environmental commentator
The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project taught the conservation community a number of valuable lessons. [A re-post of an article first published in a magazine] There is a chunk of moorland in Scotland that has been subject to a 25-year project involving upland land uses, habitat, nature conservation designations, biodiversity, fieldsports, and rural economics. It all … Continue reading Moorland muddles
Conservation is all about human choices. A lightly edited version (with links) of my talk at a Rewilding Symposium held at the David Attenborough building in Cambridge. “Humans seek patterns and I remember coming across a rock in the Black Mountains with deep grooves in it which I imagined had been scored by rocks in … Continue reading Conservation choices challenge
Triggered by the woodcock I’ve seen fly over my wood, here’s an extract from my Nature Notebook published in The Times 13 Dec 2014. Hope lies ahead for those who differ in opinions, but wish to open up dialogue on common ground. The grass has turned brown, folding in tussocks around bare-leafed saplings in my … Continue reading A woodland detective story in the dying year
My woodland is coming up to 10 years. In the life of a tree that’s nothing. A few rings of growth, leaf litter deposits, wind snapped branches. But for something so long-term, where has brave ‘enterprise’ on trees gone? I must declare an interest in knotty matters. My father worked for the Forestry Commission (100 … Continue reading Forest life
I hosted a wide-ranging conversation with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president, Minette Batters, at the Hay Literary Festival earlier this year. Gove re-occurring , ‘cheap’ food arguments, farming bogs, issues with subsidies, admirable poultry, over-hyped soil and culture changes – so much, so little space, so little time…Minette was delayed but had enough breathe … Continue reading NFU blues
(First published in Ecos Magazine (British Association of Nature Conservationists) – lead editorial in 2016) The word rewilding has become common currency in nature conservation narratives, but it rarely features in wider discussions on land use. The very mention of the word – especially without context or meaning – stirs up reactions that can equally … Continue reading Rewilding in the UK – hidden meanings, real emotions
A reflection on a British Ecological Society symposium ‘Making a Difference in Conservation’ from an ‘outsider’. Matters are never straightforward in a single-subject symposium (‘Improving the links between ecological research, policy and practice’). There was certainly nothing ‘single issue’ about this BES/CCI conference. There were so many issues, it was hard to absorb, yet alone … Continue reading Wielding evidence
Transylvanian trek Nature Notebook. As published in The Times August 22 2015 In Romania, on a family holiday travelling with donkeys through the countryside, nature is abundant. Riches abound for those who forage for mushrooms, raspberries and bilberries among the native Norway spruce and silver fir. With goshawks and crested tits flitting across the tree tops, our slow progress … Continue reading Wild bees and wolves. Nature Notebook. The Times Aug 2015
In 2012 I created my woodland, with no public grant, so I could plant and think freely. ‘See the wood’ (part 1) First published in The Times Aug 2014 … Continue reading a small woodland
The calls to work more collaboratively for conservation are becoming louder. For wildlife’s sake it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Many miss the curlew. The State of Nature reports chart declines in much of our wildlife on which we have robust data, which itself covers only 5% of the 70,000 … Continue reading Curlew collaborative
