The Book

The Conservationist's Way: 

Nurturing Nature - Saving  The World as You Save the World

LoraKim Joyner

Foreword by Jane Goodall

"Cover me, I'm going in!" I whispered to my armed companion, both of us belly down in the dirt and ash of the recently harvested sugar cane field.  He looked at me like it was the most natural thing in the world for a small in stature gringa to say as I crawled away from him towards the men with rifles on the forest edge. 

That's me, the short gringa, while in Guatemala during the Guerilla War of the 1980's and 1990's.  As conservationist, wildlife veterinarian, and Unitarian Universalist minister, I have worked on the front line conservation for over 27 years in unstable and dangerous areas that are also racked with poverty and vanishing species.  My colleagues and I have experienced tragedy and despair, but have also learned ways to engage with hope and joy.  In The Conservationist's Way - Nurturing Nature: Saving the World as You Save Yourself, I explain how it is possible for anyone to connect to nature's beauty, including human nature, in a way that nourishes the human spirit so in turn we can heal the world. This guide freshly combines nature, science, sociology, spirituality, and a plethora of gritty human experience to brighten the way forward for those who wish to preserve the splendor of earth and the wonder of her beings.  Jane Goodall’s foreword compels the reader to delve deeply into the Way, for it helps us know how to live peacefully among our siblings of all species.

This book is currently under revision.  Most of its content is available through Nurture Nature workshops/retreats, as well as on Dr. Joyner's blog.