Nature Wars

On our side, a vast arsenal of chemical pesticides. On their side? They don't have a side, the pests who must do nature's bidding. This is our war, and should we win it, ours would be a sorry planet. With disturbing news from the front, Nature Wars sounds the alarm against our dangerous tactics for controlling the pests that are an annoying but integral part of our world.Thirty years after Silent Spring woke us to the devastation wrought by DDT, chemical pesticides are as pervasive as ever, deployed at a rate of 4 pounds a year for every man, woman, and child in this country. This ongoing commitment to pesticides, Mark Winston argues, reflects our sense of place in nature: embattled, beleaguered, driven to aggression. His book, as sensible as it is wise, seeks to change this mindset, to show how a more measured and discriminating approach to pests, one based on management rather than eradication, might serve us and the natural world far better than our ill-fated all-out war. Winston backs up this approach with a full battery of case studies that take us from lawns and kitchens to farms and orchards, from insects and weeds to rats and coyotes. Here we see the complex political, biological, economic, social, and personal interactions that lie behind each pest management decision. Against this background Winston considers diverse instances of past pest management that reveal a consistent pattern of mistakes and problems--and lead to realistic, workable proposals for reducing pesticide use.A compelling book about ethics and choices, Nature Wars shows us the difference between protecting ourselves from real pests and poisoning ourselves and the planet. It turns us from our war on nature to our task as stewards of the environment.

Humans continue to deploy weapons of mass destruction against other creatures of this planet, namely the insects and bugs that consume our crops. No matter what we do, we seem unable to eradicate them, and there are now those who believe that this fifty-year onslaught is beginning to rebound on us. Mark Winston, author of Nature Wars, is one of them. His book is…interesting…a good historical approach to the subject…[and] makes fascinating and well-balanced reading., A highly readable history of pest control, from chemical sprays to genetically altered plants., Nature Wars is an effective primer for the general reader on our struggles against insects and other pests… In an articulate and accessible writing style, Winston explains the pesticide dilemma, the threat that our reliance on synthetic pesticides poses both to human health and safety and to the preservation of what is left of the natural environment… Winston’s discussion of these controversial issues, and the conflict between humans and pests, will be helpful to anyone who hopes to develop an informed opinion about our continuing war with nature., Winston…brings an unusually reasonable and compassionate voice to a debate usually swarming with harangues… Winston understands the impulse [to turn to powerful chemicals to control pests], but he also understands that the consequences can be harmful and surprising… Nature Wars leaves room for hope by setting an example of reasonableness… He cuts through hysteria, spotlighting the real threats of genetically engineered plants…[and] recommends tolerance toward the roach… If people would only listen to voices like Winston’s, our world would be safer for organisms in their natural places—and even for pests like us., In this well-written, up-to-date account of the history of pest-control technology, Mark Winston describes how successful alternative methods can be… If we are to realise the goal of controlling pests without poisoning ourselves or the wildlife around us, we need to match their evolutionary adaptability with ingenuity in a diversity of control measures.

Mark L. Winston is Professor and Senior Fellow at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.