NATURE|Vol 435|23 June 2005 BOOKS & ARTS

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Two important twentieth-century botanicalartists whose works are included in the exhi-bition expanded their influence beyond theworld’s herbaria into environmental conser-vation and modern art, respectively. Englishartist Margaret Mee moved to Brazil in the1950s, where she made 15 expeditions into the

Amazon rainforest and became one of the first conservationists to raise concerns over its exploitation. And Scottish artist RoryMcEwen, for whom the placement of flowers,vegetables and leaves in his pictures was asimportant as the plants themselves, propelledbotanical art into modern art galleries, includ-

ing the Museum of Modern Art in New York.His eerie 1977 watercolour of an unfoldingyoung shoot of monk’s hood (Aconitum) witha ghostly profile of the Scottish island AilsaCraig in the background, shown on the oppo-site page, is particularly striking. ■

Colin Martin is a writer based in London.

million people have been resettled fromplanned reservoir basins, and this evacuationalso affects the populations who receive them.Additionally, the lifestyles of those livingdownstream of the dam are changed becausethe water flow is regulated. Scudder spends alarge part of his book discussing the socialcomplexities of these three groups of people.

He discusses the plight of people who havelived for generations close to a free-flowingriver but who may suffer from shortage offood and water, or contact with new diseases,after relocation. People may be stressed byhaving to leave burial grounds or religiouslyimportant sites, and local leaders may beundermined whether they oppose resettle-ment or not. Scudder presents a new study onpeople whose parents were resettled, involv-ing a total of nearly 1.5 million people affectedby 50 different dams across the world. Theirliving standards improved in only 7% of casesbut worsened in 70%, with the rest having no significant change. Scudder also provides an in-depth analysis of a few major dam pro-jects and discusses the institutions involved in the politics and economics of large dams.The book’s personal tone makes it enjoyable to read, but this is also a scholarly book

Flood warningsThe Future of Large Dams: Dealing with theSocial, Environmental and Political Costsby Thayer ScudderEarthscan: 2005. 432 pp. £45

Christer NilssonDuring the past 50 years the world has experi-enced an unprecedented increase in the number of large dams, from 5,700 in 1950 toapproximately 50,000 today. The InternationalCommission on Large Dams defines a largedam as one spanning 15 metres or more frombase to top, or storing more than 3 millioncubic metres of water. Almost half of them arein China, but the United States, India, Spainand Japan also have large numbers. The peakyears for dam building were the 1970s, butconstruction continues apace, especially incountries that were late to industrialize.

But how many large dams do we reallywant? Should old ones be decommissionedand plans for new ones halted because theycause serious, irreversible degradation of life-support systems? For example, dams can elim-inate ecosystems and reduce biodiversity,fisheries and bioproduction. Or should wekeep our dams because they provide necessarywater and energy to populations that havegrown beyond the carrying capacity of theirenvironments? These are difficult politicalquestions, and Thayer Scudder adds a humandimension that is surprisingly often ignored orinadequately understood in the planning andbuilding of large dams. In The Future of LargeDams he speaks up for the millions of peoplewho are directly affected by large dams andreservoirs, many of whom are “poor, unedu-cated, relatively powerless rural residents”.

Scudder, an anthropologist at the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, writes with greatauthority, having been one of the 12 commis-sioners of the World Commission on Dams.This role has given him a remarkable insightinto the global politics of large dams and theirsocial, economic and environmental conse-quences. His position on large dams haschanged from strong support to anger anddespair over the poor treatment of people wholive near dams. He now believes that most ofthe really large dams impose unacceptableenvironmental and social costs.

Hundreds of millions of people areadversely affected by dams, but curiously noprecise figures are available. At least 40–80

that has numerous footnotes and references.The story that Scudder tells is rather

depressing, but he does try to find a way for-wards. In the final chapter, he lists seven sets ofrecommendations on how to make decisionsabout the possible construction of large damsin the future. These recommendations arederived from suggestions made by the WorldCommission on Dams and are expanded totake account of existing dams. They includemore thorough investigations into the possible consequences of dams, improved stakeholderinvolvement, and an active search for alterna-tive solutions to water-related problems.

Scudder concludes by stating that the appli-cation of his recommendations would consid-erably reduce the number of large dams beingbuilt. Sustainability should be a top priority,and the book is a valuable reminder of thedangers of destroying sustainable rural soci-eties largely to support unsustainable cities orlarge industries. Hopefully, Scudder’s bookwill help to lessen the damage caused by thebuilding and maintenance of large dams. ■

Christer Nilsson is in the Landscape EcologyGroup, Department of Ecology andEnvironmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå 901 87, Sweden.

Water power: large dams such as China’s Shuikou Dam can have a huge effect on local populations.

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