Paradise For Sale
by Carl McDaniel and John Gowdy
University of California Press

Reviewed by Jennifer Kupinse (Sri Lanka, 94 -97)  She can be reached at jkupinse@wmht.org

McDaniel and Gowdy invite us to explore Nauru, an island with very little left to offer.  During the last century, the Pacific island of Nauru was transformed by phosphate mining. The soil is no longer fertile, many species have gone extinct, and fresh water is scarce. In short, the island does not contain the resources needed to sustain its population.  What Nauru offers us now is its story which, told eloquently in Paradise for Sale, is more valuable to the planet than all of the phosphate it once had.
For those who have not studied environmental issues, Nauru is a good starting point.  Its plight may awaken a greater appreciation for the fragility of life and provide a broad understanding of the major environmental issues we face.  And while environmentalists might find many familiar elements in Nauru's story, they will appreciate how the small island serves to demonstrate the way in which history, economics, science and anthropology all play a role in the destruction of an ecosystem.
These complex environmental issues are presented as an instructive exploration rather than a lecture.  In fact, at one point, we are forced to participate: "Imagine you are alone in a remote place.  Now make a list of the things you will need to thrive."  The list begins with oxygen and before it is finished, the world with all its natural contents are included.  Life on earth requires many resources and our hold on sustainability is tentative.  The authors supply examples from other parts of the world and time. Australian aborigines, Kalahari !Kung, Rapa Nui (better known as Easter Island), Greenland Norse, and Himalayan Ladakhis all faced the struggle for survival as their natural resources change.
Despite the serious subject matter, the account is so engaging and the elements fit together so logically that the book is a quick read. Like all true stories, it seems too bizarre to be real: an argument at a wedding precipitates the island's fall into foreign receivership, and a doorstop reveals the island's most marketable resource.  In the end, though, the most astounding element is the ease with which Nauru was lead on a path to environmental devastation.
The authors somehow maintain hope.  Those who read this story will not be able to ignore it.  The argument is convincing.  Before Nauru's fate is our own, let's heed the warning.
*********************************************************************************

In 1995, the combined sales of the world's top two hundred corporations - which employed only 18.8 million people, less than one-third of 1 percent of the world's population - equaled 28 percent of total world gross domestic product.

The annual sales of Wal-Mart, the twelfth largest corporation, made its internal economy larger than the internal economies of 161 of the world's countries - including Israel, Poland, and Greece.

The value of minerals produced from federal lands: $2 - 3 billion/year.  Amount of royalty the federal Treasury now receives from mineral products on federal lands:  Zero

Estimated number of patented mining claims located in National Parks:  more than 730, totaling 21,000 acres.

Half of the forest that originally covered 46% of the Earth's land surface are gone.

Global wood consumption is projected to double over the next 30 years.

About one sixth of the wood taken to U.S. construction sites is never used, but hauled to a landfill as wood waste scraps.

Over 430,000 miles of road - more than eight times the miles in the Interstate Highway System - cut though U.S. National Forests.  In 1996 the U.S. Forest Service spent $84 million on constructing roads to be used nearly exclusively by logging companies.

Rainforests cover less than 2% of the Earth's surface, yet they are home to as many as 30 million species, more than half of all life forms on our planet.

Of the roughly 3000 plants identified as having cancer fighting properties, 70% grow in the rainforest.

Rainforest destruction is currently estimated at 214,000 acres/day and 78 million acres/year (the size of Poland).

Seventy per cent of the world's commercially-important marine fish stocks are fully fished, overexploited, or depleted.

The availability of fishery products on a per capita basis started to decrease in 1970 and the gap between supply and demand is increasing rapidly.

More than one quarter of the total marine catch is wasted "non-target" fish thrown overboard dead and dying.  With the shrimp industry this is one third.

(The first two facts are from David Korten's The Post-Corporate World and the rest are from The National Resources Defense Council's website: www.nrdc.org.)