Neither a travel guide nor a coffee table book, The Rhythms of the Kimberley works astoundingly well as a combination of both the two formats. With well presented photographs, it is a fascinating insight into the diversity of the land, and the plants and animal species which are home to the world's oldest culture. It is equally usable as a reference book with a comprehensive index at the back alongside an easy to read glossary. It is a book to browse casually, to enjoy in fragments or for those who want to study the intimacies of the Kimberley region.
Each chapter is divided into subdivisions and contains specific information about a certain species and their habitat in the Kimberley and their value in the ecological balance and cyclic rhythm of that region.
This is Russell Gueho's second book about the Kimberley. He has lived in the region for over 18 years, been a district wildlife officer, a professional fishing guide, lectures in tourism, is part of a sustainable tourism consultancy business and is a Member of the Board of management of the Stop the Toad Foundation, through which his writing concedes vivid knowledge of the region.
Mr Gueho highlights a need for a greater balance between long-term sustainability and the growing interest in tourism to Australia's bush regions, acknowledging the fact that we have already set in place a chain of events that will be potentially devastating to future generations, and that even with our understanding of technology we have little hope of reversing. He highlights that our need as human beings is to support large populations while still allowing cleaner, impler and more traditional and ecologically sustainable activities to flourish.
However, not all is doom and gloom. Mr Gueho gives us hope and the recipe for change, "If we are serious about our intentions to survive as a species, we must regain an understanding of the rhythms of life in this world," says his book.
Thus the purpose of this book is about us as human beings taking responsibility for ourselves and for future generations, by identifying and understanding our known and unknown species and the rhythms of nature. By so doing we can treat our land as a home instead of a resource.
As Australian author Tim Winton remarks in the foreword, "I welcome this book for its sense of intimacy and its gentle guidance, for helping us to see what it is we're looking at when we encounter such a remarkable and complex region as the Kimberley."
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