. Paths into the nationalisation of forests

This overview by Onur Inal was originally published in Environment and History 24/2 (May 2018) as the ‘Notepad’ of ESEH Ottoman and Turkish studies is a field that incorporates diverse geographic regions and long periods of history, providing fertile ground for environmental history. For the past several years, researchers in the field, including me, have grumbled … More Ottoman and Turkish Environmental History: An Overview of the Field

[This blog was originally posted by NiCHE (Network in Canadian History and Environment)] In today’s blog piece, Daniel Macfarlane introduces the innovative blend of emotional and environmental history that informs his new article in Environment and History (Online first, May 2018), ‘Saving Niagara From Itself: The Campaign to Preserve and Enhance the American Falls, 1965–1975′. … More Saving Niagara From Itself: Emotional and Environmental History at Niagara Falls

In this blog Haripriya Rangan describes the genesis and development of her co-written article with Karen Bell on African baobabs in India and the human story to be glimpsed behind the movement across the Indian Ocean of these charismatic trees – ‘Elusive Traces: Baobabs and the African Diaspora in South Asia’. The article, originally published … More Elusive Traces: African Baobabs in India

In today’s blog, Meera Oomen reflects on human–animal conflict and traditional and modern strategies for its management. One instance of such conflict is explored in more depth in her forthcoming article for Environment and History, ‘The elephant in the room: histories of place, memory and conflict with wildlife along a southern Indian forest fringe’ available … More Endangered enemies: culture, history and human–wildlife conflict

Drawing on findings from their article in Environmental Values 27.3 (June 208), ‘Engaging with Climate Change: Comparing the Cultures of Science and Activism’, Paul Hoggett and Rosemary Randall here examine the emotional challenges faced by climate scientists and activists. Climate change and interconnected crises such as species extinction and resource depletion present humankind with unprecedented … More The emotional impact of working on climate change: the experience of scientists and activists