independent commentator
It’s not a tribal blog, it’s a dialogue
Every so often, I aim to produce a pithy (under 800 words) piece always with links to references.
Do apply to do a guest blog – note same word count and references if possible. Be prepared for ‘light touch edit’ to ensure positive, rather than divisive, engagement with the widest range of views.
At the African wildlife conservation hunting conference, the man from the UN Environment Programme was unequivocal with me: “if elephants are global ‘public goods’, then developed countries should also pay towards local communities having to manage living alongside them”. There have been plenty of conservation conflicts covered by mainstream news items this year. In Germany … Continue reading Up-close wildlife
Improving productivity of farming includes ‘intensification’ of conservation practices. ‘The countryside is my factory floor’ is how one farmer (now deputy president of the NFU) framed it to the audience at a Hay Festival debate I chaired a few years ago. Farming, like retail, recreation, and including conservation, is an industry (albeit a primary one) … Continue reading State of ecological intensification
Getting the right people into the room, who may not be the same as those who want to be in the room, can be tricky. But that’s exactly what is required for wildlife conservation for it to succeed on the ground. Some of you may find this blog annoying. Rob again. Trying to be everyperson … Continue reading Reconciliation Countryside
‘Wild streams and wild birds (with apologies to the Rolling Stones)’ A piece published for the Wild Trout Trust in their annual journal ‘Salmo Trutta’ in 2014 (light edit update since publication) The sun beat down mercilessly on me as I travelled light, with rucksack and rod, high up in the Brecon Beacons. So light … Continue reading Gimme Shelter
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 – see link at end] 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, … Continue reading Moorland muddles
Having better conversations in the countryside to build trust. An edited version (with links) of my talk at the Rewilding Symposium Cambridge 2019. And subsequent launch of RY Reconciliation Countryside. “Humans seek patterns and I remember coming across a rock in the Black Mountains with deep groves in it which I sought to image had … 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
Seven years in the life of a tree is nothing. A few rings of growth, some leave litter, but where, since the scuppered 2011 forest sell-off, has the ‘enterprise’ around trees gone? I must declare an interest in knotty matters. My father worked for the Forestry Commission (100 years old in 2019) as a District … Continue reading Forest grump
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
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 engage or enrage people. (First published in Ecos – lead editorial 2016) Where I live in … Continue reading Rewilding in the UK – hidden meanings, real emotions
#WoodofStones – a year’s worth of tweets of a tiny National Nature Reserved in Wales
