Written in an easily accessible handbook format, this book provides an introduction to understanding the complex, ecologically sensitive, circumpolar boreal forest, and explains the philosophy, principles, scientific background, and technical process of ecosystem-based conservation planning (EBCP). The approach to EBCP described in the book uses boreal forest-based examples, but may be applied in planning the protection and use of the spectrum of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, and in planning rural and urban land use. Whether you are just beginning or have years of experience; whether you are a scientist, planner, activist, or concerned citizen, this book will provide you with a framework for the development of plans to take care of Earth and put meaning into the word sustainability.

The book contains many full-colour diagrams, maps and photographs to illustrate the main points of ecosystem-based conservation planning.

About the Author
Herb Hammond has university degrees in forest management and forest ecology, and has worked in scientific research, the timber industry, and higher education. As a problem solver, activist, and consultant, for the past 25 years Herb has focused on the development of ecosystem-based conservation planning. Together with his wife Susan, he founded the Silva Forest Foundation, a charitable society dedicated to research and education in ecosystem-based conservation planning. Herb has worked cooperatively with Indigenous Nations and rural communities to develop more than 20 ecosystem-based plans across Canada, and in Russia, the United States, and Indonesia. Herb’s earlier award winning book, Seeing the Forest Among the Trees: The Case for Wholistic Forest Use, continues to be used by a wide audience in planning forest protection and use. Herb was given the Sustainable Living—Gold Award at the 2003 Canadian Environment Awards. He is a frequent workshop leader and keynote speaker.

What scientists say about Maintaining Whole Systems on Earth’s Crown:
"Herb Hammond is Boreal Canada’s father of applied ecosystem-based planning, planning that benefits ecosystems and people. From the book’s informed and detailed content, to its comprehensive structure, readable flow, and to its underlying premise of planning for the protection and management of this sensitive and key global ecosystem, Herb has made one of the major ecological contributions of our generation."
- Peter Lee, Executive Director, Global Forest Watch Canada

"If you’ve been perplexed by more than a decade of bumf about what forest ecosystem management is and how it can be practiced; if you think that forests are ecosystems not mere stands of trees, that maintaining biodiversity and ecological integrity should be management goals not constraints; if you believe that the boreal forest is much more than scrawny spruce and dire muskeg throbbing with vast fossil fuel, mineral and hydroelectric resources destined to be exploited, that the boreal forest should remain part of our global life support system and not become an international sacrifice zone----then this is the book for you."
- Jim Pojar, PhD., Forest Ecologist, former Executive Director, Canadian Parks And Wilderness Society Yukon

“Ecosystem-based management” has become a buzz-word in the natural resources field but I daresay that not one manager in ten knows what it actually means. This long-awaited and valuable book has examples and plans that show how to identify, restore, and maintain ecological integrity in areas of any size, ecological complexity, or history of exploitation. This is a volume vital to any resources library. I recommend it highly."
- William O. Pruitt, Jr., PhD., Wildlife Biologist, Senior Scholar, Zoology Department, University of Manitoba, founder Taiga Biological Station

"In 2007, 1500 ecologists wrote to Premier Stephen Harper pointing out that we urgently need to protect at least 50 percent of the Canadian boreal forest. Herb Hammond’s book provides many of the tools necessary to make this possible through ecosystem-based planning."
- D.W. Schindler O.C., F.R.S.C., F.R.S., Killam Memorial Chair and Professor of Ecology, University of Alberta