Freshwater: the essence of life.

Fresh Water the Essence of Life is a beautifully and sometimes starkly depicted look at the current state of our Earth's freshwater ecosystems. A variety of authors, as well as dozens of the world s most accomplished photographers, tells us a story we may feel uncomfortable hearing: The Earth s freshwater supply and systems are in serious peril. We may carry on as if it was business as usual, but to do so is at our own risk and will lead certainly to the detriment of the generations to follow us. This latest publication in the Cemex Conservation Book Series will alert readers to key issues concerning fresh water: its resources, its uses (and abuses), and its future. With precise, scientific analysis, Fresh Water: The Essence of Life presents a detailed and thoughtful explanation of these issues, and goes on to provide possible resolutions to them. As in The Wealth of Nature, Cemex's most recent publication, Fresh Water makes a statement concerning the Earth's resources and capital: Although the ecosystems have proved resilient throughout millennium, in the last few generations humanity has radically destroyed fresh water ecosystems to the point of alarm. Through the pages of this volume, the reader will be challenged to not only understand the significance of deteriorating fresh waters, but will also be motivated to rally support in political, bio-geographical, and conservation forums.

Russell A. Mittermeier is President of Conservation International (CI), a position he has occupied since 1989. His areas of expertise include primatology, herpetology, tropical biology, and biodiversity conservation. He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1977, and has published more than 570 scientific and popular papers and nineteen books. Among the honors he has received are the Order of the Golden Ark of the Netherlands (1995); Grand Sash and Order of the Yellow Star, Republic of Suriname (1998); the Order of the Southern Cross of the Brazilian Government (1998); the Aldo Leopold Award from the American Society of Mammalogists (2004); the Sir Peter Scott Award of IUCN's Species Survival Commission (2008); and Harvard University's Roger Tory Peterson Medal (2009). Tracy A. Farrell is the senior director of the Freshwater Initiative at Conservation International (CI). She has spnitiatives in the areas of fresh water, ecosystem services, and wildlife trade. In this role, Farrell creates research agendas, strategic directions, and business plans to refine CI's niche and partnership approach to address these as well as other emerging institutional priorities. Ian J. Harrison is part of Conservation International's Science and Knowledge Division and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Programme. Harrison coordinates fundraising for the Global Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment (GFBA), a joint program run by Conservation International (CI), IUCN's Species Programme, and NatureServe. Harrison's PhD thesis (University of Bristol, England) was an analysis of the implications of small body size on the biology of fishes. He has conducted fieldwork in Europe, Central and South America, West Africa and Central West Africa, the Philippines, and the Central Pacific. Amy J.Upgren works with the Conservation Priorities and Outreach Team of the Science and Knowledge Division at Conservation International (CI). In conjunction with CI regional offices and partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, she identifies biodiversity conservation priorities and analyzes their contribution to human well-being in terms of ecosystem service provision. She received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Haverford College and a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University. Thomas M. Brooks, from Brighton, United Kingdom, holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Geography from the University of Cambridge (1993), and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee (1998). He is currently the Vice President for science and chief scientist at NatureServe, a network of eighty-two Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers dedicated to providing the scientific basis for effective biodiversity conservation action. He holds visiting positions at ICRAF-the World Agroforestry Center in the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and in the Department of Geography of the University of Tasmania. He also has a long standing involvement with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and has served on its Conserving Biodiversity Core Program Group since 2009, on the Steering Committee of its Species Survival Commission since 2004, and on its Red List Committee since 2001. Brooks has authored 171 scientific and popular articles, of which nineteen have been published in Nature or Science.