From memories of a childhood blessed with an acute awareness of the wonders of nature to a present day crusade to save our world, Gardening the Earth - Gateways to a Sustainable Future, is a work in which eminent botanist Professor Stephen Blackmore, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), tackles the complex issue of climate change head-on.
In this frank, but highly readable book, Prof. Blackmore strips away the mystique and complexity that often shrouds the subject of climate change. No longer is it a topic exclusively for scientists and politicians to debate. Prof. Blackmore has thrown climate change into the public arena and his book puts the responsibility for conserving our planet well and truly in our hands.
Prof. Blackmore freely admits he doesn't have all the answers and that there are no quick or easy solutions, but having travelled widely and having the privilege of being Regius Keeper at RBGE, he writes that he can see some parts of the solution to the challenges we face.
Prof. Blackmore asks us which future we will choose - "business as usual" whereby we selfishly put our planet under immense strain or one where we redress the balance in favour of the natural economy? He emphasises the need to keep our rich biological inheritance and to recognise the importance of plants in keeping the global ecosystems balanced. He reminds us that we are all shareholders in planet Earth and that we need to invest in nature by tending the global garden. Hence, he invites us to keep "gardening the Earth."