Half Earth Edward Wilson Summary

Edward Wilson wrote Half Earth: Our Plants Fight for Life as a way to propose a solution to a crisis plaguing the earth at this very moment. He separates his work into three parts: The Problem, The Real Living World, and The Solution. While Wilson does set the stage for why a solution is needed, his solution does not live up to the stage that was set, as it does not appear to be realistic. He does not describe exactly how something like this would even begin to happen. It’s easy to just give ideas but if there are no guidelines presented then how is anyone suppose to take the idea and put it into action? He also seems very adamant in believing only by following exactly what he is offering as solution will we be able to save the planet. He writes
The rate of loss is instead accelerating.” Right now the earth has about 15% of Earths land and 2.8% of the Earths oceans as reserved purely for biodiversity, Wilson wants to bring that to 50%. While he is realistic in understanding that no one will just automatically give up ownership of their own land, believing that 50% of earth can “be allowed to exist unharmed (pg 189)" is a bit unrealistic. With the growing population, how are we suppose to find space for everyone if we cut down the amount of space available for human use. He writes “the key to saving one-half of the planet is the ecological footprint, defined as the amount of space required to meet all of the needs of an average person (pg 189), but he doesn’t really detail as to how we can lessen the ecological footprint of a person. Take half the earth and set it aside for the wilderness, easy to say, but half the earth includes 195 countries. How would we get 195 countries to be on board with this plan when, the one of the most powerful nations in the country, the US, is opposed to even the Paris agreement, I guess you could say is a milder version of a solution to environment sustainability when compared to a solution like the one offered in this