Philip R. Pryde

First published in 1972 this was a systematic and comprehensive survey in English of resource management in the former Soviet Union, analysing attitudes and accomplishments in the field of conservation of natural resources. The book reviews the most important and unique features of Soviet natural resource management and conservation, examines approaches toward the use of natural resources and the consequent problems, and attempts to define the meaning of 'conservation' in the Soviet Union. Early chapters discuss the historical background of natural resource management in tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union, and the legal and institutional framework. Successive chapters deal with land and soil resources, nature reserves, wildlife and fish management, mineral and forestry resources and environmental pollution. The final chapter evaluates conservation attitudes and the political and philosophical implications of Soviet conservation. The book includes an extensive bibliography of Soviet and foreign literature and a large and varied group of appendices covering key terminology, legal documents, and resource and environmental data.

In this study of Soviet environmental problems and their management, the author examines the pervasive nature of biosphere disruption and environmental contaminants in the country. He discusses the extent to which they are damaging the Soviet populace and the resource base upon which it depends.