Through intensive and extensive research the frontiers of knowledge in social, economic, political and religious life of people of Kilimanjaro Mountain area has been extensively revealed. The book enables readers to see Kilimanjaro and its people from a much better view and perspectives. For the first time the book has assisted in removing the many gaps that existed in the history of Kilimanjaro and its people thus making progress in the effort to get a better and more comprehensive understanding of the Wa-Shaka people of Kilimanjaro. In that endeavor recognition is made of the esteemed contributions of people such as Charles Dundas (1924), Miss Mary Cathleen Stahl (1962) and a few other recent day persons such as Dr. Anzamen Lema. The book puts readers on a new level of understanding of Wa-Shaka people in a simple but understandable language, which makes it not only easily manageable but also friendly in the effort to comprehend its contents. It is a unique master piece of work.

Through intensive and extensive research the frontiers of knowledge in social, economic, political and religious life of people of Kilimanjaro Mountain area has been extensively revealed. The book enables readers to see Kilimanjaro and its people from a much better view and perspectives. For the first time the book has assisted in removing the many gaps that existed in the history of Kilimanjaro and its people thus making progress in the effort to get a better and more comprehensive understanding of the Wa-Shaka people of Kilimanjaro. In that endeavor recognition is made of the esteemed contributions of people such as Charles Dundas (1924), Miss Mary Cathleen Stahl (1962) and a few other recent day persons such as Dr. Anzamen Lema. The book puts readers on a new level of understanding of Wa-Shaka people in a simple but understandable language, which makes it not only easily manageable but also friendly in the effort to comprehend its contents. It is a unique master piece of work.

Devastation in the Garden of Eden is a book in which the author aims to paint a picture of what actually has been happening on Kilimanjaro Mountain area. He almost emotionally endeavors to enlighten mankind and especially people who know Mount Kilimanjaro and the area around it about how attractive the mountain and the area around has been since the time immemorial. It was such a masterpiece of God, giving the example of the Biblical Garden of Eden in which God put the first man and woman, but in spite of the perfection, beauty, and bounty of resources that were put in that garden, still mankind decided to trespass. They decided to disobey God’s rules, and in the end, they got banished from the garden. The author has deliberately made this comparison with the Garden of Eden for the similarities are so closely related. In reality, that is exactly what the mountain area was like. Many people from different parts of the world have stood up and bear witness that Kilimanjaro Mountain is not only a geographical place somewhere in the continent of Africa but is a unique place and serves as a magnet to attract the humankind from various parts of the world and of various walks of life to it. Unfortunately, we will soon or later see mankind getting banished from Kilimanjaro and the area around it. Like what happened in the Garden of Eden, Kilimanjaro has faced a lot of mismanagement, and that has been in spite of the laws, regulations, and rules that, at one historical time or the other, have been put in place. Natural resources have disappeared in various ways and forms. People, ecology, and the overall ecosystem are being put to great danger. The author shows concern and calls upon the local as well as international community to come forth to address the situation. He does not attempt to point an accusing figure to any specific person or community, as almost all of us have been involved in one form or the other. He thus concludes that this should not be a war for one person, one community, or one nation, but the whole global community should join hands to reverse the ongoing situation. He ends with a remark “We must hang together, or we will all perish.”

This volume contains peer-reviewed papers from the Fourth World Landslide Forum organized by the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL), the Global Promotion Committee of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL), University of Ljubljana (UL) and Geological Survey of Slovenia in Ljubljana, Slovenia from May 29 to June 2,. The complete collection of papers from the Forum is published in five full-color volumes. This second volume contains the following: • Two keynote lectures • Landslide Field Recognition and Identification: Remote Sensing Techniques, Field Techniques • Landslide Investigation: Field Investigations, Laboratory Testing • Landslide Modeling: Landslide Mechanics, Simulation Models • Landslide Hazard Risk Assessment and Prediction: Landslide Inventories and Susceptibility, Hazard Mapping Methods, Damage Potential Prof. Matjaž Mikoš is the Forum Chair of the Fourth World Landslide Forum. He is the Vice President of International Consortium on Landslides and President of the Slovenian National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. Prof. Binod Tiwari is the Coordinator of the Volume 2 of the Fourth World Landslide Forum. He is a Board member of the International Consortium on Landslides and an Executive Editor of the International Journal “Landslides”. He is the Chair-Elect of the Engineering Division of the US Council of Undergraduate Research, Award Committee Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineering, Geo-Institute’s Committee on Embankments, Slopes, and Dams Committee. Prof. Yueping Yin is the President of the International Consortium on Landslides and the Chairman of the Committee of Geo-Hazards Prevention of China, and the Chief Geologist of Geo-Hazard Emergency Technology, Ministry of Land and Resources, P.R. China. Prof. Kyoji Sassa is the Founding President of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). He is Executive Director of ICL and the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal“Landslides” since its foundation in 2004. IPL (International Programme on Landslides) is a programme of the ICL. The programme is managed by the IPL Global Promotion Committee including ICL and ICL supporting organizations, UNESCO, WMO, FAO, UNISDR, UNU, ICSU, WFEO, IUGS and IUGG. The IPL contributes to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025.

In Water Brings No Harm, Matthew V. Bender explores the history of community water management on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Kilimanjaro’s Chagga-speaking peoples have long managed water by employing diverse knowledge: hydrological, technological, social, cultural, and political. Since the 1850s, they have encountered groups from beyond the mountain—colonial officials, missionaries, settlers, the independent Tanzanian state, development agencies, and climate scientists—who have understood water differently. Drawing on the concept of waterscapes—a term that describes how people “see” water, and how physical water resources intersect with their own beliefs, needs, and expectations—Bender argues that water conflicts should be understood as struggles between competing forms of knowledge. Water Brings No Harm encourages readers to think about the origins and interpretation of knowledge and development in Africa and the global south. It also speaks to the current global water crisis, proposing a new model for approaching sustainable water development worldwide.