Publications

Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (Island Press 1999) covers far more ground than anyone with a specific interest in Atlantic coastal issues will want to traverse.  But in her comprehensive coverage of a broad and much misunderstood topic, author Martha Honey includes many nuggets of useful information to Caribbean-bound ecotourists including caveats on what and what not to expect from cruise-ship operators, travel agents and guidebooks.  The book also includes a chapter-length case study on Cuba, an increasingly popular destination for the adventuresome U.S. traveler despite U.S. government restrictions.

The Connecticut River Watershed Council announces the publication of Connecticut River Environment—A Directory of Public Agencies and Citizen Groups Serving the Watershed.  To get a copy of this listing of 800 names in 4 states, call (413) 529-9500 or e-mail crwc@crocker.com

Sailors in remote sections of the Bahamas and eastern Caribbean waters have long relied on eyeball navigation as a supplement to government charts based on old information and cruising guides lacking in detail.  Now, reports Cruising World magazine, author Stephen J. Pavlidis has taken much of the stomach-tightening guesswork out of cruising the region.  The liveaboard writer used his own computer-based hydrographic system to produce a series of four well-illustrated cruising guides for Seaworthy Publications that make it far harder to miss the channels. First was a guide to the lightly-populated Exumas.  Then came On and Off the Beaten Path—the Central and Southern Bahamas Guide (1997), which includes information on such seldom-visited places as San Salvador and Inagua islands. Soon forthcoming are the first-ever guide to cruising the Turks & Caicos islands, and a new guide to the Abacos in the northern Bahamas. Tel: (800) 777-3966. URL: www.seaworthy.com.

At a time when the major media are devoting ever more attention to the problems of coral reef bleaching, death, and disappearance, it is useful to have a solid book on the subject that is both acceptable to professionals and accessible to the general public. Such a work is The Enchanted Braid: Coming to Terms With Nature on the Coral Reef (John Wiley & Sons, 1998) by Osha Gray Davidson.  Not a scientist but a writer and diver, the author travels far and wide from his Florida base to chronicle both the beauty and the plight of the world's remaining reefs.