There are few pristine places left on this earth. When noted biologist Edward O. Wilson visited in 2011, Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique was not by any means untouched, but philanthropist Gregory C. Carr had led a determined effort at restoration. There had been much to fix. During a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1992 and in the impoverished years after the war, poaching of wildlife and the clearing of woods in the park had left it almost empty of large mammals and other signature species. It is the effort to restore the habitat that is examined in A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park by Edward O. Wilson.
Luckily for Wilson, there was some unspoiled habitat on the mountains when he arrived. He and his team were able to identify unknown ants and other insects. He tells about them and fossils of human ancestors found in the region.
In the hands of Wilson, who is the author of numerous thick and influential books, such as Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Sociobiology, and On Human Nature, the story of this remote park has universal implications. His small book on Gorongosa serves as an illustration of what he has written before and is written for a broader readership. Well-illustrated with photographs by Piotr Naskrecki, A Window on Eternity serves as a good lesson on the conservation of species and sustainability of habitats in poor nations.
Wilson, Edward O. A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park. Simon and Schuster, 2014. 149p. ISBN 9781476747415.