Rescuing the Planet

Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth

By: Tony Hiss, E. O. Wilson - introduction

Narrated by: Adam Barr, Paul Boehmer

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

An urgent, resounding call to protect 50 percent of the earth's land by 2050 - thereby saving millions of its species - and a candid assessment of the health of our planet and our role in conserving it, from the award-winning author of The Experience of Place and veteran New Yorker staff writer.

"An upbeat and engaging account of the remarkable progress being made to preserve vast wild spaces for animals to roam." (The Wall Street Journal)

Beginning in the vast North American Boreal Forest that stretches through Canada, and roving across the continent, from the Northern Sierra to Alabama's Paint Rock Forest, from the Appalachian Trail to a ranch in Mexico, Tony Hiss sets out on a journey to take stock of the "superorganism" that is the earth: its land, its elements, its plants and animals, its greatest threats - and what we can do to keep it, and ourselves, alive.

Hiss not only invites us to understand the scope and gravity of the problems we face, but also makes the case for why protecting half the land is the way to fix those problems. He highlights the important work of the many groups already involved in this fight, such as the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, and the global animal tracking project ICARUS. And he introduces us to the engineers, geologists, biologists, botanists, oceanographers, ecologists, and other "Half Earthers" like Hiss himself who are allied in their dedication to the unifying, essential cause of saving our own planet from ourselves.

Tender, impassioned, curious, and above all else inspiring, Rescuing the Planet is a work that promises to make all of us better citizens of the earth.

©2021 Tony Hiss (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

Named a "Top 10 Book on the Environment & Sustainability: 2022" by Booklist

"Tony Hiss lays out what can—indeed must—be done to slow the tide of extinction. Rescuing the Planet is at once sobering and joyful—a celebration of life and the many people working to save it." (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Under a White Sky)

“Inspiring.... An upbeat and engaging account of the remarkable progress being made to preserve vast wild spaces for animals to roam.... Hiss is an indefatigable reporter and graceful writer, traversing the continent to observe the animals being saved and profile their saviors. [He] tells a good story, whether he’s describing his traipses through the wild or chronicling the history of the conservation movement.” (John Tierney, The Wall Street Journal)

“Rescuing the Planet vividly explores the past, present, and future of our relationship with the wilderness. Hiss crafts a strong argument for action in the face of mass extinction.” (Sheldon Whitehouse, US senator, Rhode Island)

must read

Extraordinarily informative and easy to read. I recommend this book to everyone who cares about our planet.

An important book

Hiss aggregates some of our best reasons to hope and most serious cases for urgency. I'll be returning to read again!

Flattering Humans

The espoused theme of this book is to detail the urgent need to protect as much of what is wild on the Earth from the almost incalculably destructive ways of the human species. Yet, the author spends most of the book flattering humans for making the most meager and anthropocentric attempts to stem the tide of ecocide. He seems to have given up on featuring the fact that he obviously knows to be true: people are the problem, along with their requisite civilization.