World Environment Day

World Environment Day (5 June) is the biggest international day for the environment. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, and held annually since 1973, it has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach. This year's theme focuses on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience, a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world.

Here is a list of environmental books written with passion, eloquence and strong grounding in science, reminding us of our connection to nature and of our responsibility to save and protect it.

Updated May 24, 2024
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Wyndham Library
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When the Sahara was green : how our greatest desert came to be
Williams, Martin
Paper Book
The little-known history of how the Sahara was transformed from a green and fertile land into the largest hot desert in the world The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, equal in size to China or the United States. Yet, this arid expanse was once a verdant, pleasant...
Water always wins : thriving in an age of drought and deluge
Gies, Erica
Paper Book
A journey through time and around the world to uncover water's true nature, and how it can help us adapt to climate change.Trouble with water - increasingly frequent, extreme floods and droughts - is one of the first obvious signs of climate change. Meanwhile, urban sprawl, industrial...
The book of vanishing species : illustrated lives
Forshall, Beatrice
Paper Book
__________________Our Earth is more beautiful and more diverse than we can possibly conceive of. The Book of Vanishing Species is a stunning homage to the planet's most mysterious, bizarre and wondrous creatures and plants. Their stories are captivating,...
The book of hope : a survival guide for an endangered planet
Goodall, Jane
Paper Book
The world-renowned naturalist and conservationist Jane Goodall has spent more than a half-century warning of our impact on our planet. From her famous encounters with chimpanzees in the forests of Gombe as a young woman to her tireless campaigning for the environment in her late eighties, Jane has...
A life on our planet : my witness statement and a vision for the future
Attenborough, David
Paper Book
With a new afterword, Why You Are Here- A speech on the opening of the COP26 climate summit As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us...
Regenesis : feeding the world without devouring the planet
Monbiot, George
Paper Book
People talk a lot about the problems with intensive farming. But the problem isn't the adjective. It's the noun. Around the world, farming has been wiping out vast habitats, depleting freshwater, polluting oceans, and accelerating global heating, while leaving millions undernourished and unfed....
This is not a drill : an Extinction Rebellion handbook
Farrell, Clare
Paper Book
Extinction Rebellion are inspiring a whole generation to take action on climate breakdown. Now you can become part of the movement - and together, we can make history. It's time. This is our last chance to do anything about the global climate and ecological emergency....
The hidden universe : adventures in biodiversity
Antonelli, Alexandre
Paper Book
We don't know what we've got until it's gone... This brief, lucid book by the Director of Science at Royal Botanical Gardens takes you on an unforgettable tour of the natural world, showing how biodiversity- the rich variety of life in the world and in our own...
39 ways to save the planet
Heap, Tom
Paper Book
We got ourselves into this. Here's how we can get ourselves out. We know the problem- the amount of biodiversity loss, the scale of waste and pollution, the amount of greenhouse gas we pump into the air... it's unsustainable. We have to do something. And we are...
Not the end of the world
Ritchie, Hannah
Paper Book
** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ** **A FINANCIAL TIMES, GUARDIAN, WAITROSE WEEKEND BEST SUMMER READ** 'A book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future' THE TIMES Feeling anxious, powerless, or confused...
The precipice : existential risk and the future of humanity
Ord, Toby
Paper Book
What existential threats does humanity face? And how can we secure our future? 'The Precipice is a powerful book . . . Ord's love for humanity and hope for its future is infectious' Spectator 'Ord's analysis of the science is...
What we owe the future : the million-year view
Macaskill, William.
Paper Book
The treeline : the last forest and the future of life on Earth
Rawlence, Ben
Paper Book
* SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2022 * 'The very treeline is on the move- a devastating image. This book is an evocative, wise and unflinching exploration of what it will mean for humanity.' Jay Griffiths The Arctic treeline is the...
No one is too small to make a difference
Thunberg, Greta
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate crisis activist who has become the voice of a generation. 'Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.' In August 2018 a fifteen...
How to avoid a climate disaster : the solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need
Gates, Bill
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade...
On fire : the burning case for a green new deal
Klein, Naomi.
Paper Book
#1 international and New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything, makes the case for a Green New Deal--explaining how bold climate action can be a blueprint for a just and thriving society. For more...
The uninhabitable earth
Wallace-Wells, David
Paper Book
**SUNDAY TIMES AND THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** 'If you read just one work of non-fiction this year, it should probably be this ... what this book forces you to face is more important than any other subject' David Sexton, Evening Standard ...
It's not that radical : climate action to transform our world
Loach, Mikaela
Paper Book
WINNER OF BOOKSHOP.ORG'S NON-FICTION ANNUAL INDIE CHAMPIONS AWARD For too long, representations of climate action in the mainstream media have been white-washed, green-washed and diluted to be made compatible with capitalism. We are living in an economic system which...
The waterwise Australian native garden : a practical guide to garden design, plant selection and much more
Stewart, Angus
Paper Book
A rerelease of the bestselling Australian Native Garden now with emphasis on its waterwise benefits for a sadly drought-stricken Australian climate.
Muster dogs : an outback story of red dirt, kelpies and the future of a family farm
Grey, Aticia
Paper Book
An outback story of kelpies, red dirt and the future of a family farm. Now streaming on ABC iView and Netflix. Life on the land is often boom or bust, forever at the mercy of Mother Nature. Aticia 'Teesh' Grey took on the manager's role on her family's West...
The memory of trees : the future of eucalypts and our home among them
Cramer, Viki
Paper Book
Most Australians see their world through eucalypts. From towering forests to straggly woodlands, in city parks, by the coast and in the bush, these are the trees that inhabit our familiar landscapes and national psyche. Yet the resilience of our eucalypt ecosystems is being tested by logging and...
Our sunburnt country
Molesworth, Anika
Paper Book
Anika Molesworth fell in love with her family's farm, a sheep station near Broken Hill, at an early age. She formed a bond with the land as though it were a member of her family. When the Millennium Drought hit, though, bringing with it heatwaves and duststorms, the future she'd always imagined for...
First footprints : the epic story of the First Australians
Cane, Scott
Paper Book
First Footprints tells the extraordinary story of the Aboriginal people of Australia. How they made their way out of Africa 60,000 years ago, and how they survived across this vast continent, from the harsh deserts of the inland to the glaciers of southern Tasmania. With photos from the ABC...
Fires next time, the
Christoff, Peter
Paper Book
Following a three-year drought and during the hottest and driest year on record, a flume of scorching air set the Australian continent aflame. The Black Summer fires were unprecedented. Over six months in 2019-20 they burned more than 24 million hectares of Australia's southern and eastern forests -...
Wilder : how rewilding is transforming conservation and changing the world
Kerr, Millie
Paper Book
FINALIST IN THE 2024 AAAS/SUBARU PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE WRITING - YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE A global rewilding journey, exploring innovative and eye-opening projects led by passionate conservationists. Rewilding is a radical new approach to wildlife...
Case for Nature: Pioneering Solutions For The Other Planetary Crisis
Shrikanth, Siddarth.
Paper Book
A deeply informed, radically hopeful manifesto for regenerating our economies and societies through the power of nature and natural capital.
Cloud land : the dramatic story of Australia's extraordinary rainforest people and country
Van Oosterzee, Penny
Paper Book
A sweeping account of Australia's wet tropical rainforest country, from deep time to the legendary time of Australia's first peoples; from the killing times and maniacal destruction of the forests by European settlers, to the present time of growing awareness of forests as the life-force of the...
Wild green wonders : a life in nature
Barkham, Patrick
Paper Book
The collected writings from one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers.
Wildlife in the balance : why animals are humanity's best hope
Mustoe, Simon
Paper Book
Take a journey through some of our planet's most spectacular wildlife events and learn how the world works, the origin of life and our place in nature.Why do you think animals exist? What purpose do they serve and why do we need them? "Reading this book may change your mind about almost everything....
The songs of trees : stories from nature's great connectors
Haskell, David George
Paper Book
In THE SONGS OF TREES, award-winning nature writer David Haskell repeatedly visits a dozen trees around the world, exploring the trees' connections with webs of fungi, bacterial communities, cooperative and destructive animals, and other plants. In doing this he shows that every living being is not...
The future of the fringe : the crisis in peri-urban planning
Buxton, Michael
Paper Book
Peri-urban landscapes are some of the world's most vulnerable areas. Although they are often thought of simply as land awaiting development, these landscapes retain important natural resources and make valuable contributions to agriculture, water use, biodiversity conservation, landscape...
Discovering Australian flora : an Australian National Botanic Gardens experience
Karouta-Manasse, Fanny
Paper Book
Australia's complex, beautiful and diverse flora is showcased in stunning botanic gardens across the continent. Through exquisite color photographs taken at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) or during field trips with the National Seed Bank, Fanny Karouta-Manasse celebrates the minute...
Drawdown : the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming
Hawken, Paul
Paper Book
In Drawdown, renowned environmentalist Paul Hawken has assembled a team of over 200 scholars, scientists, policymakers, business leaders and activists to illustrate the hundred most substantive solutions to combat climate change that together will not only slow down the growth of carbon emissions,...
Your life, your planet : what you can do right now!
Ebbs, Geoff
Paper Book
Your Life, Your Planet is the toolkit and the manual that you need to nurture yourself - and the environment that nurtures you. It is full of tips that will help you to reduce your environmental footprint and enjoy a healthier and more satisfying life. A century and more of incredible growth and...

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