Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral

“Here is the matter of conservation given profound explanation—a searching and knowing consideration that enables an important social and political and cultural struggle in Africa to become a needed lesson for us who live elsewhere to ponder, take to heart.”—Robert Coles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom“Into the Congo, this adventure reveals not a heart of darkness but a rich world of light, shade, and imperiled life, a connection between the human and the great circle of being.”—James Engell, Editor of Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology and Faculty Associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment“An inspired, poignant, and seriously researched look at a subject of profound importance.”—Wade Davis, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and author of The Serpent and the Rainbow“A story that movingly illuminates the time we live in, a tale of an emblematic struggle in which the fate of all of us and our future on this planet are at stake.”—Bruce Rich, author of Mortgaging the Earth and To Uphold the World“An emotionally-enthralling, nuanced voyage into the conundrums of bonobo conservation.”—William Powers, author of Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa’s Fragile Edge“A brilliant example of how conservationists can work with communities to save not only their own immediate environments but also the world at large through courage, cooperation, and compassion.”—Grant Hayter-Menzies, author of Imperial Masquerade and Shadow Woman“Readers of this book will be entertained and moved by Deni Béchard’s stories about this remarkable endangered and irreplaceable species and those dedicating their lives to saving them.”—Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations“The embodiment of the type of reporting that we dream of reading, but all too rarely encounter—intelligent, engaged, and above all, astonishingly perceptive.”—Dinaw Mengestu, MacArthur Fellow and author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears“Béchard’s riveting journey through the ‘dark continent’ provides a surprisingly uplifting story about a radically different and successful conservation program.”—David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature