ajestic scenery. Outstanding wildlife. Hunters paddling their kayaks. Life and nature in harmony. These are the stunning impressions that Greenland projects to the world.

 

In this hymn to a paradise lost Kjeld Hansen demonstrates that these images are but a beautiful illusion. Using the dry science of statistics provided by Greenland’s own biologists he documents the ruthless extermination of living resources in a candid and moving story about Greenlanders’ enormously wasteful hunting and fishing mores that are rapidly denuding an arctic landscape of its wildlife.    

 

The author persuasively argues that unless this process is reversed within 10-20 years some species will become extinct. For other species the savage reduction in numbers will render them unable to make either an economic or a quality-of-life contribution to Greenland society.

 

What may appear to be a regional problem is of global interest. Greenland’s wildlife is part of humanity’s common heritage. A Farewell to Greenland’s Wildlife is a remarkable book that encourages us all to act before it is too late.