The Face of Nature: An Environmental History of the Otago Peninsula.

Abstract

It is a tricky thing when one is asked to review a book on something that pervades your existence, your work and your whānau. Jonathan West’s book writes an environmental history of the Otago Peninsula. I have grown up at Ōtākou, the small village at the eastern edge of the Peninsula. I grew up looking across from the east to the west, I close my eyes and could draw an outline of the hills that embrace Aramoana and Port Chalmers. I have been told that Jonathan grew up at Port Chalmers, alternatively looking across from the west to the east, to the Otago Peninsula. This is perhaps where his connections to this piece of land sprung from. His book illustrates his passion for the Otago Peninsula and its interaction with all inhabitants from time immorial.