East Africa is characterised by extreme social and environmental contrasts that has undergone transformative changes over the past 300,000 years - the era of modern humans. People have left increasingly deep and pervasive footprints across the region, resulting in the anthropogenically crafted landscape of the present. The book shows how understanding contemporary issues, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, conservation, agricultural development, and achieving the sustainable development agenda, all require an appreciation of the past.The volume explore these interactions from the origins of human species with a particular focus on the last 500 years the Anthropocene. As trade, particularly of ivory, maize, and munitions, expanded with the Asia, Europe and the Americas this shaped many of the current issues in East Africa's society, economy, and environment. These trade links paved the way for the colonial era that started at an atypical moment in East African environmental history. The colonial impacts on society, ecosystems, Protected Areas, biodiversity conservation, and the ensuing legacy through the independent states of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are explored. Given this rich, diverse, and connected past, what the future will be like for East African societies, ecosystems, and landscapes under climate change, high population growth, and rapid development?

Rob Marchant is Professor of Tropical of Ecology at the University of York, UK. Much of his research is focused on East Africa, where over the past thirty years of working in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania he has developed close collaborations with the numerous University, NGO, UN and Governmental institutions that, alongside multiple conversations with individuals, have profoundly influenced and shaped the perspectives presented here. The interplay between the climate, ecosystems, cultures, livelihoods, and land uses are explore to document how the massive challengesfacing the region have been created, are being addressed and future opportunities maximized.

Auteur
Rob Marchant is Professor of Tropical Ecology in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York, UK.

Résumé
This book is an ambitious integration of ecological, archaeological, anthropological land use sciences, drawing on human geography, demography and economics of development across the East Africa region. It focuses on understanding and unpicking the interactions that have taken place between the natural and unnatural history of the East African region and trace this interaction from the evolutionary foundations of our species (c. 200,000 years ago), through the outwards and inwards human migrations, often associated with the adoption of subsistence strategies, new technologies and the arrival of new crops. The book will explore the impact of technological developments such as transitions to tool making, metallurgy, and the arrival of crops also involved an international dimension and waves of human migrations in and out of East Africa. Time will be presented with a widening focus that will frame the contemporary with a particular focus on the Anthropocene (last 500 years) to the present day. Many of the current challenges have their foundations in precolonial and colonial history and as such there will be a focus on how these have evolved and the impact on environmental and human landscapes. Moving into the Anthropocene era, there was increasing exposure to the International drivers of change, such as those associated with Ivory and slave trade. These international trade routes were tied into the ensuing decimation of elephant populations through to the exploitation of natural mineral resources have been sought after through to the present day.
The book will provide a balanced perspective on the region, the people, and how the natural and unnatural histories have combined to create a dynamic region. These historical perspectives will be galvanized to outline the future changes and the challenges they will bring around such issues as sustainable development, space for wildlife and people, and the position of East Africa within a globalized world and how this is potentially going to evolve over the coming decades.

Contenu
Chapter 1: Foundations.- Chapter 2: Origins and migration.- Chapter 3: Trading languages, crops East Africa's place in the world.- Chapter 4: Elephants, Maize and guns.- Chapter 5: Colonial transitions.- Chapter 6: Post-Colonial transitions and recent political history.- Chapter 7: Protecting Protected Areas.- Chapter 8: A bright future?.