Perhaps, like me, you associate Satyajit Das with economics rather than environmentalism, yet those two things are inextricably linked. Biodiversity seems a hollow word now. Species are disappearing at an alarming rate. (This will come as no surprise to the discerning reader.) In just over four decades, the population of African elephants has been reduced by 90 per cent. Tigers are in a worse position: a 97 per cent loss in a century. The capitalistic nature of the global economy has an immense – and deleterious – effect on Earth’s fauna.

There has been a recent upsurge in ecotourism, with the wealthy being the main beneficiaries. The irony of this is that often travelling to remote locations to see species before they disappear worsens the fragility of the very environment in which these animals are trying to survive. Das uses anecdotes specific to different locations to lead the reader through a history of the decline. Of course, there are tours which are tailored to the animal rather than the tourist. Das writes of the changes to protocols (and costs) involved in seeing mountain gorillas. Das makes special mention of David Attenborough, and not necessarily in a complimentary manner. The popularity of Attenborough may hide the commodification of species-watching and the associated hidden agendas of sponsors and/or advertisers.

Das’s writing is sharp and focused. ‘Humans have the ability to destroy the Earth as we know it. We can also choose to protect it.’ Better then, perhaps, to read this book and heed its lessons than to chase ever-diminishing species in their increasingly fragile environments.

Rivetingly essential reading.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Satyajit Das is a financier who was named in 2014 by Bloomberg as among the fifty most influential people in financial markets. He has held senior positions in banks and industry and now works as a consultant to investors and corporations globally. He has published several key reference works on finance and wrote Traders, Guns & Money (2006), Extreme Money (2011) and A Banquet of Consequences (2015, updated 2021; published in North America as Age of Stagnation). He is also the author (with Jade Novakovic) of In Search of the Pangolin: The Accidental Eco-Tourist (2006). Satyajit Das appeared in Charles Ferguson’s 2010 Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job. He has spoken at the Sydney and Melbourne writers festivals, Adelaide Festival of Ideas and Sydney Festival of Dangerous Ideas.