Toward a Culture of Nature is a comprehensive study of Cuba's environmental policy, specifically the response of the Cuban government to the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent shortage of petroleum products. Pamela Stricker analyzes Cuba's transition to sustainable models of agriculture, efforts toward energy independence using renewable resources, the adoption of "green" medicine, a framework law on environmental protection, the impact of tourism and foreign investment on the island, incorporation of environmental education, and the crafting of a culture of nature, that is, a Cuban environmental ethics of sustainable development. Going beyond the standard accounts of formal legislation and executive institutions, Professor Stricker pays special attention to the scientists and activists who worked in all capacities (governmental and non-governmental) to bring about change to the environmental policies. Spanning the second half of the twentieth-century, Toward a "Culture of Nature" is an important case study of environmental policy, ethics, and sustainable development.

"Stricker's book is an excellent starting point for discussion, as well as an in-depth case study that makes an important contribution to a growing literature on sustainable development and enviornmental ethics." - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, October 2008