Emerald Labyrinth

October 1, 2017
An intrepid herpetologist's account of his grueling collection-based forays into the Congo.For Greenbaum (Evolutionary Genetics/Univ. of Texas, El Paso), who has faced the extraordinary challenges of conducting biodiversity exploration in the Congo Basin, the next challenge is educating the general public about its importance. In his foreboding words, "if the public does not understand biodiversity science, then continuing mass extinction, including the human species, is inevitable." The author's first book is not just packed with high adventures; it also contains meditations on gorillas, conservation, the global ecosystem, climate change, and mass extinctions. Readers will learn how a herpetologist works in the wild and why finding and identifying species is so important. Greenbaum tells of his two 10-week expeditions in 2008 and 2009 inside the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, which he calls "the holy grail of unknown biodiversity in Africa." With a team of Congolese helpers, he carried on his collecting work in tropical forests, on mountainsides, and in swamps while suffering debilitating illnesses, coping with breakdowns, paying bribes, and encountering armed militia. "For centuries," he writes, "Central Africa has been a paradoxical combination of mystery, danger, and exotic allure" and a rumored source of both "amazing riches" and "rumors of certain death." Despite setbacks, the author happily plunged into his work of collecting, identifying, and preserving frogs, lizards, skinks, snakes, chameleons, and other reptiles. He includes photos of many of these animals, his band of helpers, the people they met, the lands they traveled through, and even their expedition truck mired in deep mud. The small maps are not especially helpful, but the narrative is smooth and engaging, effectively showing the natural wonder of the Congo--and its fragility.Greenbaum's enthusiasm for his work shines through, as does his compelling message about the future of our planet.

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September 25, 2017
Greenbaum, professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Texas at El Paso, combines scientific endeavor, environmentalism, and Congolese history as he shares his experiences exploring remarkable ecosystems in the midst of a civil war. He spent the summers of 2008 and 2009 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo searching for new and rarely seen species of amphibians and reptiles with the goal of better understanding the evolutionary relationships between species. By analyzing DNA, Greenbaum explains how he is able to look into the past more accurately than simply by looking at the morphological differences among individual members of a species. Additionally, by documenting the existence of new and rare species, his research supports “recent efforts to expand national parks and forest reserves in Congo.” All of this would be exciting enough, but he conducted his work amid the presence of armed militias in an environment filled with deadly biotic threats. Greenbaum recognizes that some of the species he has found “will be extinct by the end of the century,” but he remains optimistic about the possibilities that ecotourism and other conservation strategies may hold as the Congolese people attempt to forge a positive future. This is an appealing, if somewhat workmanlike, chronicle of two extended seasons of field work in remote areas of the D.R.C.

Starred review from September 15, 2017
Greenbaum, a professor of evolutionary genetics, recounts arduous journeys throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo, illuminating in fluent detail its bloody history, precarious present, spectacular landscapes, and gloriously varied, now rapidly disappearing, biological abundance. Greenbaum has been exploring Congo since 2007, gathering amphibians and reptiles and working closely with local scientists. In this riveting scientific travelogue, he focuses on his earliest expeditions, during which he endured disease (malaria, giardia, and typhoid fever), stinging ants, severe heat, dizzying mountain climbs, mud-treacherous paths, wretched roads, hostile villages, and menacing militias. He also reports on the rampant destruction of the rain forests, the dying off of species large and small, the ravages of climate change, and, just when they are more urgently needed than ever, the decline in support for in-depth, collection-based scientific expeditions. But Greenbaum also tells stories about excited children bringing him frogs and snakes, friendships forged, generous hospitality, courageous conservationists, the discoveries of new species, and thrilling sightings of gorillas, brilliantly patterned frogs, an African golden cat, and 15-foot-high ferns. The magnificent and besieged Central African rain forests, Greenbaum writes, are our ancestral home, the planet's green lungs, and the source of Earth's greatest biodiversity. His hope is that quests and findings such as his will impel us to save this essential living world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)